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35TH CONG....1ST SESS.

open the entire year. On both the other routes artesian wells are necessary to get water at convenient distances, and this necessity upon the southern route is therefore no extraordinary argument against it. I may be allowed to remark that the impression so generally diffused in the eastern States, that Arizonia Territory is a desert and a God-forsaken country, is entirely erroneous. It will be recollected that California, now celebrated as an agricultural State, was stigmatized with the same epithets, and said to produce nothing but gold. Arizonia promises to convince the world that she is able to produce silver enough to supply all the demands of commerce, and to show to the emigrant in search of a quiet and fruitful homestead beautiful valleys and clear running streams, where he may cultivate his crops with a fullness of fruition cnly known to the virgin soil of our western possessions."

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The scarcity of water has been often urged against the southern or El Paso route. There is no route between the Mississippi river and California against which the same objection may not be made. After much examination, we believe that the route selected is freer from this objection than almost any other. The statements of Lieu-Pacific railroad surveys-a difference too small to tenant Mowry and Mr. Campbell are fully sustained by other authorities. The former, in a published statement, says:

"The country from El Paso to Tucson, three hundred and forty miles, is susceptible of early settlement, and is, moreover, one of the finest routes ever opened towards our western possessions. In no part of it is there a distance of over thirty miles without water, and it is often found at distances of teu and fifteen, with plenty of good. grazing throughout the entire distance.

"From Tucson, the principal town of the Territory of Arizonia, (throughout the whole length of which the route runs,) to the Gilä river, ninety miles, there is no water in the dry season, and two artesian wells will be necessary. In the wet season there is plenty of water. This distance is traveled at all seasons with mule teams and oxen, without difficulty. Down the Gila to Fort Yuma, one hundred and seventy-five miles, there is plenty of water and grass. From Fort Yuma, on the Colorado river, to Carissa creek, and San Diego county, California, about one hundred miles, the route is heavy with sand, and water is found in but three places at all seasons of the year. In the wet season water is found every few miles. Twenty-four miles from Fort Yuma, or Colorado city, are Cook's wells, which, at an expense of $1,000, can be made to furnish an ample supply. Twenty-six miles beyond are the Alamo Mucho wells, which can be enlarged, at the same cost, to any quantity desired. Thirty miles further on are the Indian wells, which will also yield an ample supply. Twenty miles further are the Sackett's wells, which are fed by a subterranean stream, and can also be made to supply any quantity of water..

"These two distances, from Tucson to the Gila and from Fort Yuma to Carissa, present the only difficulties on the route. United, the distance is but one hundred and ninety miles, and it is traveled at all seasons of the year by heavilyloaded teams.

"From Carissa creek into San Diego the route is well watered and affords excellent grazing. The distance is one hundred and twenty-five miles; but the supervisors of San Diego county are now engaged in laying out a new road, which will much shorten the distance."

Mr. Campbell, who, as we have before stated, traveled over both routes, has borne the most ample testimony "that between the Rio Grande and San Pedro river there are thirteen permanent water stations in about two hundred and twentyfour miles, giving an average of one in seventeen miles, and eighteen, including several fine rainwater stations, where water can be preserved, which will give an average of one in twelve miles."

We have submitted this letter of Lieutenant Mowry to Mr. Campbell. He confirms the statements of Lieutenant Mowry in every important particular, and further informs us" that the ninety miles jornada from the Tucson to the Gila is avoided entirely by following down the San Pedro and Gila rivers to the Pimas villages. The distance from the San Pedro, by either route, to the Gila, is about the same; and it is probable that, by following down the Aravaypa, a tributary of the Gila, discovered by Lieutenant Parke's party, a distance of many miles can be saved; and in the Calitro mountains, along this route, there is an abundance of pure water in living streams, fine grazing, and oak, ash, walnut, and some pine timber. Deer, antelope, bear, and grouse abound there also, and many indications of gold were observed, and gold was found near the San Pedro river."

Captain Humphreys, in his report to the Secretary of War, and Lieutenant Parke, both testify that a sufficient supply of water can be had on the route for either a railroad or stage line.

In relation to the relative distance on the two routes, an examination of the map will exhibit the fact that the distance from Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, to San Francisco, is about the same upon both routes.

be a matter of grave objection. These and other estimates of distance cannot be expected to be entirely correct; but they approximate the precise distances as nearly as published surveys and explorations will allow of. The above difference of fifty-four miles, however, is reduced to four miles, if we estimate the distance from San Bernardino to San Francisco, via the Cajon pass, Cañada de los Uvas, and Estero Plain, as in the following table, thereby avoiding the detour of Lieutenant Parke's route, via Santa Barbara and the Gaviote Pass.

