The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1851-03-04

head, do not here obtain No courts martial OF
courts Of inquiry have ever taken place il the
coast survey, nor has il been necessary 10 re-
port for discipline, or even for public censure,
any of the officers Of either service, IA conse-
quence of difficulties growing out OF the union
of the three.
The calls upon the services OF army aud navy
officers appear to be desirable up to the point
where The army or navy must be increased, to
furnish officers, or where the work would suffer
in efficiency. The second point has not been
reached, since there are calls upon both branches
of service for officers from this department re-
manning yet unanswered
If the work were left without nucleus OF
civilians any calls for the services of military
or naval officers by war, or anticipation of war,
would destroy the work for the time, and would
produce not only delay, but useless expenditure
and even entire Reorganization
The organization of the naval parties subjects
them exclusively to naval CONTROL and the oper-
alton of naval rules, regulations, and usages
as, in the cruising vessels of the navy, the dis
cpline depends upon the commanders of the
vessels. The instructions of the superintendent
are given to the chief of the photographic party,
and to him only.
So in the army parties, as far as practicable
the organization has been made military one
On first coming upon the survey, the line officers
generally and very properly, desire to be attached
to some party where they may become versed
in the practical operations OF the survey, and
this leads, in those cases, to temporary con-
nexionwith n civil party; but these are not the
normal cases, but exceptions
The plan of reorganization, under the law of
1882. was directed to provide that as many OIL
GERS of the army and navy as was compatible
with the successful prosecution of the work,
should be employed. The land-work was ac-
cordingly to he executed by civilians and officers
of the army, in as nearly equal number of parties
as possible, and the photography by officers Of
the navy
If this plan has, in good faith, been carried
out then all has been done which is practicable.
How stands the fact in the case? That this de-
partment has always employed rs many officers
IF the army and navy rs could be obtained that
ne number of officers of the army on the work
yhen.thelMexican war began, was fourteen; that
the number of naval parties has been increased
from two, in l843, to nine, in 1850; that appli-
cation has been made to the War Department
for the detail of army officers, both Of the staff
and line that the difficulty has been to obtain
the number of naval officers required to furnish
the photographic parties; that the obstacles to
The detail of line officers of the army have been
removed, and there are now two staff and five
inc officers attached to the survey, and that
there are two outstanding applications for the
services of other officers, which it is expected
will receive favorable consideration that appl-
cation was made for navy officers for the hydro
graphy of the coast of Texas, at the close of
October; that, after the detail of one passed
nidshipman, the Navy Departments stated that
theirs junior to him could not be detailed,
hough he was near the head of the list of passed
nidshipmen that this officer himself was relev-
without notice to this department, and that,
/, to this date, the vacancies in that hydrogra-
iic party remain untitled, and the schooner
iorris, which has been repaired at the expense
the coast survey, is still without her compile
ient of officers-the only passed midshipman
ttached to her has been ordered from one OF
ne parties on photographic duty at the Office
hat the steamer Jefferson, which it is important
to send at the earliest moment practicable to The
Pacific, is still without her complement OF oth
GERS, though applications from this department
have been made in December and repeated il
January.
1t is not the desire Of this department to in
terfere with the operations of co-ordinat
branches of the government, but when it is OF
vious that duties, considered by the Navy DE-
partment as taking precedence of the coast SUI
vey, are allowed to interfere with details for thi
service, or that the number of the navy officer
is really too small to permit such details, it
necessary frankly to state this conclusive argu
ment against transfer of this work to the Nav
Department.
While the utmost harmony has thus reignet
among the different branches of the service upor
the work, it is but proper to state that the IA
cilites granted ordinarily by the Navy Depart
L IL ..xfA
one by one removed beginning with the autumn
oflS49, and the position of the naval officers on
the survey made materially worse than they had
formerly been. Instead of permitting officers to
remain on the survey for period of years, they
were detached without regard to their employ
ment, frequently in the midst of surveying ope-
rations Instead of being allowed to complete
the photography in the office, half OF each party
was regularly detached from the survey when
the vessels were laid up, and the Others were
considered as liable to be Withdrawn without
consultation with the Treasury Department. To
so great an extent was this rotation carried, that
more than half the officers composing the par
ties were changed in one year. The important
work on the Nantucket Shoals was resumed in
the summer of 1850, with party, with the ex-
ception Of a few officers quite new to the work
The vessels of the survey were directed by the
Navy Department, without consultation with
that department, to he turned over to the collec-
tors of the customs at the close of the surveying
season. The men usually allowed to take care
of them were discharged the officers in whose
custody they must properly be,'were, by orders
from that department, detached from the vessels
and deprived of their commands, though neces-
sarily retaining direction of the photographic
parties to which they had previously been or
dered, and which were engaged in Office work,
Just as important and as proper part of the
photography as sounding. The passed mid
snipmen doing the duty of masters on board of
our vessels were refused acting appointments
rs such. The lieutenant commanding were re-
fused the clerks to which they were entitled by
naval usage The junior officers of the parties
were detailed without regard to their fitness or
disposition for this kind Of work
The whole of the photography on the Gulf
of Mexico wiz: in Florida, Alabama, Missis-
spp and Texas) was suspended for an average
period of nearly six weeks, in the best working
spoeon of tho uear Inv tho delov in furnishino