The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1841-01-14
From the Southern Literary Messenger
REORGANIZING THE NAVY.
[ooNcLUDED.I

ship from first to last, is like calculating the dis
lance OF the most remote star that can be seen
through the telescope of Herschel. The result
is so overwhelming, that the mind cannot grasp
II when expressed in the ordinary terms OF mea-
surement; and the astronomer tells his pupil
how many years it would take cannon-ball OF
ray oflight, travelling with all its velocity, TO
reach that distant world. The money which
this ship, now on her first cruise, has already
cost the Government, if run into bars OF silver
would, without hyperbole, be almost enough to
ballast the largest Of our liye-oak built frigates.
BY Admiralty regulations, the cost, under
peace rates, Of building and equipping for sea
ship OF l20 guns in the Royal Navy, furniture
and seas stores included,) is about $34S, $40,
| GETS, 1861 The ratio between the cost OF ma
terias and of labor in England, is stated at one
fourth or one-ffth. You have seen by the sta
tistics furnished above, that under our system
there is no such thing as rule or ratio in prac-
tice, though the rule by which estimates are
made IS about one-thrd. Another remarkable
feature in this system is, the frequency with
which repairs are called for. Men-of-war are
built OF live-oak-merchantme of white-oak,
usually. After three years cruise, il is gene
rally deemed necessary under the present sys-
tenn, thoroughly TO repair man-of-war. A
whlte-oak merchantmen, carrying cargoes hea-
vier than the battery, the provisions and crew OF
man-of-war, usually runs ten or twelve years
frequently much longer-before she is touch
ed She sails on the same seas, encounters the
same gales and tempests; and, without having
In her frame the substantial materials, or the
strength OF the other, outasts her by many
years. All Of which is the fault of the system.
The Great Henry before alluded to as the first
ship with portfolios, was launched in 1515-
and, without having been repaired, she was fit
Shp yyae
fhtrty-eight years afterwards. The Sovereign
OF the Seas was LAUGHED in 1886, and sixty
years afterwards she began 10 require repairs.
but let us come down to our own times. Alta
cost, In round numbers of not less than $780, 900,
we lind the live-oak built frigate, united States
undergoing process of thorough repairs no less
than three times in the course of seven years.
by statements made many years ago, and be-
lore this system was adopted, it appears that the
repairs OF this same frigate, from 1902 to 1909
"a period also OF seven years-cost but $780,
924 Ia The United States schooner Dolphin
went to sea in 1921, and was kept out of the
reach Of this repairing system She continued
in active service on the Pacific Station and
among the Polynesian Islands for FOURTEEN
years, and was never once repaired during all
that time. The United States frigate Brandy
VINE was built four years after the Dolphin, and
has already been repaired three or four times.
The ships OF some of the packet-lines from New
ork, after having run as liners for eight or ten
years, are then sold and, without receiving any
repairs whatever, go cruising round the world
in pursuit of whales. The calculation is, that
the large Liverpool packets that are now
built, will run as sound and good ships for four
teen years.
by the estimates Of 1S16t-from which time
the present system is dated-the building Of
sloop-of-war cost $46,293 But you have al
ready seen that the repairs put upon the sloop-
oi-war ST. Louis at one time, cost $l19,435 49,
BY the same estimates, the building of IA is
put down at $2l7,4l2. The Ohio, so guns,
was commenced about this time And, in
communication TO Congress from Mr. Monroe,
on the Sd January, 1923, her cost is stated to be
1924, O42 81; (Which. Sl09,S7 % was for la
Dor. But you have seen that the labor to repair
her in lS3S-'39, cost not less than S2SO,OO0 and
that 10 repair her only once cost under the pre-
sent system, 1921, 1855 51t--almost three times
her original cost. What would you, as a man
Of business, think of ship owner, who, instead
OF selling his old ships, should proceed to repair
them at such rates 2
With such an exhibit as the above, meagre
too OF items as it is, do you think the estimate
of $250,00O too small to cover the .blunders and
foolish notions incident to the present system
Would you not say that the savings 10 be effect
ed under this head alone, by reorganization.
would come nearer to $1,000,000 annually? To
satisfy the cry OF retrenchment and reform rails
ed IN the land, members Of Congress, al its last
session, seized upon the Commissioner of Pen
slons, increased his duties, and reduced his
salary. But the abuses here set forth are not 10
be corrected by bringing down the pay of Mid
shIpman, or Commodore. Honorable legisla-
tors are warned that the evils are deeply seated
in fha
by merely the plucking of leaf, or the oppino
off Of "a limb: the axe must be laid at the root
Tor nothing short of thorough and complete reor-
ganlZation will do.
10 what page soever turn find nv note
book filled with memoranda which exemplifv
the evils OF the present system. However dis
tnctly within the walls of the NAVY Depart
ment, usage may have drawn the line Of de-
narration between the duties of Secretary and
Navy Board, or however well it may be under
stood there, you will find but few able to trace
it out of that building. Ask officers of the
Navy, where the duties of the Navy Board be-
gin or where its responsibilities end or where
rests its accountability ?-and no two will agree
in their reply. Ask the best informed citizens
the same question. Some will tell you that the
Navy Board is a power behind the Secretary
greater than the Secretary himself-that there |
is a Master-Spirt in that Board which rules |
the Navy. Others will tell you that the evil
genius of the Navy presides at that Board |
Him they unjustly charge with every thing
that goes amiss, and would hold responsible for |
the present condition Of the Navy. Or 60 to the
act by which that Board was created, and you
will find that it may be nothing at all, or every
thing--so vague is the law.
A few months ago, when, in the opinion of
many, war with England was more than pro-
bable, an officer in command abroad, anticipat-
ING such an event, wrote, that he could neither
rum nor cnase. All that he could do, would be
to stand and fight whatever force should choose
to attack him; for there was not vessel in his
squadron, except one, that, under the most favor
able circumstances, would sail more than fire
knots an hour Whom would you hold respon-