The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1898-11-25
THEY RENDER
THEIR ACCOUNTS.
Our National Departments Report as
to Their Operations.
GOLD COINAGE OF THE WORLD
Is Greater Than Ever Bcfore-Opcra-
tions of Navy Department i'm the
Late War-S0me Statistics as
TO Internal Affairs.

WASHINGTON, Nov. PA clear con-
else and busincss-likc statement Of 50
much Of the operations Of the Navy De-
partment during the war as related to the
care OF ships procurement Of ships and
generally To the material. Is provided in
the annual report of Assistant Secretary
Allen, just made public Among other
duties the Assistant Secretary was
charged with the procurement Of vessels
TO- the auxiliary navy. lie says that this
work was managed with the utmost care
not only as TO the quality Of the ships
but also to the price paid ana he COM
mends the intelligence and fidelity OF the
board HEADED by Captain Rodgers which
inspected the vessles purchased. In nu-
merOus instances the Department PAID
very much less than the price asked for
ships ana in some cases less .han the
price recommended by the inspection
board.
OPEN TO INSPECTION.
Mr.. Allen has declared open 10 public
inspection an the correspondence relating
10 the purchase Of these vessels and their
prices. He refers to the patriotism OF
the friends Of the government In its time
Of need. naming Mr. August Belmont.
Mr. Schermerhorn and Mr.. Hearst who
had offered the government their private
yachts-Free Lance and Buccaneer. re-
spectivcly.
Mr. Allen refers briefly TO the charac-
tiers Of the four fine vessels Of the Ameri-
can Line which, he said. had performed
valuable services for both me army and
tho navy, and he said that In the set
Element with the company he believes
the government saved q considerable
amount Of money by paying the COM
pany a lump as an equivalent for the
expense Of placing The ships IN eondi-
ton.
SMALL EXPENDITURE.
The origin Of the auxiliary naval force.
as well as the purchase Of the ships. was
conducted by the Assistant Secretary.
office and the report shows that on this
account but S72O G29 was exnended out Of
the appropriation Of 100000.
The Assistant Secretary speaks in terms
Of highest praise of the Naval War
College. which he SAYS has rendered val
liable service in stimulating our officers
Of high rank 10 professional advance
mcnt. and I'm the collection and arrange
ment Of professional information so as
10 render fl Of the highest value to our
officers. He believes that the institute
should be encouraged and right done 70
render II still more efficient ard useful.
TRANSFER THE COLLEGE.
To this end he says the most important
step is the transfer Of the college from
SITS present location at Newport 10 An
napOlis. whore 10 will form a post-grad-
uate course for the Naval Academy Mr..
Allen says that the naval militia system
revealed the inherent weakness Of its
system under the severe stress Of the
demonstrated fact that the country Is
absolutely I'm need Of a proper naval re-
serve. which can be- promptly modified
under the call Of the President Like
ff1ff. Chi 10
this reserve should be composed Of sea-
farine men. and whose status should be
that Of body directly under the control
Of the Federal Government
MORE MEN NEEDED
About four thousand men I'm addition 10
those In service would be required 10 COM
pietely man our navy when the ships
under construction are completed, and
even az present provision should be made
for one-half Of that number These four
thousand reserve men could be enrolled
from The nav militiamen who saw SER
vice IN the Spanish war, supplemented by
enrolment from the seafaring men. The
cost ~ the Government would be $4,000,
and Nj Allen submits the drafts OF a
bill 20 carry out mis- views on this point.
YARDS INSPECTED.
Between October % and October 18th
the Assistant Secretary made visit Of
inspection 10 all the navy-yards on the
eastern coast from Norfolk. Va. 20 Ports
mouth y H.. and his observations on
this occasion were made the subject of Il
special report 10 The Secretary of the
Nav.
Speaking generally Of his conclusions.
Mr. Allen suggests that a uniform sys-
TEN Of auditing be adopted for The yards
In the interest of both the department
and the employees. lie also suggests a
consolidation OF certain shops doing SINH
lar work under different departments.
THE NORFOLK YARD.
The result OF Mr.. Aliens inspection Of
the Norfolk yard WAS as follows. There
are 10 modern automatic apparatus for
eXtinguishing fire I'm the buildings Of this
yard. The commandant strongly recon-
mends the alteration Of the timber basin
into n deep basin for shipping IF this
change were made there would ne an adj
ditiOn OF 500 feet to he water front
of the yard. Changes are fccommended
I'm tho ship-yard's steam engineering and
the construction departments to enable
the plants 60 be enlarged 60 meet exist
ing needs 10 allow better ar arccments.
Much Of the wood work Of The wooden
dry dock is thoroughly rotten aid needs
extensive repairing. This dlck s. only
nine years old. and is an illustration Of
the inadvisability Of building wooden
docks The stone dry dock near by is
over sixty years Old, and Is in perfect
condition.