Mr. HENDRICKS. It is not my purpose to oppose the bill, but I feel it to be my duty to let the Senate know in what respect this bill is a departure from the policy of the government in granting lands to the States in aid of the construction of railroads. In the 1st place, the 1st section of this bill proposes to rant to this railroad company certain powers. Vhether independently O this proposed grant of power to a company of a State, the company, by virtue of State legislation, possesses the same powers, I do not know, and I believe the Senate is not informed by any report from the committee. It is rather extraordinary that the Senate should propose by an act of congress to confer upon a cororation of a State the power to construct a railroad upon a certain line. In the next place, this bill departs from the general policy in making the grant to the comiany itself instead of making it to the State. l know that in the caseof the Pacific road the grant, I believe, was made directly to the company, but there were important considerations l governing that case. At the last session it was proposed to enlarge:1 grant to the State of IVisconsiu to aid in building a road from Hudson to Superior, a road running in a south eastern direction acro5s the State of Wisconsinto Superior, and even in the cases where there had been old grants and those grants had been transferred by the States to the company, Congress refused to make the grant to the company, but granted the lands to the State that the might be at the disposal of the State. I wish to call the attention of the Senate simply to the fact that this bill and the one to follow. it proposes to make these grants to the company instead of making them to the State. IVhat these companies are, what are their powers, what are their obligations. what are their assurances that the road will be constructed, I think the Senate is not informed. The next departure from the policy hereto fore adopted in this bill is that t to grant is of ten miles upon each side of the road instead of 6. I know that in several cases last year the grants were extended from 6 to 12 miles upon each side of the road, but it was upon the ground that the roads massedover a very pooh country, and more lan was required to enable the companies to construct the roads than had been previously granted. To some extent the policy became adopted at the last session 0t making a grant of ten miles on each side of the road instead of 6. This is not in that regard a.departure from the policy altogether; but it is right that I should say to the Senate that in near y all the grants that have been made they were limited to 6 miles on each side of the roads. There are other peculiarities about this bill. If it is the pleasure of the Senate thus to mod ify the policy in regard to grants to railroads, I do not know that I have any very special objection to it. It has not been regarded here tofore as safe to make the grants to the company, but much more desirable to make the grants directly to the States that they may be under the control of the State authorities; and that policy has seemed to work well so far. While I have been a very ardent friend of these rants, I know enough of them to know that congress ou rht to be very careful in making them. At the last session we granted the committee were very reluctant to agree to the bill an increase of land to one of the Wisconsinroads. It was ranted to the State for the benefit of that roa. At least one, and I understand others of the parties that came here to get that grant gave their earnest assurance that the work would be commenced at once, and the road be completed at an early day. Instead of going to work and raising money to build the road, or doing anythingabout it, they sold out for a very large sum of money the benefits of that grant. I have understood that they sold it for 180 odd 1,000 dollars. The road has now fallen into the hands of parties in the city of NewYork, who, I believe, will build it; but even with the guard of making the grant to the State, there is an abuse that may be made. Now, if we make the grant directly to the comaparky, we (place the entire thing at the dispos o abo y that Congress has no control over, and so far as the grant is concerned, the State has no control over. When the Senfrom California the other day very earnestly urged the passage of a bill making a grant of land for a railroad from the waters opposite to SanFranciseo up to Humboldt, a distance of about 200 miles, and making the grant to the company itself and not to the State, I did not object because it was to a ver considerable extent through a rough an broken country, and the land, perhaps, was not of very great value. It seems to me we go far enough in departing from the general policy when we grant to one company in the State of California alternate sections of ten miles for 200 miles without new passing 2 additional bills, No. 125 and No. 126, for 2 additional roads.