Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1882-12-07

\ opportunity 10 exercise his constitutional
pxerogatiye ofopposing whatever appropria-
tions seemed to him Objectionable, without
imperilng the success of others which coma
mend themselves to his Judgment 1t may
be urged, In opposition to these suggestions,
1 that the number of works of internal ina
provement which are justly entitled to gov
ernmental aid Is so great as to render inn
practicable separate appropriation bills
| therefor, or even for such comparatively
limited number as make disposition of
J large sums of money. This objection may
be well founded, and whether it be or not,
the advantages which would be likely
to ensue from the adoption of the course l
have recommended may perhaps be more
4 eheetually attained by another, which re-
/ spectfuliy submit to Congress as an alter
native proposition. Il is provided by tae
constitutions Of fourteen Of our States that
ltens Of bill appropriating money where
upon the part of the bill ap-
proved shall be law and the part
disapproved shall fail to become law
unless repassed according to the pro-
visions prescribed for the passage of
bills over the veto of the Executive: The
States wherein some such provision as the
foregoing is a part of the fundamental law
are Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida,
Georgia, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri,
Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Penn
sylyania, Texas and West Virginia. / COM
mend to your careful consideration the
! question whether an amendment of the
Federal Constitution in the particular indi-
Gated would not afford the best remedy for
what is often grave embarrassment, both
to members of Congress and to the Execu-
tive, and is sometimes serious public mis-
chief.
TIE NAVY.
The report of the secretary Of the navy
. states the movements of the various SQUAD
rons during the year In home and foreign
waters, where our officers and seamen, with
such ships as we possess, have continued to
illustrate the high character and excellent
discipline of the naval organization. On the
2lst of December, 1881, information was re-
celved that the exploring steamer Jeannette
had been crushed and abandoned in the Arctic
ocean. The officers and crew, after journey
over the ice, embarked in three boats forth
coast of Siberia. One of the parties, under
the command of Chief Engineer George w.
Melville, reached the land, and, falling in
with natives, was saved. Another under
Lieutenant Commander De Long, landed in
a barren region, near the mouth of the Lena
river After six weeks had elapsed all
| but two of the number had. died from
fatigue and starvation: No tidings have
been received from the party in the
third boat, under command of Lieutenant
Chipp but long and fruitless investiga-
ton leaves little doubt that all its mem
bers perished at sea. As SLIGHT tribute
to their heroism, give IN this communica-
ton the names of the gallant men who
sacrificed their lives on this expedition
Lieutenant Commander George w. De
Long, Surgeon James AZ. Amber,
Jerome j. Collins, Hans Halmer Erichsen |
Heinrich II. Kaacke, George w. Boyd, |
Walter Lee, Adolph Dressler, Carl A.
Gortz, Nelse Iverson, the cook All Sam. !
in the missing boat were Lieutenant Charles |
| w. Ohipp, Commanding William Dunbar, |
Alfred Sweetman, Walter Sharvell, Albert c. |
Kuehne, Edward Star, Henry D. Warren and |
Peter e. johnson. Lieut. Giles B. Harber and |
Master William e. Scheutze are now bring
ing home the remains of Lieutenant De |
| Long and his comrades.
In pursuance of the directions of Congress
the Rodgers fitted out for the relief of the |
Jeanette in accordance with the act of |
1 Congress of Marcel 3, 1881, sailed from San
Francisco June 16, under the command of |
Lieutenant Robert M. Berry. On November
80 she was accidentally destroyed by fire
while in winter quarters in st. Lawrence
Bay, but the officers and crew succeeded in !
escaping to the shore. Lieutenant Berry
and one of his officers, after
making search for the Jeannette along /
the coast of Siberia, fell in with Chief En-
gineer Melyille's party and returned horne
by way of Europe. The other officers and I
the crew of the Rodgers were brought from /
st. Lawrence bay by the whaling steamer |
! NOrLn Quar-. n1dSUef Ondrl6S n. HuIndD, VINO /
had been placed in charge of a depot of sup |
plies at Cape Serdze, returning to his post |
from st. Lawrence bay across the ice in |
binding snow-storm, was carried out to sea |
and lost, notwithstanding all efforts to res
Que him.
THE AvAILAHLE NAVAL FORGE.
1t appears by the secretary's report that |
the available naval force of the United |
States consists Of thirty-seven cruisers.
ing the rebellion, a large number of smooth |
bore guns and Parrot rifles, and eighty-seyen |
rifed cannon. The cruising vessels should |
be gradually replaced by iron or steel |
ships, the monitors by modern ar
inored vessels, and the armament by |
high-power rihed guns. The recon
struction of our navy, which was recon-
mended in my last message, was begun by |
Congress authorizing in its recent act the |
construction of two large unarmored steel |
vessels OF the character recommended by |
the late naval advisory board and subject |
to the final approval of new advisory board |
to be organized as provided by that act |
call your attention to the recommendation of |
the secretary and the board that authority be |
given to construct two more cruisers of
smaller dimensions and one feet dispatch
vessel, and that appropriations be made for |
high-power rifled cannon for the torpedo |
service and for the harbor defenses.
RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE NAVY DEPARTMENT.
Pending the consideration by Congress Of |
the policy to be hereafter adopted in con-
Quoting the eight large navy yards and their
expensive establishments, the secretary adj |
vocated reducing expenditures therefor to |
the lowest possible amount. For the purpose
of afording the officers and seamen of the |
navy opportunities for exercise and dis |
cipline in their profession, under appropriate |
control and direction, the secretary advises /
that the lighthouse service and coast survey |
be transferred, as now organized, from the |
| treasury to the navy department.; and he also |
suggests, for the reasons which he assigns,
that similar transfer may wisely be made |
of the cruising revenue vessels.
OUR MERCHANT MARINE.
The secretary forcibly depicts the intimate
connection and interdependence of the navy
and the commercial marine and invites at
! tention to the continued decadence of the
latter and the corresponding transfer of our
growing commerce to foreign bottoms. This
subject is one of the utmost importance to
/ the national welfare. Methods of revivinr
American ship building, and of restoringthe
United States flag in the ocean carrying
trade, should receive the immediate attention
of Congress. We have mechanical skill and
abundant material for the manufacture of
modern iron steamships in fair competition
with our commercial rivals. Our disadven-
tage in building ships is the greater cost of
labor and in sailing them, higher taxes, and
greater interest on capital while the ocean
highways are already monopolized by our for
midable competitors. These obstacles should
some way be overcome, and for our rapid
communication with foreign lands, we
should not continue to depend wholly upon
vessels built IN the yards of other countries
and sailing under foreign flags. With no
United States steamers on the principal
ocean lines or in any foreign ports, our fa-
cilities for extending our commerce are
greatly restricted, while the nations which
build and sail the ships and carry the mails
and passengers obtain thereby conspicuous
advantages in increasing their trade.
THE PosToFFIoE DEPARTMENT.
The report of the postmaster-genera gives
evidence Of the satisfactory condition of
that. department, and contains many val
liable data and accompanying suggestions
which cannot fail to be of interest. The
information which it affords, that the
receipts for the fiscal year have ex-