*

From the latest authorities, for the respective routes from the Mississippi river at St. Louis, via Albuquerque, and at Memphis, via El Paso and Fort Yuma, to San Francisco, California, I find the most direct distances over which the mail should travel as follows:

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Route from Memphis, via El Paso, &c. From Memphis to Preston (a).. 375 miles. From Preston to Waco Tanks (b)............. 615 66 40 From Waco Tanks to Fort Fillmore (c)....... From Fort Fillmore to Pimas villages (d)...... 306 167 From Pimas villages to Fort Yuma (e)....... From Fort Yuma to San Bernardino (f)................. 180 From San Bernardino to San Francisco, via Cajon Pass, Cañada de los Uvas, and Estero Plain (g)..

420 2,103

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NOTE. As an interesting comparison between these two routes, take Captain Whipple's modified distance-1,952 miles-from Fort Smith to San Francisco, and add 250 miles in a direct line from Fort Smith to Memphis, from the general railroad map above referred to, and we have from the same initial point (Memphis) a distance to San Francisco of 2,202 miles.

Thus the difference in the distances of the two routes between the Mississippi river and San Francisco is too inconsiderable to become material.

As a pioneer route for the first great railroad that may be constructed to the Pacific, the Postmaster Generel has bestowed upon it all the labor

*See Birch's proposal.

(a) See General Pacific Railroad Map, in hands of engraver.

(b) See Captain J. Pope's report, 1854, H. Doc. 129, p. 61.

(c) General Pacific Railroad Map.

(d) Lieutenant Parke's report, unpublished.

(e) Major Emory's reconnaissance, 1846, and Pacific railroad profile, 32d parallel route.

(f) Lieutenant Williamson's surveys, H. Doc. 129, &c. (g) Lieutenant Williamson, 1853-54, and Lieutenant Parke, 1854-55. unpublished map and report. (h) General Pacific Railroad Map, &c.

(i) General Pacific Railroad Map and Captain Whipple's undistributed report.

(j) Captain Whipple's report and General Pacific Railroad Map, &c., &c.

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and examination which the multiplied business of his Department would allow of. If all or a greater portion of the railroads from the large cities and the States east of the Mississippi had concentrated at any one point on that river, such point would have been selected for the overland route to California. But such is not the fact. They concentrate chiefly at St. Louis, Cairo, and Memphis. Cairo is mentioned in this connection because, through the Illinois Central, nearly all the railroads constructed for St. Louis may be said also to connect with the Mississippi at Cairo. Finding, therefore, no common center on the Mississippi, the next desirable object was to find some common point west of that river from which a main stem could be projected passing westward to California. If you started out from St. Louis west you must lose all the connections with the Cairo and Memphis railroads; but by starting out from St. Louis, and diverging south with her railroad now making to her Irop Mountain, you will presently receive the great railroad coming out from Cairo, so richly endowed that it is sure to be made at no distant day. Still bearing southwestward, we presently receive, at Little Rock, the other branch of the road from Memphis, connecting the line with all the great railroads Tennessee, and Kentucky. Not far from Little of Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Rock the Vicksburg and New Orleans and Texas railroads fall in, bringing in, from almost every portion of the great river, all the connections

which all the Atlantic States north and south can make to that great highway which we are trying to establish. Thus it is that we have found west of the Mississippi what we could not obtain on it- common concentration of railroads to a single point from which the future railroad may commence, swollen and enlarged in its common stem by the contributions of the railways coming in from nearly every State of the Union.

This diversion of the route to a southern direction, by Little Rock or Preston, has, however, other advantages than any to which we have as yet adverted:"

"By starting from St. Louis, the great western mart, and connecting at Little Rock or Preston with the line from Memphis, the two great sections of the country are accommodated.

"Instead of projecting this mail and its attendant benefits into the wilderness, from the frontiers of Missouri, to buffet with north winds and snows upon the plains of Kan. sas in winter, and drag over monotonous, waterless, treeless wastes in summer, it was located through the center of Missouri, of Arkansas, and throughout the western frontier of Texas. It will thus develop hitherto unknown resources in those States. It will open a vast agricultural and mineral region in Missouri; lend a helping hand to the young, growing, and unappreciated State of Arkansas; and conduct the hardy pioneer to the delightful woodlands and prairies of Texas. For nearly a thousand miles the traveler will be traversing a country abounding in beauty and in healthfulness, possessing a salubrious climate and a fruitful soil."

