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On motion by Mr. FOOT, the Senate resumed, as in Committee of the Whole, the consideration of the bill making a grant of public lands to the several States and Territories of the Union for the benefit of indigent insane persons, the pending question being on the amendment submitted by Mr. PETTIT, on the 9th instant, when the bill was under consideration, to insert the following:

"Provided, That all the grants of land provided for by this act shall be confined to such States as have public lands in them equal to the amount hereby granted to such State."

Mr. PETTIT. I rise, sir, not to detain the Senate in the consideration of this bill, but for the purpose of withdrawing the amendment which offered to it. In doing so, I wish simply to state that I do not withdraw it because I yield the idea that to the new States their own territory and land ought to belong. That, I hold, should have been the early policy of the Government; and, so far as my vote now can go towards securing to them what they ought to have had originally, I shall be found pursuing such a course. But since we have been informed by the Senator from Iowa -Mr. DODGE- that there is more insanity and lunacy, not to say idiocy, in the old northern free States than in the western and southern States, it may be a matter of philanthropy and justice to pass the bill as a remedy for that afflicted class. In this state of things I will withdraw my amendment.

The PRESIDENT. If there be no objection, the Senator will have leave to withdraw the amendment.

Mr. FOOT. I wish to offer an amendment, which is recommended by the Committee on Public Lands. Before doing so, allow me to say that I am entirely satisfied with the act of the Senator from Indiana in withdrawing his amendment, without indorsing his reason, or taking time, at present, to combat it. The Committee on Public Lands have authorized and directed me to move to amend, the first section of the substitute reported by them, by striking out the words -- "And that the representation of any Slate shall not be computed at less than six members."

and to insert in lieu thereof:

"And that said apportionment shall be made after first allotting to each State one hundred thousand acres."

The Committee on Public Lands bestowed very much reflection and study upon the question of the proper basis of the distribution of these lands among the several States, having reference not only to the present population of the States, but also to the prospective and more rapidly increasing population of the new States. To distribute these lands among the several States according to their population or representation, would not, in the opinion of the committee, be quite just to the new and less populous States at the present time. To adopt the basis of territorial area, on the other hand, would be doing injustice to the old and more populous States. They adopted then the compound ratio of population or representation and territorial area, with a certain limitation. The committee, after much reflection and consideration upon the subject, came to the conclusion that this constituted the most equitable basis upon which they could propose the distribution of these lands.

Mr. WELLER. I desire to move to strike out a portion of the first section of the substitute reported by the committee, and I do not know to what extent my objection has been obviated by the amendment which has been just submitted. I understand the Senator from Vermont to say that the basis of distribution is a compound one -- that of representation in Congress, and the quantity of square miles of land within the limits of the States. Now, by taking either of these, great injustice will be done to the State from whence I come.

You provide that the area of a State shall not be taken to exceed 50,000 square miles. The State of California has nearly 150,000 square miles. You then fix upon the basis of representation in the other branch of Congress. The State of California has but two members there, though she is justly entitled, in my judgment, at this day, to least four members. This compound ratio, therefore, which has been fixed upon by the Committee on Public Lands, will necessarily do great injustice to that State by fixing upon the quantity a lands to which she is entitled.

Now, whilst I am in favor of the general principles of this bill, I am unwilling that this gross injustice shall be done to the States which have a larger quantity of land than that fixed as a maximum in this bill. I desire, therefore, to move to strike Out that portion of the bill which limits the area of the States to fifty thousand square miles, leaving each State to receive a quantity of land in proportion to the amount which may be found within its limits. My State is interested, as well as other States, in providing for this numerous class of people; for there are many insane people there, who have gone from the older States, with the anticipation, perhaps, of making fortunes very suddenly; but finding themselves disappointed in that, have become deranged, and are now charges upon the people of that State for support. Unless my difficulty be obviated by the amendment now proceed, shall move to strike out that proviso

Mr. FOOT. I propose, in order to meet the objection of the Senator from California, to withdraw the amendment which I offered, and in lieu of it, to move to strike out the whole of the proviso as it at present stands, and to insert in lieu of it:

Provided, That said apportionment shall be made after first allotting to each State one hundred thousand acres.

