The Speaker having announced as the regular order of business the motion heretofore submitted by Mr. Schenck to reconsider the vote by which the bill of the House (H. R. 1744) to strenthen the public credit, and relating to contracts for the payment of coin, was referred to the Committee of Ways and Means, the House proceeded to its consideration. Pending which, Mr. Schenk moved that the rules be suspended, so that after his right to speak one hour has been exhausted, two more hours may be occupied in 10 minutes' speeches; which motion was disagreed to, two-thirds not voting in favor thereof. Mr. Schenck moved that the rules be suspended, so that after his right to speak one hour has been exhausted, an additional hour may be occupied in ten minutes' speeches; which motion was disagreed to, twothirds not voting in favor thereof. Pending the debate on the said motion to reconsider, Mr. Benjamin F. Butler moved that the House proceed to the consideration of the business on the Speaker's table. Pending which, On motion of Mr. Benjamin F. Butler, the House resolved itself into the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union; and after some time spent therein the Speaker resumed the chair, and Mr. Poland reported that the committee having had under consideration the special order, viz: H. R. 1808. A bill making appropriations for the service of the Post Office Department during the fiscal year ending the 30th of June, 1870, had directed him to report the same with sundry amendments. Pending the question on agreeing to the said amendments, Mr. Beaman moved the previous question; which was seconded and the main question ordered, and under the operation thereof the first and last amendments were disagreed to, and all of the remaining amendments were agreed to. Ordered, That the bill be engrossed and read a third time. Being engrossed, it was accordingly read the third time and passed. Mr. Beaman moved that the vote last taken be reconsidered, and also moved that the motion to reconsider be laid on the table; which latter motion was agreed to. Ordered, That the Clerk request the concurrence of the Senate in the said bill. By unanimous consent indefinite leave of absence was granted to Mr. Burr, Mr. Henry D. Washburn, and Mr. Norris, and for this evening's session to Mr. Gove, Mr. Tift, Mr. Dodge, and Mr. Boyden. On motion of Mr. Roots, by unanimous consent, leave was granted for the withdrawal from the files of the House of the papers in the case of Nancy Reed. The hour of 4 o'clock p. m. having arrived, the House took a recess until 7 o'clock p. m. After the recess, On motion of Mr. Schenck, by unanimous consent, the bill of the House (H. R. 1812) to allow deputy collectors and assistant assessors of internal revenue acting as collectors or assessors the pay of collectors and assessors, with the amendment of the Senate thereto, was taken up and the said amendment was disagreed to. Ordered, That the House insist on its disagreement to the said amendment, and ask a conference with the Senate on the disagreeing votes of the two houses thereon. Ordered, That Mr. Schenck, Mr. Brooks, and Mr. Myers, be the managers at the said conference on the part of the House. Ordered, That the Clerk acquaint the Senate therewith. By unanimous consent, leave of absence was granted to Mr. Fields for to-night. Mr. Spalding moved that the House resolve itself into the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union; and the question being put, no quorum voted. Mr. Ingersoll moved, at 7 o'clock and 40 minutes p. m., that the House adjourn; which motion was disagreed to. Mr. Spalding moved that there be a call of the House; which motion was disagreed to. Mr. Eldridge moved, at 7 o'clock and 45 minutes p. m., that the House adjourn; And the question being put, It was decided in the negative, The yeas and nays being desired Mr. Thomas E. Stewart Frederick Stone John Taffe Nelson Tift John Trimble Lawrence S. Trimble Mr. Charles Upson So the House refused to adjourn. The question then recurred on the motion of Mr. Spalding; It was decided in the affirmative. The House accordingly resolved itself into the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union; and after some time spent therein the Speaker resumed the chair, and Mr. Pomeroy reported that the committee having had under consideration the amendments of the Senate to the bill of the House (H. R. 1599) making appropriations for the naval service for the year ending June 30, 1870, had directed him to report the same recommending concurrence in some of the said amendments and non-concurrence in others of the said amendments. Pending the question on agreeing to the said amendments, Mr. Spalding moved the previous question; which was seconded and the main question ordered to be put. When, By unanimous consent, the further consideration of the said amendments was postponed until to-morrow. On motion of Mr. Benjamin F. Butler, the House again resolved itself into the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union; and after some time spent therein the Speaker resumed the chair, and Mr. Schenck reported that the committee having had under consideration the special order, viz: H. R. 1672. A bill making appropriations for the legislative, executive, and judicial expenses of the government for the year ending June 30, 1870, had come to no resolution thereon. Mr. Benjamin F. Butler, from the Committee on Appropriations, submitted a report in writing upon the estimates of General Harney and J. B. Sanborn for deficiencies in the Indian service; which was committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed. On motion of Mr. Benjamin F. Butler, by unanimous consent, the Committee on Appropriations were discharged from the further consid eration of the letter of the Secretary of the Interior submitting vouchers of J. C. D. Blackburn, and the same was referred to the Committee of Claims; and from a letter from the same, relative to the subsistence of the native population of Saint Paul and Saint George, Alaska, and that the same be referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs. Mr. James M. Ashley called up the motion heretofore submitted by him to reconsider the vote by which the bill of the House (H. R. 1041) granting the right of way to the Walla-Walla and Columbia River Rail. road Company, and for other purposes, was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time. Pending which, On motion of Mr. Holman, at 10 o'clock and 10 minutes p. m., the House adjourned. