The Hillsdale standard. [volume] (Hillsdale, Mich.) 1851-1909, 1864-03-08
SENATOR GRIMES UkON OUR
NAVAL. EXPENDITURES.

matter should bs set before the public 10 il
true light. This was very ably done by Mr.
Grimes, Of wa, in speech ia the u. S
Senate on the lst lust. Mr.. Hale had stated
that the sum Of $l42, 100000, which we ars
called upon to appropriate this year for lava
purposes, exceeded by nearly $1,000, 900, The
annual naval expenses Of all tho rest Of The
civilized world except Italy and Denmark
etating expenses of the European Powers a.
follows:
II find that the naval expenditures Of Gre a,
Britain during the year 1852 were $50, 400.
94O; OF Franco for 1868, MS voted by the
Corp LegisiatT $4,000 900; of Spain fol
1923, Sl0,42l,6l7; of Russia for 1852
sl5.442,s7s; of Austria, per budget of Is63,
$5.3l4000; Of the Netherlands for 1852,
$},633,436 ; Of Sweden for 1863, $3,5O3 ,406
Of Prussia for 1862, 81 ,4s9, 200; of Portugal,
for 1923. slll.O0o." .... -. = . :. :,
Mr.. Hale, embracing those figures, Mr.. Grimes
proceeded thus:
"Mr. President, have not had an opportu
nifty to verify the accuracy ofthese statements,
but l have no doubt they are substantially
true. l admit that the statement OF itsolf is
| true, AMI that the Senator from New Hamp-
shire, the Chairman Of the Committee on Ma
val Affairs, unquestionably did not intend 10
create wrong impression. His love fer bis
country, bis regard for the naval service, and
doubt not bis respect for the gentlemen who
have charge Of naval aff,irs in this country, is
such that he could not have permitted himself {
to create such an impression, even if ho had
been SO inclined. everhclcss, the facts as
stated do create very erroneous impres ion.
Had l beer on committee, Or been PEI init.
to TO appear before comni tee represeL ting
the Naval Department, and had thft Senator
appeared before that committee and made the
statements which he made here 1 would have
asked him Do you not know, or ought you
not to have known, and might you not have
known, as chairman Of the Committee on Ma
val Affairs, that the estimates for all the 9th
er Departments are ptcdicated upon a paper
basis, and must necessarily be thus predicated !;
and that therefore the amount of $I42,O0O,-
600 shond be reduced by thir,y.three per
cert, or to $95,0OO,OOO?,' He would have
b On compelled to answer u1hesitatingly in
the affirmative.
"Then l would have asked him further, 'Is
1t not fact that these estimates were made
up, under law of Congress, to the lst Of DC
tober last, when our relations with foreign
Powers were not supposed to be as amicable as
they are now thought to be, and do they not
INCLUDE estimates for steamers to the amount
OF S22, 500, 900, which were estimated for at
tho specinl instance Of tho people who were
peculiarly interested in commerce, and residing
in the section of the country 10 which the
Senator himself residesl He would have
been compelled to answer that question 10
tue affirmative, and thus the amount would be
redyced to S72.000.0 600 iu place of Sl42. 900,
"Thsn would have asked him II, during
the debates Of the last C,ngress. be did not
several times assert 10 his place in the Senate
that we were paying our naval officers and
eur seamen much greater compensation than
was paid in any naval service in the world;
and he would have answered again in the az
frmalive. Then would have followed the in
quiry, is not the paw of all officers now in the
naval service Of the United States fixed by
law of Congress and should again have re-
ceivcd an affirmative answer.
81 would have asked him still further do
you not, in making your charges against the
Department, accuse them'-for it virtually
amounts TO an accusaton--' of making exor-
bitant or improper estimates when they make
estimates for salaries amounting to $4,000.
600 of tho $72,000,000 bas,d wholly upon
the laws of Cong,css which Tx the com pensa-
tion for the officers and menp He would
have been constrained TO answer 10 the affirm
ative. Why, cir, il you bad that witness be-
forc you under such circumstances, You would
further have developed the fact that, in the
navy yards in France aud England, and all
oyer Europe, from which the Senator's figures
are drawn, The skilled artisans in whom we
pay from two and half TO three and half
dollars per day can be secured at from rs cents
to 90 cents and one dollar"
Senator Hale had also stated the naval sx.
penses of England aud France during tho Cri.
mean war rs follows:
"That war was declared on thu 9th Of
March, 1884 and the Crimea was ovacusted
by the allies July IL, 1857, lasting little
more than three years and five months. The
total naval expenditures of Great Britain dur
ing the war were Se62 .o32 ,2lo, and Of France
SS7,s77,57S making total Of s340, 900, 1888
for the whole raval expenses of France and
England during the Crimean war, which was
less than 100000, 900 year, 60 that wo are
called upon this year TO appropriate for our ma.
Wy S40,000,0 ,0G0 more than was spent by the
combined nations Of Franco and Foglaud 10
any one year during the Crimean war;
To this Mr.. Grimes replied thus:
Snow, Mr.. President, il a witness bad made
that statement Upon 'he stand and there had
bce1 any one present authorized to interro-
gate him 10 regard to the facts, it could be
made to appear that the expenses Of England
during the Crimean war ranged from $685.
100000 to slo0,o00,ooo per aunum in sps-
Gle. 1t would also have boen discovered that
England had navy already built, and that
she was not compelled. as the Government OF
the United States has been compelled during
this war, TO build their navy as well as to
maintain it and enlarge its navy yards. II
would have been proven by the witness, Il he
were informed in regard to IT, that about the
only vessels built by tho British government
during the time of tho Crimean war were those
celebrated gunboats with which We were
threatened by writer in tho LONDON Times
during the Tent alla :, and which so frightened
some Of my friend. in Northwest they
Immediately conceived the great canal project,
all Of which gunboats have since been absn.
doncd by the British Government, and no one
Of which could ever have got through the
car ais into Lake Ontario.