Mr. STROUSE. Mr. Speaker, I desire to say that a bill similar to this, having been referred to the ComMining, has been examined by each member of that' committee. By the chairman it. was referred to me. I have given it a thorough examination; I have ascertained allthe facts connected with it; and I am satisfied that the construction of this tunnel is one of the greatest enter prises ever undertaken on the merican continent. As the completion of the tunnel will require.a large expenditure of ca ital, it is necessary that the enterprise shal have the sanction of the American Congress. This great work when constructed will be of vast benefit, not only to the Pacific slope, but to the country. The ComMining are thoroughly satisfied that the bill should pass. The bill, which was read at length, provides in the 1st section that for the purpose of the construction of a deep draining an exploring tunnel to and beyond the Comstock lode, socalled, in the State of Nevada, the right of way be granted to A. Sutro, his heirs and assigns, to run, construct, and excavate a mining, draining, and exploring tunnel; also to sink mining, working, or air shafts along the line or course of the tunnel, and connecting 'with the same at any points which may hereafter be selected by the grantee, his heirs or assigns. The tunne is to be at least 8 feet high and 8 feet wide, and to commence at some point to be selected by the grantee, his heirs or assigns, at the hills near Carson river, and within the boundaries of Lyon county, and extending from said initial point in a westerly direction, 7 miles, more or less, to and beyond the Comstock lode; and the right of way is to extend northerly and southerly on the course of the lode, either within the same or east or west of the same, and also on or along any other lode which may be discovered or developed by the tunnel. The 2nd section grants to A. Sutro, his heirs and assigns the right to purchase, at $1 25 peracre, a sufficient amount of public land near the month of the tunnel for the use of the same, not exceeding 2 sections, and such land is not to be mineral land or in the bona fide possession of other persons who claim under any law of Congress at the time of the passage of this act, and all minerals existing or which shall be discovered therein are excepted from the grant. It is provided that upon filing a plot of said land, the SecyInterior shall withdraw the same from sale, and upon payment for the same a patent shall issue. And Sutro, his heirs and assigns, are granted the right to purchase, at 5 dollars peracre, such mineral veins and lodes within 2,000 feet on each side of the tunnel as shall be cut, discovered, or devel oped by running and constructing the same, through its entire extent, with all the (lips, spurs, and angles of such lodes, subject, however, to the provisions of this act and to such legislation as congress may hereafter provide. The Comstock 105;, with its dips, spurs, and angles, is excepted from this grant; and all other lodes, with their dips, spurs, and angles located within the said 2,000 feet, and which are or may be at the passage of this act, in the actual bonafide possession of other persons, are also excepted)from the grant. I‘he lodes herein excepted, other than the comstock lode, are to e withheld from sale by the U.S.; and if such lodes shall be aban doned or not worked, possessed, and held in conformity to existing mining rules, or such regulations as have been or may be prescribed by the Legislature of Nevndn, they shall become subject to such right of purchase by Sutro, his heirs or assigns. The 3rd section proposes to enact that all persons, companies, or corporations, owning claims or mines on the Comstock lode or any other lode, drained, benefited, or developed by the tunnel, shall hold their claims subject to the condition which shall be expressed in any grant they may hereafter obtain from the U.S. that they shall contribute and pay to the owners of the tunnel the same rate of charges for drainage, or other benefits derived from the tunnel or its branches, as have been or may hereafter be named in agreements between such owners and the companies representinga majority of the estimated value of the Comstock lode at the time of the passage of this act. The billwas ordered to a 3rd reading, read the 3rd time, and passed.