Nor should it be forgotten that the southern location of the route, especially if it shall be followed by the construction of a railroad, may serve a valuable purpose in reference to the neighboring Republic of Mexico. In time of peace it will shed its blessings on both nations, whilst in time of war it will furnish a highway for troops and munitions of war, which might enable us to vindicate our rights, and preserve untarnished our national honor.

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, AARON V. BROWN. To the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

Report of the Secretary of the Navy.

NAVY DEPARTMENT, December 3, 1857. during the past year has been sufficient to give SIR: The naval force which has been employed adequate security to our commerce, and to the persons and property of American citizens in all parts of the world.

The home squadron, under the command of its flag officer, Hiram Paulding, has consisted of the steam-frigates Wabash and Roanoke, the sloopsof-war Saratoga and Cyane, and the war-steamers Susquehanna and Fulton. The unsatisfactory state of affairs in New Granada and portions of

35TH CONG.... 1ST SESS.

Central America required the increase of this squadron, and the almost constant presence of a considerable force in the neighborhood, both on the Atlantic and the Pacific.

In January the Wabash returned from Aspinwall to New York, with the officers and crew of the St. Mary's; in April sailed for Aspinwall; in June returned again to New York, with one hundred and thirty-eight of the destitute and suffering American citizens who had been involved in the troubles of Central America; and on the 29th of July sailed again for Aspinwall, where she still remains.

Report of the Secretary of the Navy.

The John Adams was ordered home, in September, to Norfolk.

The Massachusetts, having been stationed in Puget Sound to aid in preventing Indian disturbances, when her presence was no longer required was ordered to San Francisco; and, arriving there in April, was, in June, put out of commission. The Decatur was also employed on the northwest coast in suppressing Indian hostilities, from which she proceeded to San Francisco, thence to Panama, and arrived there March 9. On the 1st of April the officers and crew were relieved by others, sent across the Isthmus. In June she sailed from Panama for Punta Arenas and San Juan del Sur, August 5 she returned to Panama, with twenty-five of Walker's men.

In May the Cyane sailed from Aspinwall upon a short cruise, touching at Carthagena, thence to San Juan del Norte; in June received on board, and transported to Aspinwall, the men who were brought home by the Wabash, and proceeded herself to Boston with fifty-three of the sick and wounded. On the 2d of September she sailed on a cruise to the eastward, returned to Hampton Roads October 30, and on the 19th of November sailed for Cape Haytien to the relief of an American vessel and two American seamen, seized upon suspicion by order of the Haytien Government. The Roanoke, while making her six months' trial trip at sea, was under the command of Captain Montgomery, temporarily attached to this squad-posits, to make other observations useful to naviron. On the 30th of May she sailed for Aspinwall, and returned on the 4th of August, with two hundred and five of Walker's men. It being necessary to put her in dock, she was sent from New York to Boston, and put out of commission. All these men were brought home without previous orders; but such was their deplorable condition, that it was an act of humanity which could not and ought not to be dispensed with; and the Department approved it. The expense of providing for them necessary food, clothing, and medicine, while on shipboard, amounted to $7,376 16, for which an appropriation is recommended.

The St. Mary's sailed from Panama, in January last, with orders to touch on the coast of Central America, and thence proceed to Jarvis and New Nantucket islands, which were supposed to possess valuable deposits of guano. She was detained on the coast of Central America by the condition of affairs there, and did not continue her course to those islands until June. Commander Davis had instructions to visit them, to make soundings, to ascertain their location, and the quantity and quality of their guano degation, and to return by the Sandwich Islands to San Francisco. She proceeded to Jarvis and New Nantucket islands, made the soundings, surveys, and examination which had been ordered, and, proceeding thence to Honolulu, arrived there on the 23d of September. Commander Davis reports that nothing resembling guano was found at either of those islands. He, however, procured several samples of the soil from a sufficient variety of places, fully to illustrate the character of the deposits. The American Guano Company having previously, under the act of August 18,|| 1856, given to the State Department the proper notice of discovery, and entered into the required bond, Commander Davis, no conflicting claims appearing, took formal possession of the islands in the name of the United States, and deposited in the earth a declaration to that effect, executed, on parchment and well protected.

The Saratoga having returned to Norfolk, in December, proceeded, on the 16th of January, on a cruise, visiting St. Domingo, St. Thomas, Venezuela, Curaçoa, Aspinwall, and San Juan del Norte; thence, by way of Aspinwall, the Island of Grand Cayman, Havana, and Key West, she returned to Norfolk, where she arrived on the 29th of April. On the 23d of May she left Nor-number about two hundred, carrying seven thoufolk for Aspinwall, and will soon be relieved by the Susquehanna.

