American telegraph. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1851-1851, 1851-12-02

this service, and having conducted it as to meet
the entire appreciation of the Government, it is
suggested, an act of grace and generosity, that
the same allowances of extra pay and emoluments
be extended to them that made to the officers
and men of like rating in the late exploring expe-
dition to the South Seas.
l earnestly recommend to your attention the ne
cessity of recognizing the Naval Establishment,
apportioning and fixing the number of officers in
each grade, providing some mode of promotion to
the higher grades of the navy, having reference
to merit and capacity, rather than seniority or
date of entry into the service, and for retiring from
the effective list upon refused pay those who may
be incompetent to the performance of active duty.
As measure of economy as well as of efficiency in
this arm of the service, the provision last men
toned is eminently worthy of your consideration.
The determination fthe questions ofrelative 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 al
30 merit your attention. The failure to pro-
vide any substitute, when corporal punishment
was abolished for offences in the navy, has occa-
stoned the converting of numerous courts martial
upon the arrival of vessels in port, and is believed
to have had injurious effect upon the discipline
and efficiency of the service. To moderate pun
ishment from one grade to another is among the
humane reforms of the age; but to abolish one of
severity, which applied generally to offences on
ship board, and provide nothing in it's stead, is
to suppose progress of improvement in every in.
dividual among seamen which ia not assumed
by the Legislature in respect to any other class of
men. tits hoped that Congress- in the ample OPP
portunity afforded by the present session. will tho
roughly investigate this important subject, and
tablish such modes of determining guilt, and such
gradations of punishment consistent with
humanity and the personal rights Of individuals,
and at the same time shall ensure the most emerge
tic and efficient performance Of duty and the cup
preston of crime in ships of war
The stone dock in the navy yard at New York,
which ten years in process of construction, has
been far finished as to be surrendered up to the
authorities of the yard. The dry dock at Phila-
delphia is reported completed, and is expected
soon to be tested and delivered to the agents
of the Government. That at Portsmouth, New
Hampshire, is also nearly ready for delivery |;
and a contract has been concluded, agrecably
to the act of Congress at its last session, for a
floating sectional dock on the Bay of San Fran
cisco. invite your attention to the recommends
ton of the Department touching the establishment
of navy yard in conjunction with this dock on
the Pacific. Such station is highly necessary to
the convenience and effectiveness of our fleet in
that ocean, which must be expected to increase
with the growth of commerce, and the rapid ex-
tension of our whale fisheries over its waters.
The Naval Academy at Annapolis, under re-
vised and improved system of regulations, now al
fords opportunities of education and instruction to
the pupils quite equal it is believed for professional
improvement to those enjoyed by the cadets in the
Military Academy. Alarge class ofacting midship-
men was 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 seamanship, as we'll as for
cruises during the vacations 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 Lieutenant Maury, the
Superintendent of the Naval Observatory, 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 fiscal year will be found
to be 5,S56,472 10, the estimates for the current
year being $5,9Oo,62l.
The estimates for special objects under the con-
troll of this Department amount to 81, ,22O SO,
crease being occasioned by the additional mail
service the Pacific coast and the construction Of
the dock in California authorized at the last SEES
sion of Congress, and some slight additions under
the head of improvements and repairs in navy
yards, buildings and machinery.
deem it of much importance to just economy,
and correct understanding of naval expendi-
tures, that there should be an entire separation of
the appropriations for the support OF the naval SER
vice proper from those for permanent improve
ments at navy yards and stations, and from ocean
steam. mail service, and other special objects as
signed to thesupervision of this Department.
The report of the Postmaster General, herewith
communicated, presents an interesting view of the
progress, operations, and condition Of his Depart
ment.
At the close of the last fiscal year. the length OF
mail routes within the United States was 196, 900
miles; the annual transportation thereon SO 272 1852
miles; and the annual cost of such transportation
$3,42l,754.
The length of the foreign mail routes is estimated
at lS,349 miles; and the annual transportation
thereon at 6l5,206 miles. The annual cost of this
service is S ,472,is7, of which AS 1897 is paid by
the Post Office Department, and S 023 ,25O is paid
through the Navy Department.
The annual transportation ,cithin the United
States Excluding the service in California and Ore.
gon, which is now, for the first time reported and
embraced in the tabular statements of the Depart