The Sun.
London, England, 1870-01-03 00:00:00

THE SUN, 'LONDOY, MONDAY EVE)!ING, JANUARY 3, 1870.

is in the possession of the editor of the Carmarthen
Journal, is said to be a scandalous production. The
writer gives a warning that " Old l3ecca," alluding to
the Rebecca Riots, is not dead, but sleeping. We,
says the Viper alluded to, warn him in turn that the
power of the law is not weaker than it was thirty
years ago.

sired-to reopen negotations atter -crib rormation of tue
'Cabinet, biit the Emperor declined to make any
change, saying he had perfect confidence in a Ministry
witlollivier and Magne. Count Montalembert has
written a letter, in which he says that this pacific and
voluntary renunciation of personal power on the Em-
peror's' part is a great and glorious action—without
example in history.

REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE
NAVY.

NAVY DEPARTMENT, Dee. 1, 1869.

Sir,—l respectfully submit the following report of the
Navy Department, and the branch of the public service
under its supervision, during the last year.
NAVAL FORCE IN MAUCH, 1869.
'•

When my immediate predecessor caine into office on the
9th day of March, 1869, the navy of the united States con-
sisted of 203 vessels of All classes and in every condition.
These measured 183,442 tons and were calculated to
carry, when in commission, 1,366 guns, exclusive of
howitzers. Of these ships 151 were wooden and 52 were
ironclad or monitors. Of the wooden ships 32 were sailing
vessEds, 53 were steamers, with some auxiliary sail power ;
44 were steamers without any efficient sail power, and 22
were without sail power of any kind.
The ironclads are all steamers, relying wholly on steam
under all circumstances.

Remainder of Navy not in commission consists, of 46
ironclads laid up at various stations, 36 having been con-
demned as unfit for service and ordered to be repaired ;
26 of these have never been in commission. There are
also 22 vessels on the stocks, and 66 vessels laid up in
ordinary.
There are five cruising stations—North and South At-
lantic, Pacific, European, and Asiatic. The fleets on these
were composed of 43 vessels, of which not over 18 were in
condition for real service ; acme have been condemned as
unseaworthy, and almost all requi, ed considerable repairs
to bring thorn to their most efficient state.
The efficiency of this small force, moreover, was much
lessened by the fact that most of them were steamers, with-
out adequate sail power. The practical disadvantages of
relying wholly, or even largely, on those for cruising ves-
sels will be easily seen ; their complicated machinery,worn
by constant use, is exposed to derangement on foreign seas,
more easily disabled in battle or storm ; and, what is even
more important, they afford no school of seamanship to
officers or men. Lounging through the watches of a
steamer, or acting as firemen or coal-heavers, will not pro-
duce in a seaman that combination of boldness, strength,
and skill which characterise the American sailor of the
elder day; and the habitual exorcise by an officer of a com-
mand, the execution of which is not under his own eye, is a
poor substitute for the school of observation, promptness,
and command, found only on the deck of a sailing vessel.
Besides, few war steamers carry coal for more than tea days'
use, and as a large portion of even this time must be con-
sumed in seeking a new supply, the disadvantages as well
as the great expense of cruising under these circumstances
are apparent, particularly on foreign stations, where our
depots are necessarily few and the cost of fuel enormous.
Our effective force was still further reduced by the fact
that our monitors and iron-clads, laid up since the war,
had received in the meantime little care. They were
found, when the attention of the department was directed
to them, in .a state of rapid deterioration, hulls, turrets,
and machinery, the most costly and powerful, exposed
without care. to the action of the elements, were fast losing
their value ; and of the whole fleet of monitors, relied upon
by the country for defence, not one could have been ready
in time to resist a sudden attack.

