Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1863-12-18
DELAWARE, ONO, DECEMBER 1s, 1868. .

buFsemsnts for the first quarter, and the es
mated receipts and disbursements for the !
> mainiBg three quarters Of the current fsG
: year Of 1864, will be shown in detail by L
report OF the Secretary Of the Treasury
which invite your attention. Il 10 suf6eie
to say here that it is not believed that the q
tuaI results will exhibit 4 state Of the fnanc
less favorable to the country than the estiE
ates Of that officer heretofore submitted
while il Is confidently expected that at th
close Of the year, both disbursements and deb
VIII be considerable less than has been antic
tPatsd.
WAR DKPARTMENT.
The report Of the Secretary of War is
document of great interest It consists ei
6rBt-ths military operations of the year ID
tailed in the report Of the Ge0sral-in-chief
i second of the organization Of eolored person
! into the war service thiFd-the exchange o
prisoners is fully set forth 10 the letter Of Gen
Hitchcock; fonrth-operationa under the &C
for ,enFolling and calling out the nationa
forces, detailed in the report Of the Proves
Marshal General !; ffth-the organization o
4 D
the several departments of the Quarter Mast
er General, COmmissary General, Paynastel
General, Chief of Engineers, Chief of Ord
nance, and Surgeon Gen. It has appeared i'm
possible to make q reliable summary of thil
report, except such az would be too extended
for this place, and hence content myself il
referring your attention to the report itself.
The duties devoIVing upon the naval
branch of the service, during the year and
throughout the whole Of this unhappy con-
test have been discharged with fidelity aud
eminent success. The extensive blockade has
been constantly increasing in efficiency, as the
navy has extended. Yet, on so long line, it
has SO far been impossible to entirely suppress
illegal trade. From the returns received at
the Navy Department it appears than more
than one thousand UesssIs haUe been captured
since the blockade was instituted and that
the value of the prizes already sent in for ad-
judication amount to over thirteen million dol
lars. The naval force OF the United States
consists at this time of 588 vessels completed
and in the course of completion, and of these
IS are iron-clad armored steamers. The
events Of the war gave an increased interest
and importance to the Navy which win pro-
badly extend beyond the war ITSELF The ar
mored vessels in our Navy, completed and in
service, or which are under contract and ap-
preaching completion, aro believed to exceed
10 number those Of any other power, but
while these may be relied upon for harbor de-
fense and sea coast service, others of greater
strength and capacity will be necessary for
other purposes and to maintain oIr rightful
position on the ocean. The change that has
taken place in naval vessels and naval war
fare, since the introduction ofsteam as motive
power for ships OF war demands either cores
ponding changes in some of our existing navy
yards, or the establishment of new ones, fer
the construction and necessary repairs of mod
ern war vessels. No inconsiderabla embar-
rassment, delay, and public injury have been.
experienced from the want of such govern
ment establishments. The necessity of such
navy yard, SO furnished at some suitable place
on the Atlantic seaboard has, on repeated
occasions, been brought to the attention Of
Congress by the Navy Department and is
again represented in the repert of the Secre-
tary, which accompanies this communication,
| think it ny duty to invite your special at
tention to this subject and also that Of es-
tablishing yard and depot for naval purpos-
es upon one Of the Western rivers. A naval
force has been created on these interior waters
and under many disadvantages, within a little
more than two years., exceeding in numbers
the whole naval forcs of the country at the
Of the present Administration.
as has been the performances of
he heroic men of the navy at this period, they
IRE scarcely more wonderful than the services
If our mechanics and artisans in the -produe-
ion Of war vessels, which have created new
orm of naval power. Our country has adj |
7antages superior to any other nation in our
resources of iron and timber, with inexhaustia7 |
Die quantities of fuel in the immediate vicinity
If both, and all accessible and in close sproxi-
nifty to navigable waters. Without the dis
advantage of public risks, the resources Of the |
nation have been developed, and its power dis |
played in the construction of navy of such |
and which has, at the very period |
If its initiation, rendered signal service to the
Union. -i
The increase Of the number of searnen in the |
public service from 1000 men in the spring |
IF 1861, to about $4,000 at the present time,
mas been accomplished without especial legis-
alton or extraordinary bounties to promote |
that increase. 1t has been found, however,
hat the operations of the draft, with the high 1
bounties paid for army recruits, are beginning |
to affect injuriously the naval service, and will,
i not corrected, be likely to impair its Ell
,iency by detaching seamen from their proper
7ocation, and inducing them to enter the army. /
I therefore respectfully suggest that Con-
yress might aid both the army and the naval
ervice by adequate provisions on this subject,
which would at the same time be equitable to
he country, which is more especially interest
d..
commend to your consideration the report
Il the Secretary Of the Navy in regerd to the
policy OF fostering and training ssarnen for the
laval service. The Naval Academy is rem
Isring signal service in preparing midshipmen
or the highly responsible duties which in after
ife they will be required to perform, in order
hat the country should not be deprived of
he. proper quota Of educated officers for
which legal provision has been made. At the
laval school the vacancies caused BY the neg
ect or omission to make nominations from
he Southern States have been filed by the
Secretary Of the Navy. The school is now
mere full and complete than, at any previous
,eriod, and is in every respect entitled to the
avorable consideration of Congress.
POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT. :.,r 80,
During the past FISCAL year the financial
condition of the PostoHice Department has
Dsen one Of Increasing prosperity and am
ratified in being able to state that the re-
eipts Of the postal revenue has nearly equal
ed the entire expenditures, the latter amount
ng to $1I, ,3I4,O00 "a and the former to