In view of the large fleet of whale.ships, in

sand men, that usually visit the Sandwich Islands in the fall of the year, Commander Davis, at the The Fulton was put in commission in Septem- earnest solicitation of the United States Commisber, and sailed from Washington on the 14th ofsioner, and of many of the principal American October for Mobile, New Orleans, and Chiriqui, merchants, decided to prolong his stay there. in New Granada, for the purpose of intercepting and preventing unlawful expeditions from the United States against Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Mexico. Instructions, having the same object in view, were given to Commodore Paulding at Aspinwall, and Commander Chatard at San Juan del Norte.

The Susquehanna, having been ordered from the Mediterranean to the home squadron, has doubtless arrived at Key West and proceeded to San Juan del Norte with similar instructions.

If any unlawful expedition from the United States against Nicaragua, Costa Rica, or Mexico, shall succeed in effecting a landing, it will be because it has been able to elude the vigilance of this squadron.

The Jamestown is now preparing at Philadelphia to join it, and will soon be ready for sea. The force in the Pacific, under the command of the flag officer, William Mervine, has consisted of the frigate Independence, the sloops-ofwar St. Mary's, John Adams, and Decatur, and the war-steamer Massachusetts. A large part of this squadron has been much usefully employed at Panama and on the coast of Central America, where its presence was deemed indispensable. The Independence sailed, August 3, from Panama to San Francisco, to be stationed at the navyyard as a receiving ship, and for the general purposes of the yard, under the command of Commander Fairfax. During her long stay at Panama, her officers, at intervals of leisure, were engaged in surveys and expeditions of much interest. A party was dispatched, in charge of Lieutenant James B. McCauley, to explore the timber resources about the Gulf of San Miguel, the mouth of the Darien, one hundred miles from Panama. The expedition was eminently successful.

Commodore Mervine having been ordered home, and the Independence to San Francisco, Captain John C. Long has gone out to succeed him, sailing from Boston, October 17, in his flag-ship, the Merrimack. The steam-frigate Saranac, under Captain John Kelly, has sailed for the Pacific to supply the place of the John Adams. The Vandalia has recently left Portsmouth, New Hampshire, for the same station.

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these men, in the most wretched condition, suffering for the want of everything, and endangering the health of those under his command, had no mode of relief except by turning them adrift, which was impossible, or sending them by the railway to Aspinwall. Adopting the latter alternative, he was under the necessity of drawing on the Department, in favor of the railway company, for $7,475, being the amount which would be due for transporting them across the Isthmus at the usual rate of charge. This bill has neither been paid, accepted, nor protested. The company voluntarily relinquished the personal responsibility of Commodore Mervine, and put the bill at the disposal of the Government. I submit it, with an expression of my conviction that Congress should make reasonable provision for it; and also for the expenses of providing these men while on shipboard with necessary food, clothing, and medicine, of which an estimate will hereafter be furnished.

The Mediterranean squadron, under its flag officer, Samuel L. Breese, was composed of the frigate Congress, the steam-frigate Susquehanna, and the sloop Constellation. The Susquehanna, having aided in the attempt to lay the telegraphic cable across the Atlantic, has been ordered home, as already mentioned, and attached to the home squadron; and Commodore Breese having been ordered, with his flag-ship, the Congress, to the United States, they will not be replaced by others until the opening of the spring, leaving the Constellation, under the command of Captain Charles H. Bell, to look after the interests of the United States in that quarter.

The vessels of this squadron have visited many ports in the Mediterranean, where their presence has had an important influence by giving a feeling of security to citizens of the United States residing there, and thus promoting our commercial in

terests.

The Brazil squadron, during the past year, has been under the command of flag officer French Forrest, and has consisted of the frigate St. Lawrence and the sloops Falmouth and Germantown. The Germantown, being ordered home, arrived at Norfolk February 9, and having been repaired, sailed for the East Indies on the 4th of August, to be employed as part of the force on that station. The Falmouth having been sent home by Commodore Forrest for repairs, which being completed, she was sent back at the earliest moment to rejoin the St. Lawrence. It is proposed, at an early day, to add the brig Perry to this squadron.

These two squadrons, the Brazil and the Mediterranean, have been able quietly and effectively to perform the duties required of them, respectively, without any act of direct interference.

