Mr. SHERMAN. You can move to recommit and that, I think, will take recedence. iii . amass. If so, I make that motion. I agree fully with the Senators who have preceded me in the opinion that Congress has the power of itself for defensive nrposes to build a canal around the falls of I in ara, and I am in favor of the construction 0 such acanal. I entertain very great doubts whether we have the power to create a corporation and endow them with the authority for commercial purposes to 0 within the jurisdiction of the State of NewYork and constructacanal; butwhether we have that power or not, believing that we can do the wor ourselves dud control it for ourselves and as we see fit, I am wholly unwilling to agree that Congress shall devolve this power on a private corporation, authorize them to go within the State of NewYork to construct a canal, and when it is constructed to enjoy the benefits of all the immense water power that will be created, and establish just such tolls as they may see fit for the transportation of agricultural and mechanical prouctions through that canal. This is the great objection that I have to the bill. If we have the power, let us do it ourselves. Why do we want the interposition of a company? Mr. President, I do not profess to be very familiar with the provisions of this bill; but it strikes my mind that this is one of the grandest privileges, and will result in being one of the most tremendous monopolies that ever was devised on this continent. We bestow upon this corporation the eminent domain that belongs to the State of NewYork, authorizing them to go into that State and construct a canal. “e give to them all of the immense water power that will be secured b the construction of the canal enough to may re adozen Lowells and Lawrences, and enough, in my Opinion, to authorize any respectable company with capital to build the canal without the aid of the General Government in the way of money or of bonds. Then we authorize the company to fix as tolls upon the transportation of our agricultural products just such sums as they choose to fix. I am not disposed to put the agricultural interests of my section of the country into the keeping of an such corporation as is proposed to be create by this bill. And after this is done, according to the statement of the Senfrom Wisconsin, as I understand it, if the company discover that their work is not i going to beas advantaw consto the stockholders as they think it should be, and after they shall have arranged their accounts, “watered” their stock, perhaps, to suit them, then they can sell the work to the Government, if they will only be so uncouscientiousas to raise the tolls so as to make it in the view of Congress or the public extortionate if they should charge as much as they fix. As I said before, no man is more anxious to have proper channels of communication between the Northwest and the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico than I am. I have no doubt as to the constitutional power of Congress to make those channels of communication. I am as anxious as anybody else is that Congress shall do it. If the ComCommerce will report to the Senate a bill providing that appropriations shall be made and expended under our engineer corps, who are created and maintaine for just such purposes, to con' struct such a line of communication between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, I will vote for it. I will go further, and will vote fora bill carrying this canal forward, for it will not be a very great advantage to our section of country to go down from Lake Erie into Lake Ontario, unless we can get beyond Lake Ontario. I will therefore go with the ComCommerce or any gentlemen who are in favor of continuing the construction of a ship canal beyond Lake Ontario. But I do not want to put the public Treasury into the hands of a private corporation for the purpose of building any such channel, and allowing that corpo ration to fix just such tolls as they please on the transportation that may pass through it.