These words are to take the place of the present proviso, which reads:

"Provided, That the area of no State shall he computed at more than fifty thousand square miles, and that the representation of any State shall not be computed at less than six members."

Mr. DAWSON. I have a suggestion to make to which I should like to have an answer. As I understand the bill, it proposes to allot to all the States, except the old thirteen --

Mr. FOOT. To all the States -- to each of the thirty-one States -- one hundred thousand acres is first to be allotted. That will require three millions one hundred thousand acres out of the ten millions of acres proposed to be granted. Then the remaining six millions nine hundred thousand acres will be apportioned upon the compound ratio of representation and territorial area.

Mr. DAWSON. Then it is all right.

Mr. ADAMS. Mr. President, I shall ask for the yeas and nays upon the passage of this bill. I wish to say, however, that I dislike very much to vote against it, considering the purposes to be effected by it. I conceive, however, that this is a much more objectionable mode of disposing of the public lands than the distribution of their proceeds. It is true, that one of the objections which I have had heretofore to the bill -- that it made one State a freeholder in another -- is obviated by the bill in its present form; yet, a State having no lands within its limits is authorized to sell its land scrip to individuals, and the assignee of the State has the liberty of locating the land within the limits of the new States. What will be the effect of this? It will be, that large bodies of land will fall, into the hands of speculators in the different States. This is palpably unjust. There will be a hundred thousand acres of land in first located by each of the old States in a few of the new States, and the lands will be in the hands of speculators, who will, of course, sell them for the very highest possible price which they can get. They hold them upon lease them out.

Now, sir, if Senators from the old States knew the great injury which it is to the new States to have a large body of their best lands in the hands at speculators, they would at once see that it would be a great deal better to provide that the one hundred thousand acres of land, or whatever amount may be assigned to each State, should be sold by the Government, and the proceeds paid over to the different States. This would be much less objectionable, and would do much less injury to the new States than the bill in its present form. This bill involves the same principle as to the disposition of the proceeds of the public lands, against which we have heretofore been fighting; and it is assuming a much more objectionable form in its practical effect upon the country. I shall, therefore, ask for the yeas and nays upon the question of the engrossment of the bill.

The PRESIDENT. The question is on the amendment of the Senator from Vermont. The Senator from Mississippi does not propose to ask for the yeas and nays on that?

Mr. ADAMS. No, sir.

The amendment was agreed to; and the substitute of the committee, as amended, was agreed to.

The bill was reported to the Senate as amended, and the amendments were concurred in.

Mr. GWIN. I wish to ask the gentleman who has brought forward this bill, whether it gives authority to any State -- for instance, the State which he represents -- to locate its land scrip in the State of California? I have not been able to read the bill with a view to ascertain this.

Mr. FOOT. The question has been put to me by several members. The bill has been once read through; but some were then absent, and did not hear its provisions in this respect. I can state to the Senator that, so far from giving such authority to any State to locate these lands in any other State or Territory, it does, in express terms, prohibit any such thing. No State is authorized to locate its share of these lands in any other State or Territory.

Mr. GWIN. I wish to ask another question. Does this bill authorize a State which gets lands to locate those lands within its own territory, if there be vacant lands there?

Mr. FOOT. Certainly, it does.

Mr. GWIN. Then I wish to ask, further -- I shall get through with my difficulties in a moment -- can that State, if there be no lands there subject to entry at private sale, select such public lands as are within the State?

Mr. FOOT. The bill limits the location to lands subject to private entry at $1 25 per acre at the time.

