Mr. NYE. There can be no disagreement in regard to what the contract is, and th etruth is that they ask to be relieved from a portion ofit, and the question submitted to the Senate now is whether the shall be so relieved. I remarked that regarded the provision for the establishment oftlns line as a great step in what I hope will be a successful effort on Or“ part to enter into the contest With other nations for the commercial mastery of that great ocean. I know that at the time one of the con‘ siderations was that these steamers should touch at Honolulu. I regard it as important now that we should have a line of steamers to Honolulu; but of much greater importance do I regard it that we should have this line of steamers established for the great prime cause for which it was intended to be established, to control the trade of China and Japan. We are not to achieve that without a great struggle. Already the British Government have a line of steamers running to Panama; already have millions of dollars been expended by the French Government on a beautiful line of ships from Panama, to contest with us for the mastery of that trade. It is not. further from Pan pma to China, and I think not quite so far, as it is from SanFrancisco to China, by the usual routes ofsailing. If in the contest for. thatlgreat trade we are to lose 5 da 3 on our outward and 5 days on our inwa passage of course the contest is already settled; other Governments become the masters of that trade, and like our other efforts to grasp for commercial equality this will be a failure. I agree perfectly with the Senfrom Maine that this was the contract they made. But they have done a little more, thus far, than merely to carry out their contract. Instead of making their ships of 3,000 tons, they are making them of 4,000 tons, which is equal, in other measurements, to about 5,000 tons capacity. The object in that was to have, in the 1st place, a class of ships that would defy the ships of other nations to 1 compete with them.