The Jamestown, Cumberland, St. Louis, Vincennes, Dale, and Dolphin, have been employed on the coast of Africa. Commodore Crabbe, late in command on that station, arriving at Philadel phia with the Jamestown, on the 2d of June, was succeeded by the present flag officer of the squadron, Thomas A. Conover, who, on the 23d of the same month, sailed from Boston in his flag ship, the Cumberland. The Dale left Norfolk May 5 to relieve the Dolphin, which arrived at Boston July 22. The Vincennes left New York on the 20th November, to relieve the St. Louis. The sloop Marion is preparing to join the squadron. The force on the coast of Africa has fully accom

It was deemed necessary, as a measure of humanity and policy, to direct Commodore Mervine to give General Walker and such of his men, citizens of the United States, as were willing to embrace it, an opportunity to retreat from Nicaragua. Before these instructions were received, Commodore Mervine had sent Commander Davis, with the St. Mary's, to San Juan del Sur, with instructions to protect the persons and property of American citizens. With thisplished its main object, by discharging the obliauthority only, Commander Davis negotiated with General Walker terms of capitulation, under which he surrendered with his men, and was con- The steam-frigate San Jacinto, Commander veyed to Panama, whence he proceeded to the Henry H. Bell, and the sloops-of-war Portsmouth, United States. Commander Davis also received Commander Foote, and Levant, Commander Wilfrom General Walker the surrender of a small liam Smith, have constituted the East India squadschooner which he had detained, called the Gra-ron, under flag officer James Armstrong. The nada, and delivered her to the Nicaraguan authorities. The action of Commander Davis, so

gations we are under by the treaty of August 9, 1842, for the suppression of the slave trade.

duties of this squadron have been arduous, and the officers and men attached to it distinguished far as he aided General Walker and his men, by the 15th of November, 1856, as one of the themselves on a memorable occasion. the use of the St. Mary's, to retreat from Nicaragua and return to the United States, was ap-boats belonging to the squadron was passing up proved by the Department; but his interference with the Granada, and her transfer to the Nicaraguan authorities, by his intervention, was not approved. The whole number of men surrendered and carried to Panama was about three hundred and sixty-four. Commodore Mervine, finding his squadron suddenly incumbered with

the river to Canton with the American flag fully displayed, it was several times fired upon by the Barrier forts, endangering the lives of all on board. This outrage was promptly resisted and redressed by the capture and destruction of the forts, and razing their walls to the ground. These forts, four in number, commanding the approach

35TH CONG....1ST SESS.

to Canton, were among the strongest defenses of the Empire, mounting one hundred and seventysix guns. The prompt and decisive course pursued by Commodore Armstrong, his officers and men, has caused the flag of the United States to be respected by the Chinese, contributed largely to the security of our citizens in China, and, during the troubles which followed, has probably been the means of saving many lives and much property.

The Portsmouth, in January, sailed for Shanghai, visited all the ports north of Canton open to our vessels by treaty, and in March returned to Hong Kong. In April she was dispatched to Singapore to look into the affair of the Dutch barkHenrietta Maria," and having accomplished the object of her visit, she proceeded to Siam with Mr. Charles William Bradley, United States Consul at Ningpo, bearing a treaty of amity and commerce between the United States and Siam for ratification by that Government. While there she was visited by one of the Kings of Siam, a courtesy never before extended to a man-of-war of any nation. On the 17th of June she sailed with Mr. Bradley for Hong Kong, thence to Shanghai, from which port she sailed on the 29th of August for Simoda and Hakodadi, Japan.

The Levant, in February, was ordered to Manilla with invalids of the squadron, to obtain a passage for them to the United States. She left Manilla in March for Shanghai, was there docked, and on the 23d of June sailed for Hong Kong. Orders were sent out on the 16th September for her return to Boston.

The San Jacinto, at the latest dates, was at Shanghai, where she arrived on the 23d of June from Hong Kong, having in view the health of officers and crew which required a change of cli

mate.

The open hostilities existing between the English and the Chinese, the consequent embarrassments of trade, and the prospect of obtaining much better commercial arrangements with China, rendered an increase of our naval force in those seas a measure of prudence, if not of necessity. Accordingly, the steam-frigates Minnesota and Mississippi, and the sloop-of-war Germantown were ordered to that station. The Minnesota sailed from Norfolk July 1, the Germantown August 4, and the Mississippi from New York August 19. The Hon. William B. Reed, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary from the United States to China, went out in the Minnesota.

The steam frigate Powhatan has been ordered to China to relieve the San Jacinto, and Captain Josiah F. Tattnall to succeed Commodore Armstrong as the flag officer of the squadron.

The late President of the United States, your immediate predecessor, having accepted the offer which you courteously extended to him of the use of a public vessel to convey him and his family to Maderia, the Powhatan will receive them on board at Norfolk and convey them to that island.

Besides the squadrons, other vessels have been in commission. The steamer Michigan, under Commander Charles H. McBlair, is upon the northwestern lakes.

