The Litchfield County post. [volume] (Litchfield, Conn.) 1826-1829, 1826-12-12

Z In the estimates Of Appropriation Tor ilae en-
suing year. upwards Of Eve millions Of dollars
will be submitted for the expenditures 20 he
paid from the Department ofWar. Less than
twO-fifihs Of this will be applicable 60 the
nnaintainanee and support of the Array. A
million and a half, in the form of pensions,
goes as a scarcely adequate tribute 10 the ser.
vices and sacrifices of former age; and a
more than equal sum, invested in Notifications,
OF for the preparations Of internal improve
ment, provides for the quiet, the comfort, and
the happier existence Of the ages to cOme.-
The appropriations to indemnify those unfor-
| tunate remnants of another race, unable alike
to share in the enjoyments, and to exist in the
presence of civilization, though swelling in
recent years to magnitude burdensome to
| the Treasury, are generally not without their
equivalents, in profitable value or serve to
discharge the Union from engagements more
burdensOme than debt.
In ike manner, the estimate of approrria-
i tons for the Navy Department will present
an aggregate sum of upwards of three mil
| lions of dollars. About one half of these,
| however, cover the current expenditures OF
/ the Navy in actual service, aud one half con-
sttutes fund ofnational property, the pledge
of our future glory and defence. 1t was scarce
J ly one short year after the close of the late
war, and when the burden of its expenses and
charges was weighing heaviest upon the coun-
try, that Congress, by the act of 2sth April,
1915, appropriated one million of dollars an
nualiy, foneight years, to the gradual increase
of5he Nary. At a subsequent period, this an
nual appropriation was reduced to half a mil
lion for six years, Of which The present year
lis the last A yet more recent appropriation
the last two years, for building ten Shops OF
! hac 4
priation of 1916, of "a million for every year
The result is before us ALL We have twelve
line-of-battle Ships twenty Frigates, and
Shops of War in proportion: which, with a
few months QE preparation, may present line
OF floating Notifications along the whole range
! OF our coast, ready to meet any invader who
might attempt to set foot on our shores -
! Combining with system Of furtifcatious up
on the shores themselves, commenced about
the same time, under the auspices of my i'm
mediate predecessor, and hitherto systemati-
cally pursued, it has placed in our possession
! the most effective sinews of war, and has left
us at once AN example and lesson, from
which our own duties may be inferred. The
gradual increase the Navy was the principle
ofwhich the act Goth April, 1916, was the first
Development. 1t was the introduction of a
system to act upon the character and history
Of our country for an indefinite series Of ages.
| 1t was declaration of that Congress to their
constituents and to posterity, that it was the
destiny and the duty OF these Confederated
! States, to become, in regular process of time,
and by no petty advances,a great Naval Pow
or. That, which they proposed to accom-
| pish in eight years, is rather to be considered
us the measure of their means, than the linfi-
tation Of their design. They looked forward
| for a term ofyears sufficient for the accom-
! piishmcnt of a definite portion of their Pur-
pose and they left to their successors to fill
| up the canvass of which they had traced the
large and prophetic outline. The ships of the
line, and frigates, which they had in contem-
piation will &c shortly completed. The time
which they had allotted for the accomplish
ment of the work has more than elapsed. 1t
J remains FIR your consideration, how their sue
! ccssors may contribute their portion of toll
and of treasure for the benefit of the succeed
ing age, In the gradual increase Of our Navy.
There is perhaps, no part of the exercise of
the Constitutional Powers of the Federal
] Government, which has. given more general
satisfaction to the People Of the Union than
! this. The system has not been thus vigor-
ously introduced. and hitherto sustained, to
| he now departed from, or abandened.E In
continuing to provide for the gradual increase
of the Navy, it may not he necessary or expc-
<dient to add for the present any more TO the
number of our ships; but should You deem it
advisable to continue the yearly appropriation
of half a million to the same objects, it may
be profitably expended, in providing supply
of timber to I've seasoned, and other materials
for future use; in the construction Of docks,
or i'll laying the foundations of School for
Naval Education, as to the wisdom Of Con
gress either of these measures may appear to
claim the preference. ~
Ofthe small portions of this Navy engaged
! in actual service during the peace. squadrons
have continued to be maintained in the Paci-
fc Ocean, in the West India seas, and in the
Mediterranean to which has been added a
small armament, to cruise on the eastern coast
of South America. In all they have afforded
protection to our commerce, have contributed
10 make our country advantages known
10 foreign nations, have honourabiy employed
multitudes ofour seamen in the service Oftheig
! country, and have enlred numbers of youths
of the rising generation to lives ofman'y har-
dihood and of nautical experience and sknl.-
The. piracies with which the West India Seas
we're for several years infested have ,eengto-
tally suppressed. But, in the Mediterranean
they have increased in a manner affective to
other nations, and. but for the continued pres
ence Of our squadron, would probably have
been distressing to our own. The war which