Cooper's Clarksburg register. [volume] (Clarksburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1851-1861, 1851-12-10

our flag has everywhere afforded the secCrity and
received the respect inspired by the justice and
liberality of intercourse, and the dignity and
power of the nation.
The expedition commanded by Lieutenant De
Haven, despatched in search of the British COM
mander, Sir John Franklin, and his companions
in the Arctic Seas, returned to New York in the
month of October afrcr hovi"-- - -
peril and sufft
! gcrous naviga
climate witho
the objects of
lions to scienc
Qucntcd polar
/ the expedite
the entire appreciation of the Government, it is
suggested, as an act of grace and generosity, that
the same allowances of extra pay and emouments
be extended to them that were made to the Off
GERS and of like rating in the late exploring
expedition to the South Seas.
| earnestly recommend to your atten-
ton the necessity of recognizing the
Naval Establishment, apportioning and
fixing the number of officers in each
Grade, providing some mode of promo
ton to the higher grades of the navy,
having reference to merit and capacity,
rather than seniority or date of entry into
1 the service, and for retiring from the eff
/ frctivc list upon reduced pay those who
may be incompetent TO the performance
of active duty. AS a measure of econo-
my as well as of efficiency in this arm of
/ the service, the provision last mentioned
is eminently worthy of your considera-
( ton.
The determination of the questions of
relative rank between the sea officers and
civil officers of the navy, and between
officers of the army and navy, in the
various grades of each, will also merit
your attention. The failure to provide
any substitute, when corporal punishment
was abolished for offences in the navy,
has occasioned the converting of numer-
Gus court martial upon the arrival of YES
sells in port, and is believed to have had
an injurious effect upon the discipline and
efficiency of the service. To moderate
punishment from one grade to another is
among the humane reforms of the age !;
hut to abolish one of severity, which ap-
piled so generally to offences on ship
board, and provide nothing in its stead,
is to suppose a progress of improvement
in every individual among seamen which
is not assumed by the Legislature in re-
spect to any other class of men. 1t is
hoped that Congress, in the ample OPP
portunity afforded by the present session,
will thoroughly investigate this important
subject, and established such modes of
determining guilt, and such gradations
of punishment as are consistent with hui
mainly and the personal rights of indi
viduals, and at the same time shall ensure
the most energetic and efficient perfor-
nance of duty and the suppression of
crime in our ships of war.
The stone dock in the navy yard at
New York, which was ten years in pro-
cess of construction, has been so far fin
ishcd as to be surrendered up to the au
thorities of the yard. The dry dock at
Philadelphia is reported as completed,
and is expected soon to be tested and de-
livcred over to the agents of the Govern
mcnt. That at Portsmouth, New Hamp-
shire, is also nearly ready for delivery !;
and a contract has been concluded,
agreeably to the act eff Congress at its
last session, for floating sectional dock
on the Bay of San Francisco. l invite
Your attention to the recommendation of
the Department, touching the establish
ment of a navy yard in conjunction with
this dock on the Pacific. Such station
is highly necessary to the convenience
and effectiveness ofour fleet in that ocean,
which must be expected to increase with
the growth Of commerce, and the rapid
extension of our whale fisheries over its
waters.
The Naval Academy at Annapolis, un-
der revised and improved system of reg
ulatons, now affords opportunities of ed
ucation and instruction to the pupils quite
equal it is believed for professional i'm
provement to those enjoyed by the cadets
in the Military Academy. A large class
of acting midshipmen, received at the
commencement of the last academic
term, and practice ship has been attach
ed to the institution, to afford the amplest
means for regular instruction in seaman
ship, as well as for cruises during the va
cations of three or four months in each
year.
( The advantages of science in nautical
affairs have rarely been more strikingly
illustrated than in the fact stated in the
report of the Navy Department, that, by
means of the wind and current charts,
projected and prepared by Maury, the
Superintendent of the Naval Observable
ry, the passage from the Atlantic to the
Pacific ports of our country has been
shortened by about forty days.
The estimates for the support of the
Navy and Marine Corps the ensuing ifs
cal year will be found to be 1885, 472
10, the estimates for the current year be-
ing $5,9oo,621.
The estimates for special objects under
4hn nnrtrnl Of fhis Denarfnnnf amount II