Mr. CONNESS. The honorable Senator, when up, touched a point of this subject which throws a flood of light upon it. He says that this bill originnted in applications made to the Interior Dept for leases for such property, and that the SecyInterior has had applications offering 2 or 3,000 dollars perannum for islands in the bay of SanFrancisco and dutside of the bay. Now, this explains the whole matter. Our people I do not mean now the people of California, but the people of the U.S. go and take possessron of a soda or sulphur spring; they bottle the waters and send them into the market; they erect such works and improvements as are necessary to carry on that business; and then their envious and ljealous neighbors, knowing that the title in fee has not passed to those persons, desire to get thelegal possession from the U.S., and thus make these forms of application. That is the origination of this bill. Applications have been made, we are told, to the SecyInterior for islands in the bay of SanFrancisco. What islands? There are only a few islands there. There are only 3 islands in that bay, namely Alcatraz, Angel Island, and Ycrba Buena or Goat 1'51 and They are all 3 Government reserves for military purposes. The Government has taken complete and entire possession of 2 of them, and nobody is permitted to go upon them except by leave of the govrnment. I do not know whether the Government'has taken complete ppssession of the other, but there are parties living upon it who, however, have no title, the title being in the Government of the U.S., and they are set apart by the President as part of the government reserves for war or cfensive pnr oses. It seems that parties apply for those is ands. Why? Because they contain valuable quar ries of stone which, in one case, the Government is now using. Parties, of course, would give $2,000 for one of those large islands. Our troow occupying the harbor of SanFran cisco are stationed on those islands. They have farms and gardens for the support of the posts 11 on them.