Mr. GWIN. Although there are millions and tens of millions of acres of land in California, there is not a foot of public land in that condition. There is not a foot of public land there subject to sale at private entry; nor do I believe there will be any for twenty years to come. If the Senator will agree that where there are no such lands in the land States, those States may locate their lands on any of the unappropriated public domain in their own limits, I shall be perfectly willing to agree to it. This bill, however, as it now stands, gives no lands to California; and under its provisions, my State will not be able to get any in twenty years to come, in my opinion. If the Senator will agree to this amendment, that, if, in any of the land States where there are no lands subject to sale at private entry, that State shall select the quantity given in this bill from any other' unappropriated public lands, I shall have no objection to the bill.

Mr. FOOT. My construction of the provisions of the bill would be this: That such States as have no public lands subject to private entry at the time, can locate their lands elsewhere in other States or Territories where there are public lands subject to private entry at the time. I have, however, no objection to the Senator from California drawing up an amendment to suit the condition of his own State in that respect, for I presume that is the only State in that condition.

Mr. GWIN. If I can get that amendment, I shall be satisfied.

Mr. DAVISON. Before the Senator from California draws up his amendment, will he be kind enough to explain why there are no public lands in California which can be taken by that State under the provisions of this bill. Is it because they are not surveyed?

Mr. GWIN. Yes, sir.

Mr. DAWSON. It is not to be presumed that the Government will allow the public lands to remain in California without being surveyed.

Mr. GWIN. If the Senator will permit me, I will explain the matter in a moment. There are hundreds of thousands of acres of land there which have been located upon by the settlers; and such has been the necessity to provide for those settlers, that we have passed a law through Congress giving them a right to go on the lands before they are surveyed, because the officers cannot survey them fast enough to meet the demands of the settlers. They are surveying that portion which is inhabited, and it is all taken up before the surveys are completed. Every foot of it is now located, and will be for years to come. In a State with such an immense area of public domain, the surveys can progress only at a certain ratio, and they must first survey that portion which is set according to the progress of the population; and hence I do not believe that in twenty years to come, there will be an acre of land there subject to sale at private entry. I only wish to meet the necessities of my own State.

Mr. DAWSON. Certainly there can be no difficulty; for in a State so large as California, every lot surveyed by the Government will not be immediately taken by the settler.

Mr. GWIN. Yes, sir, immediately.

Mr. DAWSON. Then that will be the most astonishing thing in the history of the disposition of our public lands. Our past experience in that respect does not justify any such belief. Now, I would say to the State of California, let the surveys be made in a district of country where this great demand is not existing, and California can get the whole of her lands very easily surveyed. I would rather pass a section of this bill declaring the amount the State of California shall locate, than to give her (a new State, with such an immense quantity of public land, out of which the Government has not yet realized anything) the right of going into another State to select these lands.

Mr. GWIN. I do not want to go into another State. I wish to get the right to have these lands located within our own State.

Mr. DAVISON. Very well.

Mr. HUNTER. I believe the hour for the special order has come, and therefore I move to postpone the further consideration of this bill until to-morrow.

Mr. FOOT. I hope we may have a moment longer to dispose of this question.

Mr. HUNTER. I hope the further consideration of the bill will be postponed until to-morrow. I do not believe a vote can be had upon it today. The time has come for the special order, on which the Senator from Pennsylvania has the floor.

The motion to postpone was not agreed to.

Mr. FOOT. I would suggest to the Senator from California to move his amendment in this form:

Provided, That California may locate her distributive share of the lands hereby granted within the limits of that State, on any of the public lands, either surveyed or unsurveyed."

Mr. GWIN. That will suit my purpose.

Mr. STUART. There is no provision in this bill to take care of the interest of preemptioners and actual settlers. The very provision which is now under consideration applies to land which is subject to entry at one dollar and a quarter an acre. If the Senator from California expects to secure my vote for such an amendment, he must take care of actual settlers on the public lands.

Mr. GW IN. We have already passed a law that this session giving every settler on unsurveyed land in California the right to the possession of his tract.

Mr. STUART. Precisely. And the effect of this bill will be to give to the State the land, and the jurisdiction over it.

