Mr. ALLEY. Mr. Speaker, it will be recol lected by the House that at the last session this commission was appointed to select a site for a new postoffice and courthouse in the city of NewYork. From that time to this the gentlemen composing the commission have been engaged in endeavoring to procure a suitable site. They have succeeded in having, placed at the disposal of the Government for this purpose some 26 lots at the lower end of the park, containing some 66,000 square feet. The city of NewYork proposes to sell to the Government this property for $500,000, to be used for the purposes of the st office and courts of the U.S. This is a very small sum in comparison with the real value of the property. I have conversed with gentlemen well qualified to determ ine the value of such property, and they say that upon a fair estimate it is worth at least $4,000,000. One gentleman upon this floor, who is known to be possessed not only of excellent judgment, but amply able to back up pecuniarily whatever he says, declared to me that he would give $3,000,000 for this property which the city of NewYork proposes to sell to the Government for $500,000. This commission, as all are aware, is composed of some of the most high minded gentlemen of the city of NewYork, all of whom have the entire confidence of the whole community. These gentlemen propose, in case the Government should desire to make this purchase and to erect this building, to serve until it is completed gratuitously. And if gentlemen observed the names, as read, they will recognize the fact that they furnish a sufficient guaranty that the work will be done in the most expeditious and economical manner, without and without a fat job to anybody. This JtResolution does not propose, as was recommended by the SecyIn terior and the PostMGenl, to appropriate $1,500,000 to erect the building. In the opinion of the committee it was thought best to authorize this commission to procure estimates and plans and to submit them for the approval of the SecyInterior and the PostMGenl, and by them to be communicated to Congress, when such appro: priation could be made as the facts merit and estimates might justify. The committee thought it best to go no further than to recommend the purchase of the site, and that the commission should be continued to procure estimates and plans.