Weekly national intelligencer., 1852-09-11

abroad In ls49 fleet OF l54 sail went up to this ne
fishing grounds in 1850 affect OF 144 and in 1851 feet
Of 49 Inc vessels are manned with thirty persons each
and their value including that Of the annual
goes procured there is equal to nine mi0nsand thus
exceeds by two millions the highest annual import
from China But these fleets are beset by not only dan
OF their calling customariy wellexplored
is hing grounds but also by the multiplied dangers Of
shin wreck resulting from the want Of topogaph
ica nowledge-the only charts Of those being i'm
perfec and unsatisfactory. While many and deplorable
losses sustained by the fleets Of lS49 1885, have
already Information of the loss of eleven vessels
thirteenth part OF the whole fleet Of 1851 many Of which
nil have been avoided had there been charts
int catng the shoals and headlands and also
places Of hete red anchorage them These facts
represented to MS by the merchants, ship and
underwriters, and are confirmed by Leat. Maury who
as in the abors and udies of the National Observatory
We want then not bon mites nor protection nor even an
accurate survey but sh aP an exploration ana recon-
noissance Of those seas hich have so recently become
the theatre of profitable n dvenure and brave achieve
of whale hunters. Ihis service can De per-
formed by officers and now belonging 10 the navy
two or three vessels which ready belong or may be
added it, and would continue u most only throughout
two three years Happily, the measure involves moth
ing new, untred or uncommon. say hotnnS Of our
search for the lamented Sir J nm nor OF
great exploring expedition under CaPt Wilkes we
are already engaged in trangulang "a coast survey OF
the Atlantic shore. Charts lighthouse ana oeacons
show the pilot his way not over that oce ana among
its islands, but along all rivers and en- upon our
inland lakes The absence Of similar guides md beacons
in the waters in question results from th. TACT hat
the Pacific coast has but recently fallen under ur sway
and Bherngs Straits and the seas they connect ave not
until been frequently navigated by the men OF
any nation. Certainly somebody must do this rvice
But who will The whalers cannot No foreign ton
will for none is interested The constitutional power
and responsibility with the Federal Government ID
its means are ADEQUATE.
California is this fishing ground. Her enerpris-
ing citizens are already engaged in this pursuit and
forward the whale hunters of Nantucket must compete
with new rivals possessing the advantage of nearness to
the Of their abors California therefore, joins
Massachusetts, in this reasonable demand
Mr. President the small exploring feet thus proposed
would be obliged to quit the Northern early in Sep
ember and could not return to them until the succeed
ing June propose that it should spend that long
son in performing service dssimilar under milder
Skies In that part of the Pacific Ocean and its adjoining
seas which is usually traversed by vessels sailing from
New York and San Francisco to China and the Indies.
Remember sir if you please, that not only has Asatic
prince merchant navigator explored this Of
all the the broadest and crowded and
ed with islands, but that they have forbidden that exp
ration by European navgators who have performed
ever has been done at the peril and often at the cost
imprisonment and death We have made accurate
survey for we have only just arrived and taken
stand ON the Pacific coast We are new that ocean
nay, We are only Of yesterday upon this continent
and yet maps and charts necessary the seaar
ing man on that ocean any other; and just
cessary on every monuments and guides to
him who raverses deserts of unmpressbe sand wastes
Of trackless
Lieutenant Maury informs that every navigator of
those waters is painfully impressed with sense of
rounding dangers-they exist and yet the only charts
that have been made fail to indicate in what forms in
what places they will appear. So imperfect is opo
graphical information, that large island called Ousima
supposed to be hicky inhabited and highly cultivated
lies In the fair way to China and yet vessel has
touched or gone around it. 1t would repay fold the
cost of the whole exploration if should find that
island good harbor and friendly peoples Horsberghs
charts of these passages the best But these of
old dates and although they have been corrected from
time to time yet they very imperfect The shoals in
the China sea- the of Japan and the straits of Cas-
par are represented to by naygaors being formed
OF coral mixture Of animal and vegetable organization
and therefore increasing rapidly in magnitude they
approach near the surface of the waters 1t particu
lary necessary TO explore and the shoals islands
lying between the coast Of Paawan the China and
that OF Cochin China and also the shoals in the vicinity
West London Prince of Wales and Pauo sspata islands
The perm existing there obiige ships going up
ing down through those against the beat
at disadvantage, while exploration would probably
disclose eddes and currents which would allow straight
courses where now dares pursue them Clements
Strait and the Caramaa Passage filed with same
dangers Again the great outlet from the China sea into
the Pacific ocean by the Bahee and adjacent passages
tween the islands Of Lucona and the Of China and
Formosa need to be surveyed although the islands are
generally well designated the maps. Then proceed
ing noshwardy regard the safety of the whaleman
demands that the islands between the coasts Of China and
JAPAN and from them to the Loo Choo islands so on
TO the Russian possessions and along them easwardy to
Behring's Straits should be surveyed The last attempt
to perform that duty was made by small Russian feet
which captured and destroyed while its officers and
crew were imprisoned by the Japanese. Lastly, as we
advance easwardy in the very track pursued by our
whaers and China men, encounter islands and many
shoals imperfecty defined and especially the BONN
islands while prudence requires careful reconnaissance
also OF the Fox islands, which, although lying somewhat
norhwardy OF the passage, might if well known afford
shelter in Of inclement weather This reconnos-
in temperate latitude is demanded by the mer-
chants. underwriters and naygators in all our Atlantic
as well as in our two principal Pacific ports and the ar
gument for II rests the foundation with that
which supports the proposition for the more northwardy
exploration. Your mails and passengers Of certain
class viii be carried between San Francisco and Shanghai
in steamships Nevertheless, without such a survey as
this bill proposes, you cannot establish coalng station
the way although the voyage exceeds seven thousand
miles. win you leave this survey and its benefits to
England?
Sir, have you looked recently the China trade? It
reaches already seven millions in value annually. Have
you watched the California trade Its export Of bullion
alone already exceeds fifty millions of dollars annually
and as yet the mineral development Of that State has
only begun. The settlement of the Pacific coast is in
state Of sheer infancy. There is speaking relatively
neither capital labor there adequate exhibit the
forces OF industry that might be employed in that wonder
ul region Nor is California yet conveniently accessible
The railway across Panama is not yet completed The
passage through Nicaragua is not perfect; that which
eads through Tehuantepec is not begun nor have we
yet extended even far to the Mississippi the most
important and necessary of them oil, the railroad
across our country to San Francisco The emigrant
to the Atlantic arrives speedily and cheaply from
whatever quarter Of the world while he who would seek
the Pacific shore encounters charges and delays which
few sustain Nevertheless, the commercial, social
political movements Of the world in the direction
Of California Separated ii is from us BY foreign lands
more impossible mountains, establishing there
custom-house mint, dry dock, Indian agencies,
and ordinary and extraordinary tribunals of iustce