The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1863-12-16

for pensions, &C. S4z,Ipo,zuI 09 TOT inter-
ests on the public debt; aS247, ,296, ,46S for
Navy Department; s6,324 los 27 for. the
payment Of the funded ana temporary debt
S161.0S6, ,656, OF ) q makinga ap aggregate of
S89,576, ,663 ,055, and leaYing "a balance uef
532 904, ,421. IThese amounts are obviously
erroneous. But the figures are such as the
telegraph furnishes US ;;-aand we have, as yet,
no data by which to correct them.AEd1{ But
the payment safs the funded and temporary
debt, haying been made from moneys borrow
ed during the year, must be regarded as mere
" uofii0al payments, and the moneys borrow.
ed to make them, assmerely nominal receipts
ane these amounts (s1s1 ,06 O71 should there
fore be deducted both fiom the receipts and
disbursements.
This being done, there remains as actual re-
ceipts; 81, ,470, ,999, leaving the balance as al
ready stated. The actual recsipts and dis
bursemeuts for the FIRST quarter, and the esti-
mated receipts and disbursements for the re-
naming three quarters of the current fiscal
yearof 1864, will be shown in detail by the
report of the Secretary of the Treasury; to
which invite, your attention, 1t is sufficient
to say here that it is not believed that. the
actual results will exhibit state of the fnan
ces less favorable to the country than tho esti-
mates of Il at officer heretofore submitted ;
while it is confidently expected that at the
close of the year, both disbursements aud
debts will be very considerable less than has
been anticipated.
WAR DEPARTMENT.. 80
The report of the Secretary of Warts a
document of great interest. It consists of,
frst-the military operations of the year de-
tailed in the report of the General-in-chief
second-of the report of the organization Of
mt a Re- ;.Jf frs
the exchange of prisoners is fully set forth in
the letter of General Hitchcock fourth--op-
erations under the act for enrolling and call
ing ort the national forces, detailed in the re-
port of the Provost Marshal General; fifth
the organization eff the invalid corps; sixth
the operations of the several departm ants of the
Quarter Master General, Commissary General,
Paymaster General, Chief of Eng sineers, Chief
of Ordinance, and Surgeon General. 1t has
appeared impossible to make reliable sum-
mary of this report, except such as would be
too extended for this place and hence ]. con-
tent myself in referring your attention to the
report itself. st,3 = i''.,7
T MANY DEPARTMENT..
The duties devolving upon the naval branch
of the service, during the year and throughout
the whole of this unhappy contest, have been
discharged with fidelity and eminent success.
The extensive blockade has been constaaly To-
creaeing in eficientcy, as the navy has ex-
been Impossible to entirely suppress illegal
trade. From the returns received at the Ma
Wy Department it appears that more than one
Thousand vessels have been captured since the
blockade was Instituted and that the value OF
of the prizes already sent in for adjudication
amaApt to over thirteen million dollars The
naval force of the IfnitedStates consists at
this time of 588 vessels completed and in the
course of. completion, and of these rs arc iron
cad armored steamers. The events of the
war gave an increased interest and importance
to the Navy which will probably extend be-
yond the war ITSELF The armed vessels in
our Navy, completed and in service, or which
are under contract and approaching compile
tion, are believed to exceed in number those
of any other power; but while these may be
relied upon for harbor defence and sea coast
survey, others Of greater strength and capaci-
ty win be necessary for other purposes, aud to
maintain our rightful position on the ocean
The change that has taken place in naval YES
sells and naval warfare, since the introduction
of steam as motive power for ships of war,
demands either corresponding changes in
some of our existing navy yards, or the estab-
lishmept of new ones, for the construction
and necessary repairs of modern war vessels.
No inconsiderable embarrassment, delays,
and public injury have been experienced
from the want of such government establish
ments. The necessity of such navy yard, so
furnished at some suitable place of the Atlantic
seaboard, has, on repeated occasions, been
brought to the attention ofaCongress by the
Navy Department /; and is again presented in
the report of the Secretary, which accompan-
les this communication. L think it my duty
Il II. =
and also to that of establishing yard and
depot for naval purposes 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 tho whole
naval force of the country at the commence
ment of the present Administration. Salts
factory as has been the performances Of the
heroic men of the navy at this period, they
are scarcely more wonderful than the services
of our mechanics and artisans in the produc-
ton of war vessels, which have created a new
form Of naval power. Our country has ad-
vantages superior to any other nation in our
resources of iron and timber, with inexhausti-
BILE quantities of fuel in the immediate vicini-
ty of both, and oil accessible and in close prox-
unity to navigable waters. Without the disad-
vantage of public risks, the resources of the
lidtS HSPu HSfSiopcV anu power uic-
played in the construction of navy of such
aud which has, at the very period
Of it's initiation, rendered signal service to the
Union. IA
The increase of the, number of seamep in
public service from 1000 men in the spring
Of 1851, to about "a; 1000 at the present time,
has been accomplished without especial legis-
latiCn or extraordinary bounties to promote
that increase. 1t has been found, however,
that the operations of the draft, with the high
bounties paid for army recruits, are beginning
to affect injuriously the naval service, and will,
if not corrected, be likely to impair its eff
cheney by detaching seamcn from their proper
vocation, and inducing them to enter the ARMY.
I, therefore, respectfully suggest that Congress
might aid both the army and naval service by
adequate provision on this subject, which
would at the same time be acquitable to the
which is more especially interested.