The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1846-03-02


viii serve to satisfy any member OF The Senate, tina
,gs have the capacity 10 send ahoat in one year
more powerful navy than Great Britain ever possess
III. Il il true we have now but 10 vessels and
some of Them small but we have commercial
marine unsurpassed by any in the world.
The greater number Of our packet ships sailing %!
of the ports Of New York and Philadelphia, arc
larger and capable Of carrying more guns than our
frsl-elass irgates In the last war and with ue
addition TO these vesscs, which can be accomplish
ed ia four or 1--WE weeks, We can set ahoat more
Efficient navy than Great Britain ever possessed II
you look over the navy list OF Great Britain which
vas read here the other day, you will find that a
large proportion Of vessels there specified are mis-
srabe old hulks, unit for service. IL cannot be
denied that we are capable Of constructing vessels
with more expedition than any nation in the worlds
and il il comes TO war; instead Of finding un-
prepared we should be found the best prepared IA
ion in the world, at this day, for a war. ... f.
Mr.. CLAYTON. VIII the senator allow me to
make one or two remarks. certainly did not mean,
Ia the remarks made the other day TO say that ours
i the weakest navy in the world or ono Of the weak
est Thought distinctly expressed myself confident
of the rficient way in which should net in a war
with foreign nation. did give some details Of
the relative naval powers Of this country and Eng
and, in reply TO some remarks of the senator from
Ohio, Mr. ALLEs.l thought il was proper |
should correct, if he Yves In error, his Impressions
n regard 70 The navel power Of Enelandi but
Isaid ncthiag 70 dsparsge the force Of my own ar
kument gave what were the accounts IN my pos
sssslon at the tins, Of the naval power OF England
sindl read tho satsment, have seen still later
authority, disclosing Information more perfect than
I posssssed on the former occasion alluded 10. 1
ihsn said that England he'd 67ls ships Of wsr, and
hat she had Of guns Ia her navy 1922. BY the
lsss, Official documents received by the last steam
or from Epgiand, understand she has so increased
bar navs power IN the last quarter, that she has now
H. 772 guns mounted on her naval marine. That is
the increase for the last quarter Of the last year. end
Ing LIST January Last. Further, on making my for
nsr statement, according 10 tho information then
possessed, STATED the number Of her war-stsamers
10 be SO l perceive by the last received returns
from England that she has now l2l. The number
Of men stated at 10000; but in this see no ma
isral change did say, too, in reference to the
commercial marine, that was, according TO the
Information then had, about equal, or If any, very
le inferior to that of Grent Britain; but did not
say il was superior The latest information recev-
ed shows that the former was somewhat erroneous,
or that the commercial marine Of England has in
crossed since the period referred to in the former
documents According to the authority OF Nc
Culloch, the commercial tonnage of the United
Kingdom was 2,420 ,75s tons, about which,
ratsd, Was The amount Of our tonnage, according to
he Information | then had. The latest accounts
received from England show that this amount has
been increased. will read statement oft for the
Information Of the Senate from ''McCiregor's Com
mercial Tariff In this work the tonnage Of the
United Kingdom ia stated to be 2994, l66, which
shows an increase since had the first documents in
my possession; If 10 that be added the tonnage of
Jtr,ey, Guernsey, and Man. it will make in all
ai+0,392 make the statement in justice TO my
sslf by permission of the senator from Illinois, and
does no. alter, in any single particular, the results
Lwhlch arrived; on the contrary, II confirms them
AMER giving few other statistical items, which
were also before presented by the senator, he con.
unued) And now, sir. take occasion again to
remark in reply TO the senator from Illinois, at the
time made my former remarks, ! did not do so in
order to diSparage the naval power of our own
country, 10 overrae that of Great Britain; but
10 enable my associates in this Senate to know our
true state, and prepare if necessary for desncs.
Mr.. BREESE. The inference from the remarks
Of the senator in presenting this statement to the
view Of the Senate and the country, is think, IT.
rsistibe-ihat 20 far our military marine is
cerned we are one Of the weakest powers on earth.
Even the inferior powers Of Europe have, il seems,
superior marine; and, therefore, according to his
argument, we are among the weakest nations OF
mrtb. As said BEFORE that is not the point The
question is, what is the capacity Of this country to
make adequate preparation for any emergency
That in the question; and in that point Of the
power Of Great Britain is far superior to that which
We possess. She has not the elements Of power
that are within our grasp. We are the strongest
power so far as naval. superiority is concerned on
The whole steamboat tonnage Of Great Britain was
$1,000 whilst on the valley Of the Mississippi alone
had in that year l25 900 tons-or one-third more
than the whole United Kingdom Look at the ca
pacty of Great Britain in comparison with that of
The United States to prepare military marine.
There is no comparison We have forests that she
does not possess. We have all the materials. We
have skill far exceeding hers. She has never pos
Rssed such vessels as those which sail across the
Atlantic from the port of New York. We have
constructed steam-yessels such as she has never
yet approached in point Of beauty, swiftness and
apabiity. We can construct steam-vessels capa-
bic Of running twenty seven miles hour--a speed
never attained by any British steamer, and which
Mver will be attained unless our models be adopt
3D. In every particular--I have not time to
70 into the details, nor is it necessary now
lin every particular we have immense sd-
.n'ages 10 Great Britain in the possession of the
means Of defence and assault. To what do the
Preparations of Great Britain Of which we have
heard SO much amount She is all the time en-
gagged in such MISUNDERSTANDING her dock
yards--cutting down old vessels, converting them
into races, and so on. She is also engaged in for
ifylng exposed points on her coast All this &C
tive PREPARATION TO which the attention of senators
and Of the country has been so much directed, was
commenced before the Oregon question had attained
IN important character--at least before It had be-
come such prominent question between the two
governments, so far the President and the action
OF MS ADMINISTRATION 10 concerned. Long before
Ae inaugural address reached England, Sir Robert
Peal, in presenting, the l4h of February, l845,
NE annual budget Of expenses announced his inten-
hon Of increasing tho navy. He stated that in the
past year he had been under the necessity Of crea-
ING hree additional naval stationsone on the coast
Of Africa, another in China, and the third in the
Pacific ocsan--and which demanded an additional
force of 600 men, and something like an additional
expenditure Of million pounds sterling. He also
recommended an increase in the steam-navy All
his was before Oregon had become prominent
hpic. All this was determined on as far back as
February, I6%5, and the reason for all these prepa-
rtions grew entirely out Of the publication made
by the French admiral, the son Of the king, the
Prince de- Joinvis, and the publication Of Theirs,
slowing that the project Of Napoleon to invade
England had not been humbug, but had
been seriously n,ended, and would have been
carried into effect II accidental circumstances
had not interposed; but that now, steam
had placed the two powers on an equali'
~ At many points the distance between the Eng
hsh and French coasts is ealy from twenty-five to
sixty miles. With that immense control Of men
which France possesses, what is to prevent her-as
the Prince de Joinvie correctly observes, and the
Duke OF ellington, in his examination before the
al, he If n, Of