Mr. KASSON. I wish to state to the House that I understand the action of the committee alittle differently. If the question was to concur with the amendment the chairman will remember it innst have failed. There iIs, think, an error in the report. But whether there is an error or not, the question is presented to the House, and I shall be glad to have its attention for 5 minutes. In my opinion, the House ought to concur in the amendment of the senate, which was reported to the Senate by a select committee, was fully debated and argued in the Senate at great length, and only 5 Senatorsin the whole body were found to o pose the propositionfortheimprovement of the power Mississippi river. The proposition is to appropriate $1,500,000 for the immediate necessary repairs of the levees of the Mississippi riverin the States of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, and the reasons for iIt will briefly state. There are many (about 31) 1,000 square miles of the best cotton and sugar lands in the U.S. that have been formerly reclaimed from over flow and used for the cultivation of cotton. By reason of the great innndations that have occurred during and since the war, some of the crevasses of the levees have been caused by the rebel forces and others by the Union armies, during the military occupation of the country, these valuable lands of unequaled fertility are rapidly comingunder the dominion of the cane brakes of the South. Unless somethingis speed ily done the Will be rendered useless foryears to come. ot oiily will the farms be rendered.ncapable of cultivation, but the laborers of the South, the freedmen, to the number of 100s of 1,000s, will be without employment there unless the improvcment is made, and you will have to continue to vote your millions for their support: With this improvement on will not only cultivate the habit of labor, at you will provide the means for puyingthem for the service which they perform; and in addition to thatyou can produce out of these lands, as the report of the select committee indicates, at least 2,500,000 bales of cotton annually, which, with an internalrevenue tax of 3 cents perpound will pay some thirt millions of the internalrevenue of the U.S. annually. The necessity for immediate action is this: if the appropriation is not made at this time you will not lie able to employ your labor during the coming winter to effect the repairs, and you will lose the entire next year’s crop. With the addition of that next year’s crop we can make the balance of exchange between this country and Europe decidedly in our favor. Without that crop our embarrassments may still continue. With the cotton tax you not only replace this money in the Treasury, but you more than double, you treble or quad ruple, the amount expended out of the proceeds of the crop. I have made a very brief statement and I now desire to get a vote upon it as soon as may e.