, 1876-12-06

thuBc pnT before the ft ntllrr ElitHls t'I'lrnIT-
tftn. Thfs Commission mud t.:r VIA -ncIt III.
rem have not the gttrcit i,s.r fr tttif txalf-
nAti"n NOR proper Hlae':inery for inscet'gatin.
tho l1yalty Ot the claifn,A,ts.
'Secpad-That C0nHf.ss sanction tic scheme
Of an unn,lty-funtl for the benefit nt the families
the permanent organization uf the regular KGrV-
lee, f'otl, of wfitrh wcro recommended IN my lust
annual InettaGc. ....
Third-That manufacturing operations Of tho
Orlnanvc Department bc concentrated at three
arsctal. and al, arnlory, aud TINT tho remaining
arsenals tu sEld, md thH prtNctuS applied tO
this object by the Ordinance nepartne'''
RIVERS And ia AHRUns.
The appropriations for rtyer and hart0r I'm
pr0vemeBts for the ttirrcnt year were ,0W:
With my approval, the Secretary Ut Wnrdlrected
tint u tlh af',ount 62ttM)thil efn'lltl he t1,
petldcti, and no new works sl''n1d gc begun. and
portailce. Subsequently this amount VIVA In.
creased to &2,G,7, ,G0), and works nre now pro-
grcshnE on t1l.a tusts. The improvement III the
South Fay Of tl,e MississIppi kiyeI, under t!s,t
favurnbly. At the present time there Is a rllatt.
hcl Of twcnty anil thrcr+tcnt1is feet In
depth between fhe iett!cs at The nloutll Of the
pnsscs, uni clgl.tcen ard haf leci at the head
of tl.c pass. Neither channel, hoHevcr, las tic
width rcqufred before payfnctta ta'l hc male by
utllccts Is now examining these worka, anil
their reports will be presented as soon as re-
celycl.
The report Of the Secretary nj the Navy
ehows that brunch Of the tcrvire to be IN con
dillon as effective m II n possible to keep It
pastrncnt. Ii Is, VI course, impossible to rival
The costlr and progressive establishments Of
great Eufopean Powers will, the nlA material
0f our navy, to which no ifsrrcasc i'a. bccn
eSie'1s erhs small 'eS esut.sis rs SqiI; ee 70 suppy
ttc place Of others which hal gone to decay;
vet tho most hus been done thai wns possible
/ with tho means ut command. aud By substan-
rable material, and completely repairing and re-
| fitting Our monitor fleet. tho nary las been
gradually 90 brnuglt up that Though 1t does not
/ ,naintaln its relative position among the pro-
dItlon mose powerful and effective than 1t ever
has been In time VI pcuce. Tla complete re-
Five HEAVY 1Rox.cLADs
| arc only DELAYED On account Of tlIe fnadCluacy
OF The appropriations made last year f6r tho
| working bureaus Ut tho Department, which were
actually lcss tn amount than thusc made beforu
the War. notwithstanding the greatly ens'nnced
tic cost Of thu naval service, growing out of the
universal use mud great expense Of, steam
machinery. The money necessary for these re-
pa!rs should be provided at once that they may
completed wtovt fmrshsE &C.
strength that there Is in the nary will be de.
ycope4l and useful to its full capacity, an,l ut
Will be powerful for the purpose of defense unl
n!so l0r offensive action should ncccss!t,
for tllat arise within . reasonable distance frou
our BElDrcs, antl the Tact tbat our navy ~ mol
moro modern and powerful than It Is has beer
,adc ca,lse Of complaint against the Sccretar!
Of the Sayy by pcrsols WHO, Mt tic sanc time
criitrlse and complain Of his cndcavars to brlns
the navy that VIC hare to its best and mos
efficient condition. iI}nt the good sense of tll'
country will understand that itis really to hi
practical action that we llave ut ttlfs time an,
elective nnyal fOrcc BIT command.