The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1852-12-10

| THE WEEKLY REPUBLIC
WILL BE PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY
nation OF the graduates, the Board of Examination
shaii De directed To bestow close attention upon
the class Submitted to them. in order to ascertain
the particular adaptation Of any of the graduates
to this species OF service and that they shall report
| to the Department the names Of such they may
lind qualified by study, talent, and acquire ment
for admission to the corps; and if. upon ,his re-
port, the students 30 designated shall consent to
enter The Corpe, they, many of them the
established complement OF the hydrographicni
| corps may require, shall be appropriated to that
service; and, upon being SO appropriated. they
shall be returned TO the academy for an additional
course Of study Of two years, during which they
| shall be employed in obtaining a thorough know
ledge Of the higher branches OF civil engineering
photography, astronomy, mechanism. and gun
merry, In conformity with the best system ofinstruc
| ton which the academy may be able 10 furnish
At the end OF ths probation of two years they shall
be subjected to a final examination, and. upon q
recommendation to that effect, shall be admitted to
the rank of masters in the hydrographioal corps.
Five years. senvice in this grade should entitle
them to be promoted to iieutenants, as vacancies
may happen, and the promotions thenceiorward
should await the ordinary incidents of the corps
which may supply the proper occasion.
II the Department should be able to contribute
any members to the corps from the present officers
OF the service, think such appointments should
not exceed twenty to each grade Of masters and
lieutenants and ten commanders, and, that no
captain be appointed until after five years. service
In the corps there may be found the proper officers
to occupy the vacancies in this grade. 1t should
also be well understood that the Secretary of the
Navy, In assigning present officers to the corps,
should be governed alone in his selection by high
quali1cation and accomplishment in the science
required, and not by seniority in the service; and
that no appointments should be made unless there
be found officers of approved reputation for their
requirements in reference to this service who may
be willing to enter the corps. -s. .... ..s
rbnx rlxv ~.
cording to this system, be assigned to the two
branches of service have described; that ia to say,
to the regular naval service and to the hydrogra-
phical corps. The graduates required for these
two branches should be selected from three who
are adjudged by the board of examination to stand
highest on the roll of the class; and if any time
it should happen that the acquisitions should not
embrace the whole number Of graduates in each
year, then those whose services are not required,
being the lowest on the roll, should receive an
honorable discharge firm the &C hool. These would
return to the occupations of private life well edu-
Gated by the bounty of the Government, and
qualified for useful employment in the many i'm
portant vacations connected with commerce and
navigation. and especially in the various
vice OF steamships, which create so large de-
mand for expert and accomplished officers. In
whatever situation they may be placed, they
Will ind abundant occasion to rejoice in the ad.
vantages they shall have obtained at the school,
and, by the proper use of these advantages, indem-
nifty the country for the care and expense it may
have bestowed upon their culture. These condi-
ADMISSION
being understood in advance, both. by the cadet
and bis friends, it 10 presumed, will prepare them
to regard the discharge in it's true point OF view,
as the necessary contingency of most important
good conferred, and not as disappointment which
should occasion regret. II, the other hand, ii
should turn out that the annual number Of gradu-
ates should not be adequate to the demands OF these
two branches OF service, the basis OF si1ty-two
in the class If beginners may be increased to the
number ut which experience may show that the
desired result may be obtained. 1t will be easy,
after the experiment Of n few years, to ascertain
this number with sufficient precision, and in the
meantime the photographic corps is to be filed,
the extra supply of the classes for the next three
years BY the admission Of the midshipnen Of dates
prior to 1851, will very OPPORTUNITY enlarge the
classes to number which will satisfy that requsi-
ton. ..y ~, '.. W.. a. ral F,
In arranging the complement of officers to the
hydrographic corps, have proceeded upon con-
jectoral estimate of what suppose may be found
necessary to the service required Of ii. submit
this to the Judgment of Congress for such altera-
tIons In the grades and numbers their invest .
CATION of the subject may suggest. j have thought
II safest to propose number rather below what I
think the service may ultimately demand, it is
easier to increase this complement than to reduce
it. II is proper for me to say also that, in assign
ing five captains to this corps, I may have cx.
ceeded the number which may be appropriate to
the organization. But no captain, according
TO this plan, could be appointed before the lapse OF
hve years, the experience which may be gained in
the interval may enable Congress-, before that pc
riod has gone by to adjust this grade to ito proper
number and assign to 1t its appropriate duies. IL
may be hereafter looked to for the supply Of the
head of the engineer depa rtment, the superin,end-
cnts Of naval architecture and construction, the
general supervision OF Typographical surveys.
and the management Of the Naval Academy. If
these functions may be efficiently discharged by
it, the number have assigned will not be too
arrg re-, 49, ,,o ...,,.,,..,.
which have induced me to submit this plan to your
approval and TO the consideration OF Congress.
1t will afford the annual appointment OF sixty
~ IN n att f,nrf ha nny-u
1t will give greater permanency and efficiency
to the school.
1t will quicken promotion in the navy, and give
to the younger officers hope Of useful command
whilst they yet possess the vigor and ambition Of
youth.
1t will establish a valuable corps of scientific OIL
who will bring to the service equal devotion
the prosperity of the navy and the highest attain
ments to promote it,
And it may occasionally givcto the country men
carefully educated in use'ui knowledge, and bound
by the strongest obligation OF gratitude and honor
to requte this public bounty by laudabe service in
the empoymen,s OF civil life.
think it proper, in presenting this new organi-
cation of the echool and of the officers which il is
intended to supply, to ask OF Congress that the
grade oil master in the service shall be entitled to
commission and recognised in that character by
law. The masters are ward-room officers, and
should be placed amongst the commissioned OIL l.
GERS of the navy. No change of pay is necessary,
and in that respect they may be left upon their
present footing.
if this organization be authorized by law, be-
fore II can be rendered complete; and the sooner,
therefore, that it is adopted The better.
The present class OF passed midsbipmen num-
bers two hundred and sixteen. These to be
disposed of. One hundred of them may be COM
missioned as masters, and the grade may be at
once established at that humber by law. The
naming hundred and sixteen would be gradually
absorbed by the grade of masters in a fcw years
after which the system will work according to ito
permanent regulation.
The present number Of acting midshipmen ia
two hundred and six, of which the school contains,
by the last report. eighty one. Five appointments
have been made for the next term, and there ara
yet thirty. seven vacancies. To the nominations
already made for the class of beginners TO the
next term of October, 1858, may be added at once,
with the thirty seven vacancies, as many as may DC
necessary TO make sixty-two. The classes should
then advance regularly to the end of their rcspec-
tive terms, without additions, and the law may
provide for the annual supply henceiorth of sixty
two, in the manner l have indicated. The grade
of mdshipmen might be at once declared 10 DO
limited to two hundred aud fifty, and the filing OF