The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1841-12-11

4
ment on land furnished by the irumphs Of genius and
ART IN the application Of steam power land carriage
and IN the construction Of heightened lines Of Canals
he speed with which troops be moved obyiaes
tue necessity OF imbodying large masses Of them at
any point and the amour, Of force required for tho
defence OF any given post would consequ ently be di.
minshed IN proportion 10 the reduction the lime
cessafy TO concentrate H. The whole force along the
whole line may be rendered available for the defence OF
any point IA that line while without such of
communication, separate army would be required at
each city, harbor military post, that 10 e de-
tended. This may be illustrated by facts within the
knowledge OF all. Troops may now be brought from
| New York TO the city of Washington in eighteen
hours 10 acondon requiring little or no repose TO Gt
| them Tor immediate action And the whole physical
force OF the populous country between those two
points may be concentrated at any intermediate place
In few hours Were Philadelphia assailed or threat
ened, movement Of military force from Pltisburg,
which Out short time since would have occupied
from twenty to twenty-five days, could now be
Plisned In hve Similar illustrations furnished by
various railroads and canals in different parts Of the
| country And as the great secret of success in
supposed TO be the ability to oppose the many 10 the
few, II is evident that in any defensive operations
shall be able 10 compete with and To conquer any prob
able force that an invading enemy could bring against
that portion Of our territory which is intetsected by
these Interior communications. Another consequence
OF no little moment flows from the cause the
power to defend ourselves with armies Of very dlmn
,shed numerical force compared with those which
/
hicts, those which usually employed on the Eu-
ropean continent
The facilities afforded by canals and railroads to col
iect, with any desirable expedition, the supplies Of
army from country Astounding with them, and 10
transport them to the proper points will render large
depots unnecessary. An object OF attack To an enc
my is thus removed and the conseq OF the cap
ture of large collections of munitions of war or OF
subsistence, by hostile force thus enabled TO main
tain itself, are obviated.
The expense of military operations will be reduced
beyond any present means of exact calculation by
the y same facilities. During the lat with Great
britain, the cost Of transportation from New York to
Plattsburg, Sacketts Harbor and Buffalo, was from
fve to twelve dollars per hundred. The present
to Pattsburg is thirty cents and TO the other points
named, sixty cents per hundred twelve FOUNDER,
which, at the cheapest rate, could have been car
ried to Buffalo for less than hundred dollars may
now be transported to the point in fifth or
one-eighth OF the time, for twenty-eur dollars In
every point of view in which these works can be con
sidered their cost is much actually added to the de
iensye means OF the nation, without any expense
deneral Government other than the subscriptions
II mas authorized to few of them; and it may be
amrmed without aggeratun, that the aggregate offs
wing, In any future war in which may be engaged
In the comparative small Of military force that
will be necessary for defence and in the cheapness
OF transportation afforded by railroads and canals
now IN existence, will be equal the of their
construction. II, then, the making Of these works
has been premature improvdent in reference the
means Of the States that undertook them and has in
volved them in pecuniary emtar assments the Ma
tional Government should not complain of enter
prise that has placed these incalcuabe advantages in
It's hands and, if it cannot relieve, will at least sym
pathise IN the misfortunes which have resulted from
such efforts
The report from the Ordnance Office exhibits the
measures which have been taken for the armament o.
Notifications, and the forts which have been wholly or
partially armed. This object will be steadily and VI
gorously pursued to the Of the means provided
by Congress The estimate for that purpose is the
amount originally contemplated being necessary
the completion Of the ornaments rapidly the ma
ture of the service would permit. Ii is 10 be hoped
that IN view of the great Importance the object no
reduction Of the estimate will be made.
The attention of Congress has, for the last ten
years been repeatedly invoked to the necessity OF
foundry for cannon, belonging to- and under the
charge OF, the Government but, from apprehen-
sion OF the great expense which it supposed
would be incurred by such establishment or from
a doubt of its necessity, nothing has vet been done
towards its accomplishment. Believing that a plan
might be devised on much more limited scale OF ex.
pense, which would attain the principal objects In
view, the Ordnance Bureau directed to consider
and mature such plan, and estimate the of its
execution. The accompanying report No I2) from
that Bureau presents such plan, explains the i'm
portant use which the public service would derive
from its adoption and furnishes estimates of the ex
pense of It's execution. Some additional views in its
favor presented in the accompanying letter of the
Chief Engineer cannot hesitate earnestly to recon-
mend its execution 1t is known that there are some
hundreds Of different kinds of iron produced from
mines, of various Qualities and adapied To
different uses. While one species NAV be valuable
for many purposes, it is utterly unfit for Others is
supposed also, that its value may depend much on the
kind OF fuel usei in lis fabrication is be ex
pecied that the experiments necessary To determine
these and various other matters connected with the
manufacture OF cannon of the best quality can be
made at private expense Nor, If they were could
such entire reliance be placed their results if they
had been conducted by dlsinterested public officers
Ia Imo1f cii
chaser of the article and has the deepest interest in
It's quality il IT, therefore, peculiarly its interest as
well as duty to assist by all proper means the manu-
facture IN the cheapest manner of the best material
The experience already obtained of the great improve
ment IN our small arms effected by the operations of
the national armores, affords the hest guarantee that
similar results will attend the employment of similar
means in the construction ofcannon As is not propos
ed TO take the business into the hands of the Govern
ment exclusively but to continue the purchase Of
non from private establishments, the expense of exc.
cutting the plan will be comparatively unmportant--
he foundry may be connected with one of arse
nails so as TO be under the charge of officers already
in the public service, by which the cost of It's con
sruclion and supervision may be essentially diminish
ed Admonished as we are, by the efforts of other
nations TO improve the weapons Of destruction, it
would seem that no time should be lost in the neces
sary iDcpient measures TO select and purchase site
for foundry, thel limited scale suggested but ca
pable OF expansion according to future exigencies
and ~ therefore hoped that the sum estimated for
that purpose will be appropriated al the coming SCI,
sion of Congress
In the report from this department submitted 10 Con-
gress with the Presidents message at the last session
the objections TO the civil superntendency Of the ma
tional armores fully stated and the proprcty Of
dispensing with such agencies, forcbly urged
board OF very competent citizens was appointed
on the 18th of August last TO examine the aimory al
Springfield, and their very able report fully iusfes
the objections that had been thus made Il shows
what might indeed have been expected that the i'm.
mediate and direct responsibility secured by the EN-.
poyment OF the regular officers having charge Of
ny other branch of the military service was wanting
in this, and that it could moi be attained SO long ms