A board for the "inspection of steam machinery," of
which Rear-Admiral Goldshorough was President, was
constituted by Mr. Boric, and from their report it will be
seen that many other of our vessels are entirely unsuited
for naval purposes.
These statements, I may be permitted to say without im-
puting blame to any one, exhibit our navy at a low ebb ; a
condition, the cause of which may doubtless be found in the
vast expenditure of material during the great war; iu the
exhaustion which followed it ; and in a sense of the burdens
it had imposed, affecting alike the department, Congress,
and the people.
With such material in this condition the department, at
the commencement of the administration, found itself
charged with the duty of maintaining the naval power of
the
.Government in every part of the world ; required to
protect, on every sea, the interests of the dominant and
responsible nation of the Western Continent, whose
boundaries stretch to the shores of either ocean, whose
people aspire to rival those of the whole world in every
field of enterprise, and whose government is pledged to the
interests of freedom, civilization, and progress; and at the
same time to be prepared with reserved power and the
means of applying it, available in every emergency for
defence and aggression.
To restore cur small force to an effective condition, the
Secretary availed himself of the best ability at command,
and reorganized the material of the Navy. Work was re-
newed vigorously at all the Navy Yards; ships in ord:-
nary were-put in service, and those in commission repaired.
All the steamers susceptible of it, which have been re-
paired, have been given full sail power, and rerigged so
that without interfering with their effectiveness under
steam, they aro now independent of it, and able to cruise
wherever required without consuming- their coal, which
is thus reserved for times of necessity or danger. The
ship rig, considered the most efficient for cruisers, has been
already given to forty vessels of this class, which have
been or are now being altered.
The success of those which have been completed, includ-
ing among their number, as marked instances, the Severn,
Juniata, Mohican, Nantasket, Reason, Lancaster, and
Swatara, has illustrated the wisdom of the plan. Many
of our foreign coal stations have already been discontinued,
and orders have been issued to the commandants of
the squadrons, directing them not to permit the consemp-
lion of coal for any purpose which could be as welt per-
formed under sail, and requiring a report to the depart-
ment of any deviation from the general rule, with the rea-
sons for it in each instance.

The result has already been a largo saving. Several of
our most effective cruisers have consumed no coal since
the receipt of the order. It can ba shown by figures, that
this system of giving and requiring the general use of full
sail power, besides its effect to make sailors of both officers
and men, will, on the vessels intended to be kept in com-
mission (calculating that they cruise but two-thirds of the
time), make in the item of coal alone, as consumed under
the old system, a saving of more than two millions of
dollars per annum.
Our monitors and ironclads were also placed in the
hands of the mechanics and put in thorough repair. Four
of the largest. have gone into commission, as part of our
available cruising force, and the rest aro kept, at small
expense, in complete order, so that the whole fleet can be
ready for service in a week's time.
Since the Ist of March, 1869, no less than 80 vessels of
every class have been repaired or altered, or put in pro-
cess of replir at the various navy yards, yet the books of
the Treasury will show a decrease in the expenditures of
the department for that time, an compared with the corre-
sponding period of 1868, of $3.521,822 92.
The North Atlantic squadron consists of 12 vessels,
mounting 76 guns, and is commanded by Rear-Admiral
Charles 11. Poor. It cruises in the West India waters,
and its commander has been directed, whilst preserving
strict neutrality between the contending Powers in Cuba,
to prevent no injustice to citizens of the United States, to
prevent interference with our commerce, and at once to
repel and punish disrespect to our flag.
The South Atlantic squadron consists of four vessels,
mounting 43 guns, under Rear-Admiral Joseph Lanman.
It is recommended that this fleet bo increased on account
of the Paraguayan war.
The Pacific fleet, under Rear-Admiral Turner, consists
of 14 vessels, mounting 129 guns.
The European squadron, under Rear-Admiral Radford,
consists of 6 vessels, mounting 106 guns.
The Asiatic squadrons contains 10 ships. carrying 72
guns, under Rear-Admiral Rowan. Three of these vessels,
however, are unseaworthy.
Such is the condition and employment of our navy at
the present time, differing from what it was at the com-
mencement of this Administration only in the advance of
the ships and material on hand from a state of deterioration
to a condition of efficiency and improvement.
This, while it was all that the department could do
under the present authority and appropriations, is by no
means all that I conceive to be necessary for the safety of
the great interests involved, or even for national defence
in time of danger. The service needs, and the postion of
our country requires, a groat increase in the effective force
of the navy; not so much in the number qi the ships that
constitute it as in the number and character of those em-
ployed. I recognize the necessity for close economy in
expenditure under the present circumstances of the coun-
try, but the naval expenses make but a small part of the
national appropriations, and the true wealth of the coun-
try will not be increased by- neglecting the means of na-
tional safety and honour, nor money saved by refusing
adequate protection to commercial enterprise.
Our best monitors would, if brought into action, be
powerful against anything that floats, but these are steam
batter es, not seagoing cruisers. Some of them have illus-
trated by successful experiment their capacity for a sea
voyage under favourable circumstances; and the depart-
ment has, for want of any more available force, lately put
some of them in commission for duty on the home or North
Atlantic station, but they could not be used with advan-
tage as cruisers on foreign stations. They require several
vessels to accompany them, and, being entirely without
sail-power, must be towed as soon as their coal is exhausted.
They would be always dangerous to health in tropical
seas; • and with broken or disordered machinery
they would be hell less in mid-ocean. They are
valuable for auxiliary defence of our own shore; .but
should not ba relied upon beyond them. A cruising ves-
sel, suitable for our requirements, should be able to depend
upon her own resources without looking for aid other
than that she carries within herself. She should have
ample steam power to carry her rapidly in chase or in
action; and should possess at the same time the qualities
of a first-rate sailing vessel, able to keep the sea at will
without consuming her coal. She should carry a broad-
side battery of heavy guns, and be herself impervious to
the heaviest ordnance afloat.

