The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1886-12-09
SECRETARY WHITNErs REPORT.
The Condition or the Navy and Rec.
concentrations for It's I'M
prOvement.

The report Of Secretary of the Navy
Whitney renews his former recommended
ton for a consolidation of the bureaus SO as
to insure responsibility in the purchase and
care of supplies, and says that so far as his
power extended he had consolidated in one
bureau the general purchases of the de-
partment, the care and custody Of stores,
and had created a system of book keeping
by which the responsibility for the care
and disposal of property can be had.
To show that there is at present
no real responsibility for property be-
longing to the department, the Secretary
quotes from the report of board appoint
ed by him to make an inventory Mt the diff
ferent navy yards and naval stations. The
inventory shows an accumulation of stores
and supplies aggregating over $40 200, 900,
nearly $1,000, 900 of which is obsolete and
useless. Among other items there are 49,
5G6 augers and bits, of which rs, 274 are at
closed yards where no work - likely to be
done.
The Secretary confesses that the expert
ence of the department in its first attempt
TO create modern vessels of war has been
disappointing. He says: "One character
istic which an unarmored cruiser must
possess is great speed. This is determined
by the function which she is expected
to perform in modern warfare. She is a
commerce destroyer. She must be able
to escape from iron-clads and outrun, SO
as to overhaul, merchantmen. If slower
than iron clads she could not keep the sea,
and If slower than merchantmen she might
as well stay In port. When the
Dolphin, Boston, Atlanta, and Chicago
We're projected and contracts for their con-
struction entered into it was we'll known
what speed ought to be attained, and what
weight and character of machinery per ton
of displacement was necessary to obtain it.
Commercial vessels had at that time at
tanned speed ranging between sixteen and
nineteen knots, and cruisers were built in
other countries attaining the same speed"
The Secretary compares the trial trips of
the Dolphin and Atlanta with those of En-
glish and French boats only recently COM
pleted, to the disadvantage of the former.
The Dolphin was designed for $500 indi-
Gated horse power, and developed less than
1890, while the Alacrity and Surprise, En-
glish boats of 5000, developed 3,173 and
3,019 respectively. The Atlanta was de-
signed to attain 3, 500 horse power, but her
engines develop less than that.
The report gives the bids and awards of
the new cruisers, and SAYS regarding cruis-
er No. l, for which no bid was rece we'd
within the limit set by Congress,
that orders had been given to re-
duce her size to bring it within such limit,
Sl,l00.000. The report treats of armor
and guns for monitors and armor clads at
great length, and deprecates the fact that
this country should be content to be de-
pendent on the manufacturers of other
nations for the fabrication of armor and
high powered guns. In this connection
the Secretary recommends the appoint
ment of a commission to formulate q scheme
of naval construction, and continues: IF
Congress should at its next session
make provision for the manufacture
in this country of armor and
of high powered guns, and should take
steps for securing broader and more in
telligent consideration and treatment of the
general subject of construction proper to
be undertaken, no time in the end will be
lost, and mistakes will be avoided. Mean
while it is my duty to call attention to the
urgent necessity for immediate action"
The Secretary says that If the estimate
of the Chief Constructor of the Navy is
correct, in six years only three of the serv-
| iceable cruising vessels now on the list will
be left, and, unless n new navy shall be
created, there will be none in existence
| after that lapse of time.
Concerning expenditures, the report says:
"In the adjustment of accounts for the
fiscal year ending June 30, 1886, after pay
! ing all liabilities for the year, it is believed
there will be an unexpended balance of from
$500, 900 TO $500 600 about one half, which
is for the pay of the navy and the marine
corps, showing a total expenditure of about
S13, SOC, 900, or upward of S50O.000 less than
the appropriations. These amounts do not
include the expenditures for STEEL cruisers
and the competition of the double turreted
monitors" The report cites that this is
the first time for many years that the ex-
penditures have been kept within the
estimates.
Secretary Whitney recommends that the
naval academic course be shortened to
four years, instead of six, as at present,
and also urges that apprentices be admitted
to the academy. The remainder Of the re-
port is devoted to detailed reports from the
| heads of the various departments.