Baton-Rouge gazette. [volume] (Baton-Rouge, La.) 1819-1856, 1852-12-25
tlsrom The N, o. Bulletin
Report ofthe Secretary Of the Navy,

Il
Report ofthe Secretary Of the Navy
/ 1'he report of Mr.. Kennedy Il 4 lons
and Interesting document, glviiit n yer,
clrst view Of ii,e present condition. Of thi'
| ial,orlant arm of the public defence.
i We give below condensed statement
III the lnoat important portion Of IT,
4 The .Seeretury Of the Navy, In bringing
] to the notice Of ihe Bresiden and Con
| gressthe subjects worthy their attentions
reminds them that mnhy valuable si'gges'
tions 81. his pre,iece essors yet not auted OH
have lost hone Of their interest. E
j Tie dlstrihutuh uE the Navy into sis
vquntlrons has still been adhered 10, nlid
The term of cruise remains at three years,
except OH the coat OF Africa, where 1t has
lteen limited to two. The term, however,
| is subject to all occasional prolongation
when the public interest requires ". The
squsflrons are assigned to the East Indies,
the Pacific Ocean, the coast Of Africa, the
coast OF Brazil the Mediterranean, and
the coast oftlie United States In addi.
ton to these, steamship Is appropriated
to the lakes upon the Northern border,
aud few vessels are kept for detached
service. With regard to the slave trade
The Secretary says that It is almost wholly
conIined to North and South Guinea.
Whilst the measures recently adopted
In Brazil encourage the hope that this ill.,
famous traffic will soon te abandoned al.
fogeti,or, a few small Vessels added to the
BRAZILIAN squadron, and directed to cruise
In the track Of the slave ships, tnuy be
found eilectual TO suppress the last efforts
Of that forbidden commerce against Which
the abhorrence Of all christian nations Is
awakened.
1'he Secretary adverfs in the expedi-
tion FOR the purpose of establishing rea-
tioas OF suity and commerce with the
empire Of Japan, and TO tie expedition for
the exploration and survey Of tue China
secs, tue Northern Pacific, and Behring's
straits Ne anticipates important results
from both these expeditions.
/ With view Of contributing to the ful.
sslueut Of the high expectations which the
country has tor,ned of the navy, the Sec.
retary has atso ret on Foot two other ex.
peditions, from which great good IL antici-
,ated. These are the African expedition,
under Commander Lynch, and the expe-
dition for the purpose Of exploring the
river La Plata and It's tributaries, whieh
will he placed under the command of Lieu.
tenast Page.
III connection with these, the Secreta.
Iry refers to the return Of Lieut.. Hetrlon,
10 whom was consigned, in conjunction
with Passed Midshipnan (now Liestell-
ANTI Gitbo.,, an exploration, efthe valley
of the river. Amazon and Its tributaries.
Lieut.. Hersdon has collected valuable
statistics in relation to the country, aud
report Of his Journey IL III course OF pre-
ratetion. Lieut.. Gibson has not yet ar.
rived, but when he returns the facts gntli.
erred Ia his rowte win also lie submitted.
The services Of Leuts. Lee aud Berry.
man, in ascertaining the position of dan.
gerous rocks between the United States |
and England, are noticed.
Tie expedition III search Of Sir john |
franklin, about to be organized under the |
auspicies of Messrs. Grlnnell aud Peabody, |
will furnish occssionf for valuable scientific |
observation aud the Secretary thinks he
has tione no more than justice 10 u meri. |
torious officer, III ecceeding to the request
of Lady Franklin, by permitting DR.. Kane
10 accompany the expedition. Ifaddition-
al means should be necessary for his sci
entiiic researches, the subject Is commend.
ed to the attention of Congress. ,s.
Of the Naval Academy at Annapolis,
the Secretary gives his views at some
length. As the number Of those who can
be admitted to the school under the fres-
ent system isnecessarily small, and as the
school is liable TO some other objections,
he proposes fundamental change in its
aud recommends that The acad-
amy should be composed exclusively of ca.
lets or young men who are received as
candidates FOR admission to the navy.
BY the arrangement which he proposes,
Congress would be called on to nominate
fifty seven candidates every year, and the
President Ave, besides the appointment To-
arising ont of failure to pass
examinations. Various other
suggestions, in this connection, are offered
ii regard 70 the classification Of midship-
men, passed .midsllipmen, aud masters,
md the establishment of q hydrogFaphical
,orps. The yearly graduates Of the acad-
smy will, according TO this system, be as-
signed to the two branches of service de-
,,o,V1aft, yav,,t& .