England and France, rivalling each other iu ingenuity,
energy, and liberality in this direction, have both suc-
ceeded in constructing some beautiful specimens of iron-
clad sailing vessels, with auxiliary steam power, effective
for every warlike purpose, and able to keep the sea under
all circumstances. They have high speed, and one of them
would be a terrible foe for a squadron of wooden vessels.
In the meantime we have built no ships of that kind, but
we-have watched with interest all the naval experiments
of Europe, and, familiar with their details and results, we
know their strength and their weakness.
Under these conditions we can be sure that every step
we take is a wise experiment of a real improvement. The
time has come, I think, when we should begin to use the
knowledge we have been seeking ; and I therefore ear-
nestly urge the propriety of commencing at once the build.
ing of sea-going iron-clads, suitable to cruise on foreigt
stations, and able to protect our commerce and vindicatt
our principles in any emergency. We should aim to haw
one or more of these ships on each foreign station, and to
be prepared with the necessary. reliefs. This will ulti-
mately require no less than ten in all.
These, with some additions to cur wooden vessels, and
the refitting on the plan adopted, and the proper employ-
ment of such effective ships as we now have, and with our
monitors and torpedoes for harbour defence, will give us
the nucleus of a navy, not indeed proportioned
to our com-
merce or approaching the force of other maritime powers,
but sufficient to command respect abroad, and to afford time,
in case of sudden war, to organise and supply the forces of
our country and the energies of the people.
Home defence is also important. Our monitors are a
ready ant effective means of harbour defence, but unless
completely invulnerable they
are coin piratively useless,
and must therefore keep ptve with the improvements in
ordnance. Most of them are capable of bearing the addi-
tional armour necessary to give the strength recoil ed, but
this will, of course, require a new and considerable outlay
of money.
The report then refers to the use of "torpedoes" as a
means of home defence, and to the encouragement of a
class of merchant ocean steamers adapted to naval pur-
posee as the means of promptly augmenting the naval
force in time of war.
A comparatively small force of this kind, appropriately
armed and let loose on the ocean, under the command of
bold and intelligent officers, would be a dangerous foe to
the commerce of any country. Our own was substan-
tially driven from the sea by two or three roughly-
equipped vessels, much inferior in power to those of which
I have spoken. Thus it will he seen that, in giving up
this field to the occupation of other nations, and yielding

to them tho commercial advantages which naturally be-
long to our own position and resources, we at the same
time relinquish our own weapons and arm our possible
enemies.

We are looking with confidence for a large increase in
the commerce of the East, which will rcquire a correspond-
ing increase in the present means of rapid transportation
on both oceans; and, in the interest, simply of the naval
establishment and of so much of the national defence as
depends upon it, 1 earnestly urge that measures be taken,
at this juncture, to induce our own merchants and ship-
builders to enter into this field of enterprise.
Inducements should be held out to those who are willing
to undertake it, to build steamers on plans approved by
the Navy Department, subject, in case of necessity, to be
taken by the Government at an appraisA value.
The naval yards of the country are generally of small
capacity, and ill adapted to meet the requirements of
modern naval construction. There are seven yards, not
more than four being capable of fitting out over two or
three vessels at one time. More docks are wanted ; in
all the yards there are but three.
The report then treats on the subject of timber lands,
and the necessity of protecting those reserved by the
Government for the use of the navy; to 'the Naval
Academy, where the total number of midshipmen is 248,
and the number of graduates last year was 75; to the
necessity for some well-defined system to create a good
class of petty officers and seamen; to the inconvenience
experienced by restrictinc, the number of men in the navy
to 8,0(10; to the proposed' intetoceanic canal; and to the
proposed advisory board of experts for the bureaus.
The subject of relative rank in the various corps'of the
naval service is one of much interest and some difficulty.
Some of these corps are dissatisfied with their position
under the law as it now stands, but there is no power in
the department to change this, even should the propriety
of such action be admitted by all. Rank can.only be
fixed by law. This subject, involving at the same time
so many considerations of discipline, efficiency, and feel-
ing, is now pressing for wise and dispassionate legisla-
tion, having in view only the best interests of the ser-
vice.

