Mr. MORRILL. That helps me so far on in my argument. [Laughter] That is our interest; it at is our industry; these public lands belong to the West. [Laughter.] Touch them when you will, where on will, for any purpose, and the West says, ” and s off, that IS ours.” On a former occasion I tried to justif our interest, our great industry, by showing that outside of the local concern it had a grand national aspect; but this is not put upon any such ground as that. We are taking a million acres away from the wagon roads, canals, railroads, &c., of the West! Now, I insist upon it that unless this can be met on some principle, the opposition is not exactly fair. This is the 1st and I have ever known attempted to be taken mm the West and appropriated, not to the West, not to the States, but to this place which is needy enough, Heaven knows. It is said this grant will cover over 40 miles square. I have not computed it. What has this Government devoted to the interests of opular education in the western States chic y, not the Northwest? Over 54 million acres, 50 times 40 miles square. More than 2000 miles square the Government has devoted for the interest of popular education, and Iglory init. It is a gran pol icy for which I have never failed to vote, and think it was well bestowed, worthily bestowed. The same principle that authorized this Government to do thatjnstities this and demands it. Then again for the public improvement, the general welfare, you vote your and s for roads of all descriptions wagon roads, railroads, and all variety of enterprises. Nobody has ever heard me grudge it or doubt the policy of doin it. Sometimes I have thought they were a litt e extravagant; when I have seen the tables covered here day after day with all sorts of projects, I have thought that the Government was pretty munificent, to say the least of it. Why, sir, what has this Government done for the railroads, counting out the great enter rise to which there is no end, the end of which no mortal man can see both in money and lands I mean the road across the continent? Inde pendent of that, we have voted for the enjoyment of States in the West over 60six million acres and now, when we want only a million to educate the poor people in this district, we are met with this o)jection. Besides that, not running on a line with this policy by any means, the legislation of the country shows that over 60 million acres of lands have been received by the land States as swam lands, and an amount in addition to that claimed running up now as the Land office shows to over 70four millions claimed by them as swamplands; and you would have to sink an artesian well to find water on a good many of them. [Laughter] The best lands in those States have been covered over under that policy, and the States have enjoyed them; and when the honorable Senfrom Massachusetts, in his great solicitude to romote public education, comes in here an only as s a million acres, the Senfrom Kansas rises and tries to make us believe that somebody will be oppressed if we do so. I submit, Mr. President, that there is no apprehension of any danger of that description; and I submit that the precedents are ample to justify this. The precedent of giving lands to the agricultural colleges is exactly on a line with t is. I take no interest in the matter except that I happen to be associated in some sense with the interests of this district which I know to be needy, needy above any community with which I am acquainted in the northern portion of this country, needing education and needing the encouragement of education more than any community I know. I hope the Senate of the U.S., out of its great abun dance, considering its liberality in the directions to which I have alread referred, will feel that it is not a very extraordinary thing, to say the least of it, to make this grant.