, 1863-12-07

[From Onr Regular Correspondent
WksurNoToN, Dec. 2, 1868.
Ti1E NAVY EsTIMATE9-LARuE STEAMERS.
The large estimates for the Navy are douht.
less caused by tho building Of the enormous
tron-c1ads for ocean service. Ono Of theso
vessels costa an immense sum Of money, prob
ably not less than from one and half to two
millions Of dollars. And the trouble also is,
tlat they are an experiment. They arc all, !
believe, with ono exception, Ut that) wooden
vessels clad with iron. Now this mode o1
construction has been forced upon the Brit.
ish and French Governments by the fact TINT
they possess large number Of wooden yes.
sells, which will prove entirely useless In
their hands, unless they can be converted
into iron-clads. The experiment with them,
so far, has not succeeded. The weight of iron
On tho uppcr'works, Tor rather tho portion oi
the vessel above and for Eve or six feat below
the water linc) has been found to strain the
wooden hull Of thevcseel and cause her to
leak The weight also causes the vessel to
roll tremendously, rendering her. lower tier
Of guns useless in hoavy weather, and also
making her very dangerous seat boat. Be.
sides, these Vessels are suitable more for Of.
fensiye than defensive war. What IRE espe.
clally need, are vessels to guard onr ports,
and swift cruisers Of light Construction and
sharp build, to prey upon the commerce OF
the enemy. We cannot hope to put
q feet Of heavy iron-clads on
France 1as Eptsna eGR' ,s wt9 ta9sS ens not et
do 90 for long period sfter the ~ opsaiag % oi Of
'hostiities; but could put f1oct of swift
cruisers on the occan, built for speed and able
to show their heels when necessary or cl oose
their distance in an action. This Is, and has
a1Wnys been our strong point, and It Is the
point Of which the rebels take advantages in
the present war. With two or three small,
hnt swift steamers, they have dcfiod our Gu
tire navy, and 1t has been found that not a
single vessel Of that navy has been able to
capture one OF them. Mr.. Wells has Dur
chased swift merchant vessels, but hitherto.
even these have been unable to destroy these
pests to our commerce. The building. then,
Of any large nnmber Of these immense iron
costly one. Wc cannot now man all the large
vessels VIC have In commission. Notice the
Niagara, n swift vessel, which should be at this
writing hunting up the rebel pirate ships, but
lies idle for want Of acrew. Whatneed then,
so far rs the war is concerned, to 70 to the
expense Of experimenting with immense iron
clad ships, with wooden hulls, which arc en-
tircly useless SO far as the sub}ugation OF tho
rebels is concerned, and which will be so de-
cayed when needed for foreign service, III
TINT time ever comes) TINT they would need
to be entirely rcbuilty
THE noCSE-THE spEAKHRsup,
Unlesa appearances are very deceptive the
Union men should be able to effect IN organ
ization Of tho House very quickly. five
operators say, I should fea7 trouble, but the
late elections hare decided many waycrins
politician. Even to-day re hear the news
that the copperhcads haye been defeated in
New York city. This Is another blow to the
party-another kick to the descending ball.
gaye you q classification of the border State
vote some days since; will give you another
still more favorable to us, IS fresh news re-
specting the status Of members is daily COM
ing in.
Kentucky has nine members; of these
MesstE. Randall, Anderson and Smith, and
probably Brutus J. Clay, will go into our eau
cns; G11der and Harding aIe wings Of the
viii go In Or even vote with us on the organ
ization. Mallory and Wadsworth call them-
selves anti-Admlnfstration Union men. Yen
mans is al Administration Union man, and
may vote with rs on organization.
Maryland Stands thus: Il. Winter Davis
ably 60 in, ut any rate he will vote with u.s.
Webster is IN old Thigg; position not known
Thomas Is . Union man on al war measures,
and Harris Ia copperhead.
The West Virginla, Wha]cy, Is an admins.
tration man, and will probably vote with us
on organization. Brown 1s m old Democrat
and will 60 for the administration on all war
. measures. do not know Blair's position
with certainty.
The East Virginia, segnr, will vote with
the administration on war measures aQd or
ganization- Chandler and Kitchen will vote
with uB.
The Border State vote will accordingly
stand thus:
With Cs In EAucu8. .......................,,6 G
VIII vote with as On Organization. ....,,... B-le
Doubtful.
Against Us. 3 8
ANL" ~
supposing that We get these twelve yotes