A board composed of officers of high rank and long ex-
perience, representing equally the various personal in-
terests involved, has been constituted by the department
to consider and report some proper system for the regula-
tion of this matter. Pending the report of this board I
desire to express no opinion on the subject-mater of their
consideration. Should they be able to arrive at a proper
conclusion' the result of their labours will be at once com-
municated to Congress for their information.
Much injustice to the many distinguished officers on the
retired list is now done by the operation of the Act of
March 2,1867, requiring the advance of all officers on that
list, as their respective grades on the active list are pro-
moted. Many officers, retired years ago on account of their
health, or for the good of the service, are now regularly
promoted under this law, and take rank with those who
have gone on the list disabled by service or covered with
honourable wounds. Some of those formerly retired, by
long service in other times, or gallant conduct during the
late war, well deserve the honours of their profession ; but
it is not so with all. Promotion for distinguished bravery
has hitherto been confined to a single class of officers.
This is not as it should be. Distinguished gallantry and
goad conduct in battle should be held to entitle any officer
of any class who exhibits it to promotion in his corps.
There were 2,906 persons ou the naval pension roll on
November Ist, receiving a total of $391,099 10c. annual
relief. The total estimated expenditures of the Navy
Department for the year ending June 30, 1871, are
$28,205,671 37c.

The apprentice system is regarded as having failed to
accomplish the object desired, because toys are entered
with the idea of becoming officers, and after the number
allowed by law have been selected and admitted into the
Naval Academy the others become dissatisfied and use-
less. The chiefs of the bureafis of navigation, and equip-
ment and recruiting, harmonize in opinion that the law in
relation to apprentices and minors should be amended.
The marines aro often called on to assist the civil autho-
rities in the principal cities, and on several occasions
during the present year have been thus used at New York
and Philadelphia.
The Secretary concludes by expressing how much we
are indebted to the practical wisdom of his predecessor, to
the chiefs of the several bureaux, and to the energy an•t
ability of the distinguished officer detailed for his'assist-
ance by the President.

GEORGE M. ROBESON, Secretary of the Navy.

PLAN OP NAVAL ESTABLISHMENT IN TIME OF PEACE.'
The most efficient organization for a navy of the size
and with the duties of our own would be iron vessels,
for coast defence, averaging each 800 tons 4O
First-class armour-plated vessels, for foreign service,
averaging each 3,000 tons
First-class wooden vessels, to act as flag-ships, not to
exceed, eaoh, 3,500 tons lO
Second-class wooden vessels, averaging, each, 2,000

. .
tons
20
Third-class wooden vessels, averaging, each, 1,000 tons 25
Fourth-class wooden vessels, averaging, each,6oo tons 55
Wooden storeships, averaging, each, 500 tons 6
Wooden receiving-ships, of 1,333 1-3 tons each 4
Tiaining and practice ships, averaging 2,200 tons .
Wooden gunnery ships, for the training of "seamen

gunners," 1,500 tou;
Sailing wssols to form a coast squadron, in which ap-
prentices will be trained, averaging, each, 1.200 tons 8
Receiving-ship for apprentices, averaging, each, 1,200
tons

This force would amoult, in all, to 186 vessels, 21 less
than we now have ; and most of the vessels for the coast
defence, and a considerable number of the wooden ships
required for the various services, are already on hand.

NAVY OF ENGLAND.
By the last British naval list
Ships of war, floating batteries, receiving ships, train-
ing ships, in service
170
Steaw screw gunboats

Total
In commission, or building, heavy armour-plated
steamships, averaging 3,500 toes each (largest 6,000
40
tons)

Tons.
Whole tonnage of the British navy is
Whole tonnage of the navy of the United States is 186,552
Proportion of the naval tonnage of the United
States to mercantile, nearly l-21
Proportion of naval tonnage of Great Britain to

mercantile —
Proportion of naval tonnage of France to mercan-
tile ..