Mr. PRICE. I cannot yield now. if I had the time I would with a great deal of pleasure, because I know the gentleman is a modest man and scarcely ever takes the floor unless he is entitled to it. [Laughter] An more than that, he always speaks in the interest of the people, and when he dies the people's advocate will have gone to “That bourne whence no traveler returns.” Sir, there are a few people other than those in Galena who are interested in this matter. There are a few people both east and west of the Mississippi who are interested in having this continent spanned by railroads, so that the Atlantic and the Pacific regions may be bound together by bands of iron. If you stop them at the Mississippi river what will the people East and West do for a convenient means of communication across the continent? Faith without works is dead; and a railroad across the continent without bridges across the rivers is almost useless at some seasons of the year. And I venture to say, that if today you were standing upon the banks of the Mississippi river you might remain there shivering. to get across if there were no bridges. The steamboats cannot run, and the ice is not a safe means of transit; and without a bridge there would be a complete suspension of railroad communication, or of any other kind. This Clinton bridge differs from the RockIsland bridge in this respect: the Clinton bridge stands in i. water, while the other bridge stands in swift water. This bridge at Clinton stands with the piers parallel with the channel, as the engineers testify; and as the best and strongest argument to the House in favor of the passage of this bill I will say that for all the years this bridge has stood there not a single dollar of damage by it has been brought into the courts for adjudication; and so far as I am aware no damage has been sustained from it up to this time. If there had been, no man upon this floor would be more willing than I would be to remove it or to so change it that it would not be an obstruction. Now, I was not one of the junketing party to which the Gentfrom Illinois (Mr. WASHBURNE] has referred; nor do I come within the argument of the Gentfrom Ohio, [Mr. Schenck] and which he illustrated by reference to some Miami bridge. I do not own any stock in this Clinton bridge or in any railroad connected with it, directly or indirectly. So I am clear of all those insinuations. If there was a bridge over the Misissippi river which impeded the navigation of it I would be in favor of its removal. And I shall ask this House before Congress adjourns to make an appropriation to clear out the lower rapids of the grandest river in the world, so as to remove what is now one of the greatest obstruc.tions to its navigation. This bridge is no obstruction to its navigation, and therefore this billought to pass. the question was upon the passage of the bill.