Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, I do not think that anyone can accuse inc ofbeing hostile to railroad interests, for I believe that I introduced the 1st bill that was introduced into this body for the construction of a bridge across the Mississi ipi river; and I did it with the full understaning that the time had come when it was necessary to have continuous lines of transit across that river. In that bill there was a provision taken from the law of congress which was on our statute books providing, in the alternate, for the construction of bridges with continuous spans or else draw bridges. When that bill was sent out to the West and was ublished in the newspapers there, it elicited) a great deal of discussion; and I. think I am safe in saying that in all the navigating interestof the Mississippi river there was one universal protest raised against the construction of draw bridges. They had had some experience of those things. They knew what the dangers and the interruptions were, and they said, “If you will bridge this river, at least throw around it the reeaution that shall give us a bridge which Will not interfere with the navigation; make it. a bridge similar to the bridge that has been built across the StLawrence, a bridge similar to other bridges that are now in existence, and that simply require a little more money to make them permanent structures, and then we will forcgo our objections; we will take down our chimneys; we will change the construction of our steam ers; we will dispense to a great extent with the height of our pilot houses, and will ada t our system of navigation as far as practicable to facilitating the transit across the river.” It was in pursuance of such suggestions that I felt called upon, in maturing the bill, to strike out the provision for draw bridges. I will say further that so much had it imressed members of the Senate and espeeially those resi dent upon the other branches of that stream, that they felt called upon to confer together and procure the passage of a bill for the appomtment of a commission which should go to work and examine the topograph of that stream, which should report upon the proc ticability of utting bri ges across at these points, and which should lay before us at the next session of Congress that exact information upon which we could act with the assurance that we were not destroying or in any degree obstructing one of the great highways of this continent. Now, sir, in view of the fact. that that commission has been provided by law; in view of the fact that the Senfrom Iowa, in his remarks in laboring through the attempt to give us some topographical knowledge oft at country, failed to satisfy anyone in regard to the exact features of the ground on either side where these bridges are proposed; in view of the dearth of all knowledge on our part in regard to what effect these draw bridges are 30mg to hare I say that the request of my l colleague that the construction of these bridges be deferred until we can receive this report is not unreasonable. I do not think that my colleague has any desire to prevent the construction of bridges across thht stream; I do not think that he has any hostility to the railroad interests of the country, but I do think that be has a very deep interest, matured by long study, of the navigation interests of the His sissippi river. I therefore ask that the Sea ate, in passing uponlhis measure, will put that guard around it so that we may have the benefitof this knowled e before these bridges are constructed. It wilTonly be a delay of 2 or 3 months. It will be a delay that need not stop them at all, for they can go ahead, under the provisions of the amendment, and build the other kind of bridges. I do not see, really, what there is to be lost by it. I do not see why those gentlemen themselves who advocate these bridges should object to it.