ized and directed the Postmaster-General "to order an
increase of speed upon said route, requiring the mails to be carried
through in thirty days, instead of thirty-eight days, according to the
existing contract: _Provided_, The same can be done upon a _pro rata_
increase of compensation to the contractors."

I did not approve this joint resolution: First, because it was presented
to me at so late a period that I had not the time necessary on the
day of the adjournment of the last session for an investigation of
the subject. Besides, no injury could result to the public, as the
Postmaster-General already possessed the discretionary power under
existing laws to increase the speed upon this as well as all other
mail routes.

Second. Because the Postmaster-General, at the moment in the Capitol,
informed me that the contractors themselves had offered to increase the
speed on this route to thirty instead of thirty-eight days at a less
cost than that authorized by the joint resolution. Upon subsequent
examination it has been ascertained at the Post-Office Department that
their bid, which is still depending, proposes to perform this service
for a sum less by $49,000 than that authorized by the resolution.

JAMES BUCHANAN.

WASHINGTON CITY, _February 24, 1859_.

_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:

I return with my objections to the House of Representatives, in which
it originated, the bill entitled "An act donating public lands to the
several States and Territories which may provide colleges for the
benefit of agriculture and the mechanic arts," presented to me on the
18th instant.

This bill makes a donation to the several States of 20,000 acres of
the public lands for each Senator and Representative in the present
Congress, and also an additional donation of 20,000 acres for each
additional Representative to which any State may be entitled under
the census of 1860.

According to a report from the Interior Department, based upon the
present number of Senators and Representatives, the lands given to the
States amount to 6,060,000 acres, and their value, at the minimum
Government price of $1.25 per acre, to $7,575,000.

The object of this gift, as stated by the bill, is "the endowment,
support, and maintenance of at least one college [in each State] where
the leading object shall be, without excluding other scientific or
classical studies, to teach such branches of learning as are related to