The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1845-12-05

| is hoped, will prove efficient. A few professors give
more and better instruction than four-andwenty at
sea. mo supernumerary officer has been ordered to
Annapolis; no idle man is attached to the establish
ment. Commander Buchanan, 10 whom the organ
zation Of the school was inrusted, has carried his
i instructions into effect with precision and sound
Judgment, and with wise adaptation Of simple and
! moderate means to great and noble end. Let not
Congress infer that new expenses are to be incurred
i Less than the amount that has hitherto been the
dispositiontof the department for purposes Of cu-
ture will support the school, and repair and enlarge
quarters, received from the hospitality Of the
Earmy
| At Washington, the admirable instruments pro-
vided for the Observatory have been placed under
4 the charge of officers Of the navy, who are well
aware that the opportunities afforded them for ad-
vancing astronomical SCIENCE are unequaed on this
Continent, and scarcely surpassed in Europe. Re-
suits honorable to the country may, therefore, be
| Justly expected of them. From that institution
charts are furnished to the navy at cost; and the
instruments used there preserved, correct
! ed and repaired. Would il not be well that the
plates of all charts authorized by Congress to be
graved should be deposited there, the place most
appropriate for their preservation and USE
i was subject of great regret that the pressure
the South and Southwest The plans for their m-
proyement should be such will not interfere with
or injure each other.
Pensacola by its position arrests public attention
| The security of our naval power in the Gulf of
Mexico depends in great measure, on its condi-
\ ton and resources. The events of the summer
show conclusively the necessity for liberal proyi-
sion at that station of all the means essential to
welfurnished and efficient navy-yard. A large esti
mate for that yard ia therefore presented, although
desire 70 await further information before finally up.
proving the proposed mode Of its expenditure
Memphis, on the contrary, being in the heart Of
the country, on ocean river, yet thousand miles
| from the sea, is inappropriate for the repairs of
ships Of war; but, in building steamships, it may
compete with Boston, New York, and Philadelphia
with ST. Louis, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. II lies,
moreover, just below the great hemp-growing re-
gion, and is recommended by its position for the
Enlistment of the manufacture Of cordage. rope
walk, with the latest improvements, is therefore
proposed, so that the West may not only produce,
but manufacture, the hemp used for the American
navy.
have disapproved some of the details of the
plan proposed for the navy-yard at Memphis, be-
| cause it was framed on scale of extravagant ex-
pendture, which, for the mere work preparation,
wsuld have consumed many years, and would have
cost by estimate, at least two millions OF dollars,
and which contemplates the residence of many Off
GERS, civil and naval, who in any event would be
/ useless. l recommend that Congress confne the use
of the moneys it may appropriate, first, to the mme-
date construction OF rope-wak, and, next, to sim
pie arrangements for building and equipping steam
ers. To introduce at the West the manufacture of
American hemp for the navy, will prove national
benefit
The United States should produce all the hemp
used in its navy. Enterprise, climate, and soil
leave doubt that it may be raised and prepared Of
the best quality, and at prices within the limit pre-
scribed by law. To insure that end / gave the sub
ject early and continued attention; and nothing but
! American hemp has been received under any con-
tract made since came into the department. Find
ing, by short experience that to insist the in
spection at Charlestown, as heretofore practised,
he inur IN he xUeaf ctad
that, while all who had made contracts at prices
based upon inspection and delivery at Charlestown
should be held to fulfil their engagements, pur-
chases should be made of three hundred tons, du-
Il ring the present fiscal year, be delivered and final
4 " Inspected at Louisville and ST. Louis.
The subject of lake defences is reserved for spe-
cal communication.
The care Of the reservations and plantations OF
live.oak, recommend should be transferred to the
land office, which alone has the proper means of as
pertaining titles, and which assume the charge
with less expense and greater efficiency than this de-
| partment.
! may ask leave during the winter to present some
1 suggestions on the organization Of the department
| and its bureaus
The present contract system requires modification,
that fraud to the United States may shield it.
self under the letter of the law or contracts be Civ
en- out at prices exceeding the market price.
The balance of appropriations on hand will, it IS
believed, with the exercise Of rigid economy, be suf-
Il
Inmates for the next year contemplate increase IN
the force employed during the present. Those for
the civil department precisely the same as were
granted for the current year. For the Improvement
/ of yards and docks, recommend only what the
chief of that bureau declares to be absolutely neces
sary. Some of the shore stations, which had been
4 needessly mudpied have been abolished: in trans
hitting tho estimate for the remainder, am far from
expressing opinion that no further reduction
| should be made. The estimate for provisions and
IL. r.. H. ~.
ton by law to seven thousand five hundred men; but
the estimate for pay, without proper retrenchments
by Congress, may prove deficient.
As the marine corps is placed under the direction
of the Navy Department, it becomes my duty to
present the estimates for its support. It's services
on ship-board are highly valued its evil consists in
its luxury of fed-offcers, who have no duties to
perform proportonate to their pay and emoluments.
During the past year this burden has been increased
1 By decision of your predecessor, an addition has
been made TO the pay of its gallant colonel command
| ant; and although the procedure which the decs-
ion rests has never had the sanction Of the House of
Representatives, and apparently conflicts with law,
i have not felt justified in Withdrawing from the
sideraIon and decision Of Congress the estimates of
that officer for his own increased pay and the pay
of his aid-decamp, an officer heretofore unknown
| TO the corps and of doubtful propriety. The ma
i rine corps is not brigade--not a regiment.
4 II is never assembled; seldom does full COM
pany come together Itserves in small detachments,
commanded chiefly by junior officers Though
about two-thirds Of the corps were, in summer on
ship-board, all the field officers remain on shore.
OF thirteen captains but one is at sea; Of forty lieu
tenants, about seven at AT one shore-sta-
ton major, captain, and three lieuenans have
had charge of about twenty-eight men,. An in
of the officers of the corps is, therefore, not
needed for naval purposes, even an increase OF
the men.
For the increase Of the navy no estimates pre-
sented The department awaits, on that subject,