Mr. KASSON. I beg leave to say to the members of the House that from the very in ception of the location of the initial point of the Omahabraneh of this railroad, I have been specially and personally interested in this pacific railroad. I visited Washington and saw the President in relation to the establishment of this initial point of the Omaha branch; and from that time to this there is no part of it that has not fallen under my observation or that has not been to me a matter of special interest. During the last fall Itraveled entirely across the plainspn the Omaha route and returned by the Smoky Hill route, and I have some knowl edge of the topography of all that region east of the Rocky mountains. Now, I ask the attention of the House to the provisions of this bill. As regards the 2nd section of the bill there seems to be no guestion at all. It has been conceded in the chute in the Senate, which I have examined, that through soniebody‘s impropriety there was a forcible violation of the intent of the former law of Congress touching the construction of this Union Pacific railroad; that while congress intended to encourage the rapid construction of the Pacific railroad by previding that it should be built both from the east and from the west as rapidly as the 2 companies could do it, by some means or other it was provided in the report of the committee of conference that the western portion should not be permitted to proceed more than 150 miles from the eastern boundary of California. It seems to be conceded that that was wrong and a violation of the intent of Congress, and that it needs to be corrected. And while nobody disputed that in the Senate, I have yet to hear any person announce on this floor his opposition to it. So much for the 2nd section. It is admitted that that section should be adopted by the House. And now, in regard to the 1st section. It simplyprovides “that the Union Pacific Rail way Company, eastern division, is hereby 1n thorized to designate the general route of the ir said road, and to file a map thereof, as now required by law, ” (not as this law provides, but “as now required bylaw, ”) “at any time before the lst pay of December, 1866.” It simply fixes the time when they may comply with the existing law, and nothing more thus far. It then provides that “upon the filing of the said map, showin the general route of said road, the lands along the entire line thereof, so far as the same may be designated, shall be reserved from sale by order of the SecyInterior.” What lands? The lands granted by the terms of the original act. This act does not create the grant. It makes no grant to the railroad company. It is the lands to which they are entitled under the terms of the original grant. It only provides that these are to e reserved from so e; not to be granted to the company. i It makes no grant of land at all, but simply l, provides for their reservation from sale as soon i, as the route shall be located., Mr. ALLISON. Will my colleague allow i me to ask aquestion? I understand him to | say that the 1st section of this bill does not i make an additional grant of land. He may be i correct in that. But I wish to ask him whether or not under the provisions of this section this " eastern division of the Pacific railroad may not i make a coniicctih with the Union Pacific railroad at a point 50 miles beyond Denver city.