Mr. GARFIELD. Mr. Speaker, without having examined carefully into the navigation laws of this count, I have ooked enough into them to be satisfie of one or 2 things, which I desire to suggest to this House betore the vote is taken upon the passage of this bill. In the 1st place, we have navigation laws borrowed from those monuments of tyranny, the navigation laws of GreatBritain which more than another laws ever enacted by the Parliament o GreatBritain were the cause of the American Revolution. Among other feat ures of our navigation laws is one that forbids the buyinga vessel from a foreign country and sailing it under our flag, if it is a foreign bot tom, no matter how cheap we may purchase it, or under what circumstances we may obtain it. Unless we ourselves lay out upon it more in value than the original value of building the bottom abroad, we cannot sail it under the American flag. That, of course, shuts out all foreignabuiltvessels, however valuable they may be at any time. But I am not discussing that now, nor will I enter into a consideration of that subject at this time. But the question now under consideration is this: during this great war, when we were unable to protect our ship ping on the high seas, to protect our ships sailing under our fla, there were many patriotic Amerlcan citizens who simply registered their vessels for sailin under a foreign flag, that they might carry on their commerce without having their prope destroyed by the pirates infesting the seas. ow, when 800,000 tons of American shiping have thus been transferred by registry or y sale to a foreign flag, it is proposed that none of it shall ever be returned except by express act of Cengress. One 5th of our entire mer chant marine has left us, and by thisbill all that will be excluded from our merchant service entirely. Now, one gentlemen who has spoken upon this question as spoken of these vessels as (le setters in the same way precisely as we speak of deserters from our Army. I care far more about our tonnage on the sea than I care about the individual shipper who took a register under a forei u flag. It is not a question now with me what the status of the shipperhimself may be. I do not impose to injure all the interests of our nlere lant marine for the purpose of afew ofour speculators. It seems to me spitini it would show a great want of properpolicy on our part to do so.