Mr. NYE. Mr. President, in calling the attention of the Senate to this bill by the motion just made, I did not intend to press it in advance of any other more important measure; but I deem it quite important to the country, and especially important to these contractors, that they should know as soon as possible the exact condition in which they are to stand. A little more than a year ago this Senate adopted a resolution authorizin and directing the Navy Dept of the government to appoint 3 cometent persons to ascertain the actual cost tot c contractors of the vessels and steam machinery that had been accepted by the Government. I assumed then that the Senate conceded one point, that by authorizing the board to do that duty they conceded that the Government were at least equitably bound to pay the actual cost of these vessels and machiiier to the contractors. In introducing that resolution I had no other object in view thaii to ascertain the exact cost of these vessels and the machinery, so that at this present session of Congress the subject could be acted on understandingly. We assumed, of course, that the Dept would appoint such a board as in all of its constituent parts would make a perfect whole to ascertain that fact; and we rested upon that sn position. They apointed that board and the oard havereportc. heir report has been the subject of investigation by the ComNavAffrs, and as the Senfrom Indiana [Mr. HENDRICKS] has said, received the careful consideration of the sub committee to which it was referred. They came to the conclusion that it was no more than an act of justice on the part of this government to pay to the contractors the actual cost of the labor they had performed. Sir, it seems to me in all its phases to be eminently just. The whole system of this mode of naval construction was new. the Government itselfkncw very little about it, and the contractors as little as the Government. But an absolute necessity existed for the construction of these ships; the necessities of the Government were such that, cost what they might, it must have them, and the ships have answered well the end for which they were constructed. I think Icaii say in truth that there is no class of men who have been on aged on Government contracts that have dispiayed a nobler spirit of self sacrifice and patriotism to the Government than those men who vied with each other to see who could construct the best and most efficient vessels of war. At any rate the Government had determined to have this class of ships, and made its contracts for them in 1862 and 1863, and from that time until the period of their completion the reasons are argple and very clearly set forth why there must necessity have been a great increase in the cost of the work. The Government acknowledged this. The Government acknowl edged that it did not know itself what it did want and was constantly retarding the work on these ships by alterations from the specifications in the contracts. It is patent to us all that from 1862 to 1864 not only the price of labor, but of every mate rial which enters into the construction of a shi, almost doubled in cost. So accurate were t ic board that had this, matter under investigation, that they required of these contractors that they should give the price of labor perhour during every month that they were engaged in the construction of these ships. Upon that point there is no question that the statements rendered are true and perfectly reliable; they come to the ComNavAffrs certified by the president of the board as correct and true. The Senate will bear in mind that these contractors were invited and required to appear, not before a tribunal of their own choosing, not before a tribunal where they had the o portunity of even choosing one member. but the Government itself fixed the tribunal, and required and demanded the presence of these contractors before that board, in comliance with the resolution that the Senate had adopted. Then, sir, there are 2 things which the Government had done. The Senate had passed the resolution, and the Navy Dept had acted under that resolution. board was organized, and before it these men were required to appear. That board was diligent in its business, and sat from June until December, and it required these contractors to come before it and present their claims. Was the Government in earnest with these contractors, or was it trifling with them? Was this all to go for naught and the judgment of the board to be reversed and the Senate of the U.S. to sit as a court of appeals for the purpose of reversin the judgment of the board) appointed by the government itself? Sir, the committee to which this subject was referred felt that our inquiries need go no further than to ascertain what was the actual cost of these vessels. To ascertain that, a board ofinquiry had been sit ting for 5 months, and we took the report of that board as evidence of the cost of these ships. It seems to me that that is just. When a poor mechanic or contractor has gone on to do work for the Government, and has, as my friendfrom Iowa HMr. GRIMES] said yesterday, involved not on y all his own fortune but the fortune of his friends in the construction of these ships, and when the Government by a tribunal of its own has declared that the cost of these ships was so much, it seems to me that the Government is estopped from going back of the judgment of the tribunal of its own selection. Sir, are we to be told that this Government is too poor to be just? Are we to be told here that this tribunal had not sufficient ability to determine what the cost of these ships was? I have observed that whenever a tribunal is appointed by this Government to ascertain w art is due from the Government it is exceedingly exaclin, exceeding ly careful, and it is very rarely hat a mistake is made in giving the applicant or contractor more than he on lit to receive. I approve of that care and oft int scrutiny but I assert that when ajudgment is rendered in favor of a claimant this Government should be controlled by it. The Senfrom NewHampshire, [Mr. CLARK] always careful, always vigilant, and exceedingly scrutinizing, denounced this as an omnibus bill. Sir, here are just as many bills as there were double enders and iron clmls that were accepted by this Government. He fears that an unjust bill is to be carried through on the back of just bills. In answer to that, let me say there is no greater probability of there being danger of one bill helping another, in the bill as it is presented, than though there were 40 separate bills. I therefore dismiss that suggestion made by the Senator with that simple explanation. the Senfrom Iowa, the chairman of the ComNavAffrs, proposes to give these contractors 12%. in addition to their contract price. I do not think that that mode of relief is as nst as the other; I do not believe that it will eas equitable to all these arties, and for this reason: by, l that proposition some will get more, perhaps, than they would get under the award as it has been rendered, and some will get greatly less. Some will get more than they ought to have, and others will get less than they ought to have. It seems to me that when the amount which is due these contractors for the actual cost of their work is ascertained, that is the exact measure of justice which the Government ought to mete out to them in a spirit of magiiniiimit.