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1869. Mr. Cook, from the Committee of Elections, submitted a report in writing upon the claim of J. S. Casement to a seat in the House as a delegate from the Territory of Wyoming, accompanied by the following resolution, viz: Resolved, That J. S. Casement is not entitled to a seat in this house as a delegate from the Territory of Wyoming. Ordered, That the said report and resolution be laid on the table and printed. The Speaker laid before the House the bill of the House (H. R. 1460) to regulate the duties on copper and copper ores, returned by the President with his objections, which objections were read, and are as follows, viz: To the House of Representatives: The accompanying bill, entitled "An act regulating the duties on imported copper and copper ores," is, for the following reasons, returned. without my approval, to the House of Representatives, in which branch of Congress it originated. Its immediate effect will be to diminish the public receipts, for the object of the bill cannot be accomplished without seriously affecting the importation of copper and copper ores, from which a considerable revenue is at present derived. While thus impairing the resources of the government, it imposes an additional tax upon an already overburdened people, who should not be further impoverished that monopolies may be fostered and corporations enriched. It is represented, and the declaration seems to be sustained by evidence, that the duties for which this bill provides are nearly or quite sufficient to prohibit the importation of certain foreign ores of copper. Its enactment, therefore, will prove detrimental to the shipping interests of the nation, and at the same time destroy the business, for many years successfully established, of smelting home ores in connection with a smaller amount of the imported articles. This business, it is credibly asserted, has heretofore yielded the larger share of the copper produetion of the country, and thus the industry which this legislation is designed to encourage is actually less than that which will be destroyed by the passage of this bill. It seems also to be evident that the effect of this measure will be to enhance, by seventy per cent., the cost of blue vitriol-an article extensively used in dyeing and in the manufacture of printed and colored cloths. To produce such an augmentation in the price of this commodity will be to discriminate against other great branches of domestic industry, and by increasing their cost to expose them most unfairly to the effects of foreign competition. Legislation can neither be wise nor just which seeks the welfare of a single interest at the expense and to the injury of many and varied interests at least equally important and equally deserv ing the consideration of Congress. Indeed, it is difficult to find any reason which will justify the interference of government with any legiti mate industry, except so far as may be rendered necessary by the requirements of the revenue. As has already been stated, however, the legislative intervention proposed in the present instance will diminish, not increase, the public receipts. The enactment of such a law is urged as necessary for the relief of certain mining interests upon Lake Superior, which, it is alleged, are in a greatly depressed condition, and can only be sustained by an enhancement of the price of copper. If this result should follow the passage of the bill, a tax for the exclusive benefit of a single class would be imposed upon the consumers of copper throughout the entire country not warranted by any need of the government, and the avails of which would not in any degree find their way into the treasury of the nation. If the miners of Lake Superior are in a condition of want, it cannot be justly affirmed that the government should extend charity to them in preference to those of its citizens who, in other portions of the coun try, suffer in like manner from destitution. Least of all should the endeavor to aid them be based upon a method so uncertain and indirect as that contemplated by the bill, and which, moreover, proposes to continue the exercise of its benefaction through an indefinite period of years. It is, besides, reasonable to hope that positive suffering from want, if it really exists, will prove but temporary in a region where agricultural labor is so much in demand and so well compensated. A careful examination of the subject appears to show that the present low price of copper, which alone has induced any depression the mining interests of Lake Superior may have recently experienced, is due to causes which it is wholly impolitic, if not impracticable, to contravene by legislation. These causes are, in the main, an increase in the general supply of copper, owing to the discovery and working of remarkably productive mines, and to a coincident restriction in the consumption and use of copper, by the substitution of other and cheaper metals for industrial purposes. It is now sought to resist, by artificial means, the action of natural laws; to place the people of the United States, in respect to the enjoyment and use of an essential commodity, upon a different basis from other nations, and especially to compensate certain private and sectional interests for the changes and losses which are always incident to industrial progress. Although providing for an increase of duties, the proposed law does not even come within the range of protection, in the fair acceptation of the term. It does not look to the fostering of a young and feeble interest, with a view to the ultimate attainment of strength and the capacity of self-support. It appears to assume that the present inability for successful production is inherent and permanent, and is more likely to increase than to be gradually overcome; yet in spite of this it proposes by the exercise of the law-making power to sustain that interest, and to impose it in hopeless perpetuity as a tax upon the competent and beneficent industries of the country. The true method for the mining interests of Lake Superior to obtain relief, if relief is needed, is to endeavor to make their great natural resources fully available by reducing the cost of production. Special or class legislation cannot remedy the evils which this bill is designed to meet. They can only be overcome by laws which will effect a wise, honest, and economical administration of the government, a re-establishment of the specie standard of value, and an early adjustment of our system of State, municipal, and national taxation, (especially the latter,) upon the fundamental principle that all taxes, whether collected under the internal revenue or under a tariff, shall interfere as little as possible with the productive energies of the people. The bill is therefore returned, in the belief that the true interests of the government and of the people require that it should not become a law. WASHINGTON, D. C., February 22, 1869. After debate, ANDREW JOHNSON. The question was put, Will the House, on reconsideration, agree to the passage of the said bill? Yeas... JYeas. And it was decided in the affirmative, Nays.. Two-thirds voting in favor thereof. Not voting. 115 56 51 The yeas and nays having been taken thereon as required by the Constitution of the United States, |