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Report of the Secretary of the Navy.

arara and Venezuela, to procure cuttings of sugar cane, returned to New Orleans in February, with three hundred tons of the cuttings. She landed her cargo, proceeded to New York, and arrived there March 19. In June, under Lieutenant Brasher, she sailed from New York for Aspinwall with stores for the squadron in the Pacific, and in August returned to Boston.

In accordance with the joint resolution of Congress approved August 28, 1856, the bark Resolute, late one of an English exploring squadron, abandoned in the Arctic seas, purchased by the United States from her salvors, and thoroughly repaired and refitted, was tendered to the British Government.

As stated in the last annual report, the Resolute, under the command of Commander Hartstene, sailed from New York for England November 13, 1856; she arrived at Portsmouth December 12, and on the 16th was delivered to the Queen of Great Britain in person. Commander Hartstene performed the duty assigned him to the entire satisfaction of the Department, and was received in England, both by Government and people, with every manifestation of the high appreciation with which they regarded this signal mark of courtesy and friendly feeling on the part of the Government and people of the United States. The act of March 3, 1857, " to expedite telegraphic communication for the uses of the Government in its foreign intercourse," authorized the employment of two ships in laying down a telegraphic cable from the coast of Newfoundland to the coast of Ireland. The Niagara, then at New York, nearly ready for sea, was ordered to England to aid in the enterprise. She left New York, under the command of Captain Hudson, on the 22d of April, and arrived in England on the 12th of May. The Susquehanna, under Captain Sands, then in the Mediterranean, was also directed to proceed to England, and to accompany the Niagara across the Atlantic, rendering such assistance as she might require. These vessels, with those designated for the same purpose by the Government of Great Britain, assembled in the Cove of Cork, and, on the 6th of August, the Niagara commenced laying down the telegraphic cable. After about three hundred and thirty-four miles of it had been laid, it parted, without fault of the officers or crew of the Niagara, and the fleet returned to Plymouth. The Niagara was ordered, after landing the cable, to return to New York, and has arrived. The Susquehanna returned to the Mediterranean. She has since received orders to join the home squadron, at Key West, and has probably, at that point, received her orders to proceed to San Juan del Norte, with the special instructions which accompanied them.

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heavy cannon which she carried would be manageable, and not only to justify the previous adoption of such ordnance in the steam frigates recently built, but also to render it expedient to extend this plan of armament. I earnestly recommend a renewal of the appropriation, and the permanent employment of a ship on this duty.

The act of March 3, 1857, making appropriations for the naval service, directed the Secretary of the Navy" to have prepared, and to report to Congress for its approval, a code of regulations for the government of the Navy." To aid me in the performance of this duty, I convened in Washington, on the 10th of August, a board of officers, consisting of a captain, commander, lieutenant, the lieutenant colonel of the marine corps, a purser, and a surgeon, to prepare a code of regulations conforming to the requirements of the act. They are diligently engaged in the work, and have made such progress that I shall be able to submit a report to Congress at an early day.

The same act appropriated $25,000 to verify the survey of the Atrato and Truando rivers, with a view to a ship canal between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Measures were immediately taken by the War and Navy Departments to organize an expedition for this object. Lieutenant Craven, of the Navy, and Lieutenant Michler, of the topographical engineers of the Army, were, by your direction, assigned to this duty. The schooner Varina, of the Coast Survey, temporarily placed at the control of this Department, was prepared at the New York navy-yard for this special service, and, with suitable hydrographical and topographical parties on board, set sail on the 12th of October for the Gulf of Darien. When we consider the magnitude of the object; the influence it is destined to have upon commerce, if accomplished; its effect in binding together in closer relations the remotest parts of our Confederacy, we cannot fail to regard any hopeful enterprise having this object in view as fraught with the deepest interest. It is not without hope, founded upon reliable information, that this enterprise is undertaken.

By the same act of March 3, 1857, making appropriations for the naval service, the sum of $25,000 was appropriated to extend and complete the exploration of the Parana and the tributaries of the Paraguay. Early in the season an arrangement was made with Mr. R. B. Forbes, of Bos ton, for the construction, at his own expense, of a steamer of suitable size and draught for the navigation of those rivers, to be delivered by him at some convenient point on the La Plata, and chartered by the Government for the time that will necessarily be occupied in the survey. The contract for the charter of the vessel has been duly executed. She is now nearly completed, and will soon proceed to the La Plata. It is proposed to send out Commander T. J. Page, with proper officers and men, to meet her there, and to enter upon the exploration authorized by Congress.

