Mr. SHERMAN. That is true; but I hap pen to know that there are new comnies organizing with a view to compete with this monopol. I heartily sympathize with the Senfrom Missouriin trying to break down the self assbeiated and self constituted monop oly now of the telegraph companies. Here you makealegal monopoly, hot merely a monopoly growing out of the association of capital combining together to construct lines, driving away all competition, breaking down new lines a self associated monopoly but here we organize by law a monopoly for 14 years, which has the exclusive power over the chain of communication that may be as important to our foreign commerce as the line between here and SanFrancise o is to our internal commerce. Now. to say that this will cost something, and that these men will not invest their money in the project unless we give them this exclusive monopoly, it seems to me, is an imputation upon the enterprise and energy of the American people. There are but 100 miles of water communication, ifI understand the distances, between the capes of Florida and the nearest point on the island of Cuba. The cable need not be over 100 miles long. Telegraphic communication would rapidly be opened up to Florida. Here is an exclusive monopol, not merely from a particular oint in Floria, but from the whole coast of ilor ida, some 2 or 300 miles long, so that no other telegraph cable can touch the American shore connecting with the West India islands, or with South America, without the consent of this company, a private company organized by the State of NewYork. Vhat reason is given for this? None whatever, except that the Queen of Spain, probably for an enormous bounty paid to her or the government of Spain, has ranted a similar mo nopoly so far as the islan of Cuba is concerned. That is the only pretense and the only reason given why we should grant an exclusive mo nopoly to this company. As a matter of course if these persons without this special grant lay their cable successfully, they will substantially have a monopoly for a time, because new enterprises will not desire to compete with them; but when the time comes that new lines are required, the competition ought to be free and open; and there is no more reason now for granting an exclusive monopoly to this company than there was in granting an exclusive monopoly to the Pacific Telegraph Company when that line was 1st built. I trust, therefore, that we may give to this company ample facilities to build the line; I am perfectly willing to go beyond what the bill as I understand, does now in that respect, and to give them the right to import their wire free of duty, simply because I am told. the wire used for submarine telegraph cables is not yet made in this countgy and cannot be made here. I am willing to acilitate the building of the tele graph line; but I do not think we on ht to tie up our hands for 14 years an reveut the Government of the U.S., i necessary, from building a similar line, or any other citizen from doing.it, or preventing the State of Florida from doing it. There is another very serious question. Flor ida is a State or willrhe a State in the Union at some time. For 14 years it is not expected that Florida will be kept in its present condition. No one anticipates such a result. Have we the power to give an exclusive right to this company to land on the coast of Florida? What right have we to withdraw the whole of that State from the jurisdiction of the State authorities? What will prevent the State of Florida from authorizing the construction of lines there? Is not this the invitation of a legal controversy to grow out of this matter? Does not the U.S. here assume to give a private company in the State of. NewYork a power which parks a only the State of Floria can exercise? Senators may say that that is a question for the courts; but here is an attempt to exercise power of this kind and to tie up the industry and commerce and enterprise of our people for a long time. The more I think of it, the more I reflect upon it, the more I am convinced that we ought not to make this privilege exclusive. Let us give a liberal grant to the company so as to induce them to construct this line; give such reasonable facilities as are necessary. The Senfrom Iowa says they do not need it. I heard as a matter of news I will not vouch for this that the company who obtained the Spanish grant paid a very large sum of money for it; that is, they regarde the privilege as extremely valuable; and I have no doubt if we grant this exclusive privilege to this company, the exclusive privileges granted by the 2 nations to the 2 companies will be worth I do not know how muc money g perhaps $1,000,000. It is said we ought not to object to such companies making money. I do not. I like to see them make money; it induces enterprise and energy; but I do not want to sec them make mone at the expense of the whole people of the UyU.S. I do not want t mm to control and hold all the avenues of communication between this country and South America and the West India islands and Panama. Our commerce with the Pacific flows around on the very line the propose to take. Nearly all of it comes by anama. It will be years before the Pacific railroad is constructed, and in the mean time the Panama railroad and our communications by way of the isthmuses will be our chief means of communication with California. The necessity of communicating with our commerce in all the southern seas, very much enlarged and increased by the necessity of going around by Panama for our California trade, will make this line extremely valuable. The difficulties in the way of its construction are not so serious as should induce us to give any such privileges. There are only 100 miles of sea to be trav ersed by a submarine cable, and there are works of that kind already constructed. I think in Asia they have one across the Black sea. I am not now fully informed as to the submarine cables that have been laid, but I think one of them is laid for over 300 miles.