Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1888-12-06
The NAVY.
Aa Essasstiv~ R~psrt br <eers,sfy vvh..-
nes OF the Navy Department Tn. Fr-
p~asiisar~s for the Past Fiscal Year and
Several Year. Pr-vtous-

~ y vii exist 81 tha Az It rers " ara, j.,
cfnlpar1suu with the same On tna .f7i -
March. tS-i. SAYS that - tar A. arrr,ura.i
ships ars concerned the subject i. vrt ~
be treated IN broad way BIZ IN, teua-t-
ment and Congress. ~ y rpsulr - th-
policy adopted aud carried cut during ta..
post three years. the conditions A. ~
present lime are such that evrrvthfa.f
necessary ta a frst-elass fs,hfinl. shif, IAN
~ produced aud furnished D. the Ieua-t
ment IN this country a. scon as IN the
course ~ construction nav element or
feature s2a-slrei: but this has never
heretofore until the present time been
tTise- and therefore the consideration os
thH -ol'ct hsts been nsart's sariiv u-i-tu-s-iad
y the department gatii the present time.
4hs Efforts * the department ia ship
Construction have Necessarily. since
AArcn- i'>i. been devoted O. una-mored
vessels, and a. - these The Department
Il able q report that wkea the ships IN
course - construction. ard tho=. author
i1eti- shall hnvs been eompies.d. the
nitsd states VIII rank seeUnd among the
nations N the possession oe gIuarnser,l
cruisers or --curlmerce deStruyers.' hav-
lns tne highest CHARACTERISTICS % size
a,fFH tons aad Epward-aRd possessing z
speed II ninrtee1 Knots and upxarul. The
Importance which has been PLACED urls,u
tins branch . naval armament viii be
appreciated from tie <tatrmen. that En-
gland and France possess sfxty-hve ves-
sels % the class Known a. unarmarc,i
cruisers.
The attention % the world wa at--r~t-
ed 20 the destructive effect which was pro-
duced upon thu commerce. ot the -ntf..,l
states BY the cruisers fitted out under th..
auspices of the cglfetis-zcy in the war OF
tae rebellion Th- total tonnage % the reg
lstered vessels % the Cn;tr,i States had
rise1 year by year Until. IN I-sii. Il amount
eti tn :. -. tons; and between 1851 arsl
LEO It was Feslace,l to l.sss.Is5 tons. or in
other wo-Jls % the point which We had
reached in $50. frou1 which decline we
have never recovered The II suraace war
rlsS upon American vessels tIuriu< the
war rose in exceptional cases To a. higl.
as twenty per cent.
Discussing the production OF power by
machinery, Secretary Whitney laws that
an examination % the condition ef the
department II ISs5 in this respect, led to
the conclusion that the machinery OF
naval vessels ought t. be so designed a.
= produce teR-horse power for each ton
q machinery, and II was determined tn
make that the standard. and 10 enter into
no euutracts that were Eot based sub~tan.
italy thereon Plans Of machinery we're
purchased abroad, which upon trial had
apprexrnatesf that result. Bidders were
authorized 10 bid upon plans thus submit
ted To competition. or were permitted to
submit their own plans. but were Obliged
to g5irantee the results determined upon
by the department. under ss Terv. penalties
Tor failure. ard 'sifh epnIpsnsatin- pre-
u1iuuns IN ease - attaining better results.
IA The r1urFaets f4r the construction Os
sllqs which hase been entered into since
Mara I~-a. eaG sar the prasi1rtian ~
power By machinery e.fall ~ the highest
standards The efsorrs at the department.
IN this matter have be.n ear,IiallT s.s-und-
ei by the bureau chiefs. and if IS believed
that At the present time tine department.
has reached the point where entire reli-
aEce can be placed upon Il tor tbs. prosiuc-
ton ~ war vessels equal n character to
those II any other eounfry.
Referring - a reduction % expenses
1Uring the past three years. IL l. claimed
ing for he new navy. and on this topic
tAs Secretly SAYS.
T. i gratifying to be able 10 report that not
Estsastaadinx the large exp.nsi. tltrus Tor the
new navy IN he last .i-ee years. the REDUCTIONS
n other directions Ass maze the total expsnsli-
tllre less for the thrca years taaa for tine three
years ending June n t.Sk the ordinary ex-
penses df the department having been refused
over twenty per cent
4 table IS inclulsi in the report which
SHOWS that the expenditures for ths. years
ending June %. ISs1a. Is~3 and IS>t were
>iI-ssg..31, aHd for the years ending June
-. lSsts, IS-1 and IsSs. $3.50. SD. The fis-
cal year ending June %. IsS5 i omitted
from the table a. not having sesa wholly
in either Administratioz.
Discussing coast and harb0r def sases,
Secretary Whitney says;
In the last annual repor. Of this department.
considerations were given lead NJ % the CON
eiuslun that Z. would be VI for the tieuarr-
meat 70 follow the course Of the European
powers in ouilting unprotected tarp.tio boais.
and IN the present uncertainty regarding the
inpr1ct ca5iIIry % submarine boats and shile
waiting the practical trial Of tae dynamite gum
buaf- Z has been deemed wise for the depart
ment 70 build one ht-srEu rrhf. hsavil = ar
ulored harb0r defease 1ua1as battery o. rlru
tor which designs hive hsel prepared
Considerable =naee IS devoted % 4 discussion
Il.
and 70 the e11rrs benz made 20 simplify
systematize and improve them Cpou this
subject the Secretary says During the years
Of iS>s and iss5 over nfty per cent in value OF
the supplies OF the department we're ootalned
BY Gpen purchases without comprut.nn Dur
ing the last year the proportion q such par-
enases was less than eleven per cent. aad IA
the course OF the next fiscal year il IS believed
that the cpen purchases c1n b. reduced -
about I've per cent TIE naval brokers have
for the most part disappeared azr regular re-
spOnssbie dealers are becoming more coatrac-
tors for these supplies. For time Il seemed
impossibls 10 dislodee them. They would
unGeroid regular dealers. notably for the sup
ply Of ecaL L vas quite evia-at they had
some advantage Ehfe1 DID not appear Care
fII investigation showed tha quality OF tae coal
delivered % b. Is contracted for The r.ssefv-
er OF the coal was changed az the BROOKLYN
Nagy-yard. and the weights taken By another
civil smpi0ye. and nothing suspicious was de-
velousd. Finally. 4 naval officer vas detailed.
without previous notice. 70 weigh personally a
barge bad and Il ~as found sixteen tons short
The gentleman disappeared a bidder for the
department. fr0l that time Tner- WIS no ev.-
deace Of fraai on his part. but Inference can
readily be drawn Tne system Of property &c
counts for the navy, referred n in the last an
uual report. has been IN successful operation
since July L The experieues Of the first guar
Ter shows that q - SIN PIE. and that there 10
difficulty IN keeping pace win current work ~
the largest stations.
The report says that by careful watch
ing OF the disbursements On foreign sta
tions. and calling the arteEz5on Of paw OIL
GERS 70 the subjects 0f their drafts, By
which greatly improved rates have been
procured the department. Is able % report
that on the items Of commission inter
est and exchange, whereas a net loss
OF sos. fss3 was made IN the two years and
ten months ending April -. Ise5, for the
three years ending June %. Isss. . net
.-as-, a S-nl sra. md