The act of March 3, 1857, making appropriations for the naval service, appropriated $49,000 "to enable the Secretary of the Navy to arm and man the ordnance ship Plymouth, with a view to the improvement of ordnance and gunnery practice." She was accordingly put in commission, The Government of Paraguay having prohiband, on the 7th July, sent to sea on a six months' ited the navigation by foreign vessels of that part cruise, under Commander Dahlgren. Her arma- of the river Paraguay which lies within its jurisment consisted of four nine-inch shell guns, one diction, some difficulty may possibly arise in comeleven-inch shell pivot gun, two twenty-four-pleting that portion of the survey; but there are was ordered to cruise by the Azores to Lisbon, along the coast of France to Amsterdam, and, returning, to touch at Southampton or Bristol and

The steam-frigate Merrimack returned to Bos-pounder and one twelve-pounder howitzers. She ton, in March, from a successful trial trip of six months, under Captain Pendergrast; she has since gone out as the flag-ship of the Pacific squadron.

The sloop-of-war Preble, the practice-ship at the Naval Academy, under Commander Joseph F. Green, has, with the first and third classes of acting midshipmen, made the usual summer cruise, from which they have derived much practical information in their profession. The report of the cruise is herewith transmitted.

The store-ship Relief, under Lieutenant Cooke, returned to New York in January, having conveyed stores to the squadron on the coast of Brazil. The store-ship Supply, under Lieutenant A. F. V. Gray, performed a similar duty, sailing from New York in April, returning in August, and has since sailed with stores for the African and Brazil squadrons.

The bark Release, under Lieutenant Simms, dispatched in November, 1856, under the direction of the Department of the Interior, to Dem

the Bermuda Islands.

Commander Dahlgren, having completed the cruise, has returned to this port, and will continue the drill necessary to perfect the training of such seamen as have been found capable of receiving it. The Plymouth encountered long-continued boisterous weather on her return homeward, with some heavy gales, during which the heaviest of the cannon were secured perfectly with ordinary lashings, and were as well under control in a rough sea, when cast loose for practice, as could be desired. One hundred and twenty-one shells were fired at sea, during the cruise, from the eleven-inch pivot gun, and "without experiencing any of the difficulties usually supposed to render such heavy ordnance nearly unavailable on shipboard."

The result of the operations of the Plymouth seems to dispel all remaining doubt whether the

many rivers embraced within the scope of the act, the exploration and navigation of which will probably develop great commercial advantages.

Commander Page informs the Department that four charts of the former survey have been already printed; that the greater portion of the remaining sheets are ready for the engravers; and that the construction and topography of the whole work will be completed in six months, if not delayed by them.

The work of publishing the survey of the late expedition to the North Pacific and Behring's Straits, under Commander Rodgers, is rapidly advancing. Engagements have been made with eminent professors in the various branches of natural history for describing the most interesting of the zoological specimens brought home by the expedition. A portion of the hydrographical work is in the hands of the engraver; the rest in

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Report of the Secretary of the Navy.

good, and the State of Georgia having consented to the purchase, and thereby ceded the requisite jurisdiction, the purchase money has been paid. Immediate steps will be taken to prepare the site for the purposes expressed in the act of Congress. The war steamer building at Hoboken by the executor of Robert L. Stevens was first author

hundred, the former limit. This increase enabled the Department to employ more vessels of war at sca; but the number of marines has not been increased, so that guards can be provided for them. To obviate this difficulty, under the authority of the naval appropriation act of March 3, 1849, you directed the employment of two hundred landsmen as marines, in addition to the two hun-ized by the act of April 14, 1842. The present dred authorized to be so employed by one of your predecessors. By this arrangement the number employed as privates in the marine corps amounts to thirteen hundred and sixty-eight, while the number of landsmen is thereby diminished. I would respectfully recommend, as has been done by my predecessors, that the privates of this corps be increased. Two thousand men are deemed necessary for the ordinary detail of the service.

Wishing to give greater efficiency to this important branch of the service, I have recently directed that there be furnished to the headquarters of the corps a battery of two thirty-two-pounders and four of Dahlgren's field guns, that the officers and men may be instructed in their drill before being sent to sea. They will then be able to act as infantry, serve a division of heavy artillery on ship-board, or the field pieces on landing.

The naval appropriation act of August 15, 1856, appropriated $96,000 for the erection and completion of marine barracks at Brooklyn, New York, and $60,000 for the same purpose at Pensacola, Florida.

