Year: 1864

Oar Nsvy-Its Creation. Achievements


and Present Condition. tagry


We defer the publication Of the annual re-
port Of the Secretary of the Navy till to-mor-
row or next day. This document gives us
minute view Of this great division OF
the national power. and lays before us the
present condition Of the service. It goes,
with some detail, into almost every point
that has any interest In connection with our
navy. whether the interest be practical or his
torIcal- We are sho~n how entirely our pre-
seat navy has beea produced oy this war. AT
the commencement Of the rebellion we were a
people with good naval history, with proud
traditions Of achievements on the sea, but sub
stantially without ships. Our navy was re-
duced to the minimum peace establishment,
and the better part Of 1t was on foreign service.
Small - eur navy was, only small proper
ton Of It was comprised Of steam vessels, and
oil others were useless. Thus apparently help
less, we were suddenly precipitated into war
that required the enforcement of Q more exten


sive blockade than WAS ever before attempted; ;
and that required also the presence OF cruisers
on foreign seas to protect our commerce, and
the possession OF powerful vessels able to cope
at once with other armed vessels and with the
best built forts. Our national energy was
equal to the occasion, and We created a
navy. No other national navy in the world
now equals in power the one that the United
States has thus put on the sea in four years.
Two hundred ard three ships, with an aggre-
gate OF one thousand six hundred and thirty
one guns have been built for our navy In that
time, or are now near completion; but unfor-
tunately very few Of these vessels are fast
sailers. Sixty-two Of these are iron-clad, and OF
these the Roanoke, New Ironsides, Dunderberg,
Puritan aad Dictator are fit for sea service and
able to cope with the most powerful vessels of
the same class that England and France have
yet attempted to build. Men for this great navy
are now had in abundance, though expert sea-
has been, in the four years OF the war, an ave-
rage annual expense Of seventy millions repre-
sented in currency. In this expense is to be
counted the construction OF all the vessels.
Subtracting the amount properly chargeable to
that account and charging, AZ the real expense
of the navy, only the remainder, it is found
that this immense navy cos1 M less in time
Of war than the navies Of England and France
cost those countries in times OF peace. .sg


Among the achievements Of our navy is the
alleged enforcement Of the blockade OF three
thousand miles OF sea coast The Secretary
glances In this connection at the commercial
morality of English merchants. and very justly
classes their present efforts in. the blockade
business with their efforts in the Chinese opium


trade. He glapces also at the ports Of Halifax,
Bermuda and Nassau, as "ports that will al
ways be In sympathy with the enemies of this
country" and in that phrase gives the real
reason why they ought to be ours. But the
success Of the blockade Is shown in the fact
that there Is now only one port that blockade
runners can get into, although, we see
by the English papers, that the blockade
runners succeed In getting in and out
Of Charleston. But the exceptional port
is Wilmington. The blockade, says Mr..
Wellss, is not violated with impunity even
there, since the aggregate Of captures at that
place is thirteen millions Of dollars. Hall
Of this sum has been divided ~ prize money
and the remainder is a general benefit to the
service and the country, since IL has established


fund that, by investment, pays The entire PEN
sion roll and relieves the national Treasury TO
that extent. III the conclusion Of the Secretary
that Wilmington, owing to the peculiarly Of Its
situation, cannot be absolutely closed without
the cooperation Of the army to enable US to
srrv fnrts that ara in cuch ahnsl valer that
the heavily armed ships cannot act u them,