Mr. TRUMBULL. To preserve navigationl Why, sir, I believe there is some such suggestion as that in the report made by the Senfrom NewHampshire, that by building levees up in Arkansas improvements are to be made to the mouths of the Mississippi river 5 or 600 miles below. It seems to me there is no constitutional authority whatever for such an appropriation; and if there were constitutional authority for iIt, think there is no pro priet in making the appropriation. This is not or the poor men oft e South; it is not for the destitute people; but this is an appropriation that is being made of a million and a half of money to the wealth men of the South; it is to the large land ho]ers of the South; it is not of one dollar’s advantage to the great mass of the people of the southern country. It is an appropriation to the rich men who are able to buy out the very persons who will appropriate the money. And are your constituents and mine, sir, small farmers in Illinois and Indiana and in the West, to be taxed for the purpose of building fences around the cotton plantations and an ar plantations of the wealthy down upon the ArIrausas and Mississippi rivers who have been waging war a inst us? The benefit of this appro iriution is for them. But, as i said, I do not wish to take up time. I wish to state the 2 propositions on which I rely. In the 1st place, in my judgment, the constitutional authority for this appropriation is extremely questionable, and in the 2ndplace it is an appropriation the benefit of which is to be for e wealthy and not for the suffering. If it is an improvement necessar to be made, let the ownerss of those plantations who hold them by the 1,000s of acres sell half their lands and make them, or let the parties who have mort ges these plantations, the rich and upon the wen thy who are to have the benefit of this, sell off a portion of the land and appropriate the proceeds to the improvement of tarest. As ameasure to conciliate the South I have no sort of faith in it. The conciliation is to that class of men who brought on this war; it is to the aristocrats of the South, to the slavcholders of the South; they were the persons who owned these large plantations that are to be protected by these Ieveos. I trust the amendment will not pass with0ut the serious consideration of the Senate. I ask for the yeas&nays upon it. ’{lhe was&nays were ordered. Mr. the last remark of the Senfrom Illinois. I hope that this measure will not pass without the serious consideration of the Senate; but I do also hope that it will pass with the serious consideration of the Senate, because it is a matter to which I so pose the Senate will give its consideration, and will act upon its serious consideration. For the last 4 years the levees on the Mississipi river have been, one way and an other, chiefly by neglect and by flood and by the operation of the war, broken down to a very great extent. Early in December last, considering the extent to which these levees had been broken down. the SecyWar ordered GenlHumphreys to make a survey of the river, to the intent that he might do, something toward building npthe levees. GenlHumphreys went to make that survey, but when he got through the army had been removed to a cat extent, through which the SecyWar had intended to make some repairs; but he made a report to Congress, which has been brought here this session, stating that it would cost.to build up those levees and put them in ordinary repair about 4 million dollars. Any one, I think, will see, when I state that sum, that it must be beyond the reach of those people within any ordinary criod to reconstruct and repair the levees. They may do it in time; they may do a part this year, and a part next year, an a part the year after, and by and by bring them to a state of repair which shall enable them to cultivate their land. But in the meantime that people is sulfering; the plantations are lying waste, and the national Government is absolutely losing more in the waste and destruction of property and in the want of general prosperity than it would cost to make the appropriattion.