"The Report of the Naval Committee to the House of Representatives in favor of the establishment of a line of mail steam-ships to the Western Coast of Africa, and thence via the Mediterranean to London, has been received by the public press throughout the Union with the warmest expressions of approbation. The Whig, Democratic, and neutral papers of the North and South, in the slave-holding and non-slave-holding States, with a very few exceptions, appear to vie with each other in pressing its consideration upon the public attention. This earnest and almost unanimous support of the measure by the organs of public opinion, without respect to party or section, shows the deep hold which the objects it proposes to effect have upon the public favor. Those objects are to promote the emigration of free persons of color from this country to Liberia; also to increase the steam navy, and to extend the commerce of the United States,--all, it will be almost universally conceded, desirable objects. The desirableness of the objects being admitted, the question is, does the mode proposed for promoting them recommend itself to the sanction of Congress? We are forced to the conclusion that it does. We are aware that while all agree as to the expediency of increasing our steam navy--some are in favor of the Government's building its own steam-ships, and others advocate the encouragement of lines of steam-packets, to be established by private enterprise under the auspices of Government.... "The considerations, however, which in our opinion should commend this measure to the favorable attention of Congress are so obvious, and have been so clearly and strongly presented in the report of the committee, that we need not here repeat them. If the voice of the press, of all sections and of all parties, be any indication of popular opinion, we are free to say, that it would be difficult for Congress to pass a measure which would be received with more _general_ satisfaction by the people of the United States."[22]