Mr. GWIN. No, sir. It only gives the State the unappropriated public lands. If there are settlers on the lands, they are appropriated, and the State cannot take them.

Mr. STUART. It would be better to add the words "and unoccupied."

Mr. GWIN. I am willing to say, "the unappropriated and unoccupied public lands."

Mr. MASON. The effect of the amendment of the Senator from California, I take it for granted, will be to enable his State to appropriate the richest of the gold lands within her limits.

Mr. GWIN. I am willing to exclude them altogether. They are not to be surveyed. There is an order already not to survey the gold region at all. I am willing, therefore, to insert "other than mineral lands."

Mr. MASON. But it would not be known whether they were mineral lands or not until they were appropriated. I suspect there is a large portion of the surface of the State of California which has not yet been explored, which will be found to be quite rich in mineral wealth.

Mr. GWI N. The mineral region is well defined; and there is no act of Congress, and I am not in favor of passing an act of Congress, appropriating any portion of the mineral lands. All our legislation has been carefully guarded in this respect; and the surveyor general has received express instructions to make no surveys of the mineral region.

Mr. MASON. But these lands are to be appropiated to California, whether surveyed or unsurveyed.

Mr. GWIN. But if the State takes mineral lands, the very words of the law will make the selection void.

Mr. MASON. I am much at a loss to know how the grant could become void after the title had become vested in the State of California, by a subsequent discovery that the lands were in fact mineral lands.

Mr. GWIN. I do not wish to have the further consideration of the bill postponed, or I could show to the Senator at once that the mineral region of California is strictly defined, and is well known there, and no public surveys are going on in that t section of the State, nor will there be any until t further action by Congress.

Mr. MASON. I am perfectly willing to take the word of the honorable Senator from California for anything about which he is certain; but I submit that he cannot be certain whether the line of the mineral lands is well defined or known. It is a matter of conjecture. It may be that the boundary of the mineral lands is such a parallel, or such water-courses, or such mountains; but it is conjectural, purely conjectural; and the State of California may have boundless mineral wealth in other portions, for aught we know.

I do not mean to throw any embarrassments in the way of the bill; but I suspect that the honorable Senator who moved it, and who is chiefly interested in it, will find that unless we go far beyond the hour assigned for the special order, we cannot get a vote today; for I shall feel myself bound to give my reasons for the opposition which I shall make to the bill. I will do so when the bill is ready for its passage. I think, however, that the amendment of the Senator from California may place it in the power of the State of California to appropriate these mineral lands, to the exclusion of the Federal Government.

Mr. FOOT. I hope the question may be taken without further debate.

Mr. GWIN. I have modified my amendment so as to read:

Provided, That the State of California may locate her portion of the said lands upon any of the unappropriated lands in that State, other than mineral lands, and not then occupied by actual settlers.

The amendment was agreed to.

The PRESIDENT. The question now is on ordering the bill to be engrossed for a third reading. On this question the Senator from Mississippi has asked for the yeas and nays.

Several MEMBERS. Let them be taken on the final passage of the bill.

Mr. HAMLIN. I understand that the Senator from Virginia proposes to discuss the bill; and I would therefore suggest to my friend from Mississippi that it would be equally as well to take the yeas and nays, after the Senator from Virginia has been heard, on the passage of the bill.

Mr. ADAMS. I have no objection to withdrawing the call until the question comes up upon the passage of the bill.

The bill was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading.

Mr. MASON. I am perfectly willing to make now the remarks which I feel myself required to make in explanation of my vote upon this bill; and I really do not wish to embarrass at all the action of the Senator from Vermont. It is, however, now after one o'clock, and I therefore move to postpone the further consideration of the bill until to-morrow, and call for the order of the day.

The PRESIDENT. If the Senator objects, the bill cannot have its third reading until to-morrow.

Mr. MASON. I object.

The PRESIDENT. The bill must go over until to-morrow.