The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1851-03-04
Report OF the Secretary of the Treasury,
ON THE COAST SURVEY.

Treasury DEPARTMENT, Feb. Is, 1851.
SIR l have the honor to transmit a report in
Il reply to the resolution of the Senate of the
United States of 3lst December last The reso-
luton is as follows
"Resoired, That the Secretary of the Navy be
directed to report to the Senate what advant-
ages to the public service would be derived from
transferring the survey of the coast from the
Treasury to the Navy Department, us recon-
mcnded in his report accompanying the Pres-
dents annual message; and what additional
legislation, if any, would be necessary; and
that the Secretary Of the Treasury communicate
to the Senate, why, in his opinion, the survey of
the coast should not BIO transferred from the ad-
ministration Of the Treasury Department"
| ! have given tho subject due consideration,
and, after collecting all the facts relating to it,,
come to the full conviction that to transfer the
work to the Navy Department would be to de-
stroy it, by disorganizing the present admirably
devised system, which, for efficiency and econ
lomy, can scarcely be improvcd and which, in
its results, has never been surpassed.
This organization combines all the efficiency
which can be derived from the army, the navy,
and the science of the country, assigning to each
its appropriate sphere of action.
Under this organization the most rigid CON
troll is exercised over the expenditures, and Il
crater amount of work produced, in proportion
TO the cost, than in any other operation of the
same kind ever undertaken
Under this organization threecghts of the
coast of the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico have
been surveyed, and, Mt the present rate of pro-
gress, the remainder will be completed within
twelve to fifteen years, while the survey Of the
Pacific coast is rapidly advancing.
A similar organization cannot exist under
either the War Or Navy Departments. The Of
fcers of the former cannot be made to cooper
ate with those OF the latter, except under neu-
trail department.
: superintendent and his assistants would be lost
by the proposed transfer, and the completion Of
the work would be indefinitely postponed.
The work being one of commerce, essentially
belongs to this department; and its transfer
without the approval Of the department, would
. imply censure of its administration, which is
wholly unjustified by the history of the survey
/. propose in the following report to show
first the general adequacy of the existing laws
and regulations to the conduct of the coast sur
vey
l shall give an account Of the law Of 1907
directing geodetic survey of the coast /; of tho
repeal of this law in 1919, and the consequent
destruction of the organization; of the re-en
actment in 1882 of the same law, with extended
: powers for its execution.
. | shall also state the plan of organization
! adopted under Legislative authority in l843, pro
!, viding for the mode of executing the work an,
its principal arrangements under the laws of 1888
e and 1907; of the regulation of the Treasur
e Department (of 184D for executing this plan
ard the yearly directions issued for the detail
of the work under the approval of this depart
ment.
g. shall next show that the efficiency an,
harmony Of the organization, containing civilians
army and navy officers, have been due TO thei
union under civil department, and is impracti
cable under military one.
} That rs many officers of the army and nav,
as could be obtained have been employed, ant
that nucleus Of civilians is indispensable
That the Navy Department is not now abb,
to furnish the limited number of officers neces
sary for the photography.
4 am compelled in passing to notice the fact
that the facilities formerly afforded this work
under the law, by the Navy Department, have
recently been much abridged, and to suggest ,
j remedy.
! 3. The satisfactory progress of the survey il
pleted, and in comparison with other works 0
the same kind.
That corps, having other and permanent
duties, will complete such n work rapidly ant
efficiently, is contrary to all experience.
II A. ! shall next show the high estimation il
which the present administration Of the work is
held by distinguished scientific societies and in
, dividuals, and by the commercial community
The testimonies to its merits by such men al
Arago, Humboldt, and Schumacher, must be re-
garded as conclusive
5. | shall next establish the fact, that no
country has yet made survey Of its coast, in
GLIDING land and water, by the employment oil
its navy alone. That no merely nautical survey
J can meet the wants of commerce or the require
mcnts of science that the present methods il
use in the different departments of our survey
are those universally considered the best, and
that the adoption of any other methods would
lead to waste of time and money.
6. 1t will next be shown, by actual experience
in the coast survey ITSELF that the work, as al
present organized, cannot be transferred to the
4 Navy Department.
\ The attempt to survey the coast by naval off
GERS alone, between 1919 and 1882, was an en-.
tire failure. The charts produced were pro
nounced by the Secretary of the Navy (Hon
Samuel l.. Soutbard) to be expensive, unsafe
and in many instances, useless and pernicous :
and he recommended n recurrence to the law Of
n 1907.
No attainment has been since made by officers
II of the navy in the coast survey to qualify them
better for the charge of the whole work; Their
, experience has been confined to the photography
while the land-work constitutes four-fifths OF
the whole. The navy would be disorgnnized
by converting its officers into Typographical sur
!, veyors.
/ 7. An examination is next made of the cost
!; Of this survey as compared with foreign ones
and the great relative economy of this work is
established The economy of its topography
as compared with the survey of the public lands
is also shown.
4 g. BY examining the relative cost Of nautical
surveys made under the Navy Department. with
the complete ones made in the coast survey, the
very great expense of the former is found
next proceed to show that scientific opera
lions, conducted by the Navy Department, are
more expensive than those of the coast survey
n i show the importance of economy of direct