The site for those at Brooklyn requiring piling|| and filling in, not yet completed, proposals have not been invited for the erection of barracks there. Proposals for those at Pensacola were invited by my predecessor; but as the lowest bid was beyond the limit of the appropriation, plans and specifications were directed to be made for smaller buildings, and on the 21st of September proposals were again invited. Seventeen were received, and those of Mahon & Gibbon for $53,847, being the lowest, the contract was awarded to them.

The marine barracks at Boston, Philadelphia,|| and Norfolk, are represented to be contracted and entirely unfit for use; and the commandant of the corps recommends that provision be made to purchase ground and erect suitable buildings at those places.

I would respectfully invite your attention to General Henderson's report for the general condition of the corps.

||

contract provides that Mr. Stevens should build the vessel on his own plan, and deliver her to the Government for the sum of $586,717 84; and that, after the sum of $500,000 should have been paid on account, she should be examined by a board; and if she could be completed for the balance of the appropriation, then it should be paid. This balance of $86,717 84 has been appropriated by Congress to enable the Department promptly to make the payment when it should be due. On the 19th of February, 1856, a board was appointed; and, in their report of March 7, 1856, they estimate that, in addition to the sum of $500,000 already paid, there will be required the further sum of $812,033 68 to complete the vessel. The balance appropriated August 16, 1856, remains, therefore, in the Treasury.

Mr. Stevens and his executor have expended upon the vessel the sum of $702,755 37. It is now proposed by the executor that the balance of the contract price-that is to say, the sum of $86,717 84-be paid to him from time to time as an equal amount in work and materials shall hereafter be put upon the vessel, the same being secured to the Government by a pledge of the whole. As the vessel is already virtually owned by the Government, and will be of little value unless completed, it is deemed proper to invite attention to the inquiry whether it may not be expedient to authorize the application of the balance in aid of the means of the executor, and in || the mode proposed, to the accomplishment of the work.

The Naval Academy, at Annapolis, now under the charge of Captain Blake, the successor of Captain Goldsborough in the administration of this important and delicate trust, is in a flourishing condition. It is to the Navy what the Military Academy is to the Army-an institution not merely of great utility, but of indispensable necessity, without which, in the present state of science, an accomplished and efficient corps of officers could not be secured. There are now attached to it, for purposes of instruction, one hundred and seventy-six acting midshipmen. At the close of the last academic year fifteen graduated, and eighty-nine have since been admitted.

The report of the last annual board of inspect

of the discipline and police regulations of the institution; of the performance of the students in field artillery and infantry tactics; in the exercise of the great guns in battery, and in shell and shot practice at the target; of the admirable acquirements of the graduating class, and of the successful management of the academy, now no longer an experiment. It also proposes some measures deserving earnest consideration, and others which in due time ought to be carried into effect.

Two appropriations, each of $20,000, have been made for the construction and completion of a coal depot at Key West, in Florida. A wharf has been built, but the foundation having partially failed, it is deemed unsafe. A coal shed has beening officers speaks in terms of high commendation commenced, but is neither covered in nor paved. The constructing engineer reports that a similar one, parallel to it, is needed for soft coal, that having been designed for anthracite; that the sheds will be of little use without a substantial and permanent wharf from which vessels can receive their supply; that the site of the present wharf is excellent, having a depth of water of twentyfive feet; that the construction of two railway tracks from the wharf to the coal sheds will be necessary; and that to complete what he proposes, would require an appropriation of $175,000, the former appropriation having been exhausted. In view of the admirable position of Key West for conveniently supplying with coal the steamers of the home squadron, I would earnestly recommend that suitable provision be made, by legislation, for the completion, upon a proper scale and in an economical manner, of this important public work.

The joint resolution of March 3, 1857, directing the Secretary of the Navy to cause medals to be struck and presented to Dr. Kane, his officers and men, I have been unable to carry into effect, because Congress accidentally omitted to make an appropriation for that object.

When I entered upon my duties in this Department I found a naval court of inquiry already organized under the act of January 16, 1857. Deeming it important that the investigation directed by that act should be brought to an early conclusion, I immediately organized two additional courts. These three courts have prosecuted

The act of January 28, 1857, authorized the President to purchase a site for a naval depot on Blythe Island, in the State of Georgia, and to erect such buildings, and to make such improve-their labors with great assiduity. The result in ments, as may be necessary to repair vessels-ofwar, and to afford them refuge. A board of officers, consisting of Captain McIntosh, Commander Hartstene, Lieutenant Brooke, and a civil engineer, Mr. Calvin Brown, were directed to examine the island and the adjacent waters. In pursuance of their report, about one thousand one hundred acres of the southern portion of the island have been purchased for $130,000. The Attorney General having certified that the title is

many cases has been presented to you. As to all those cases in which the courts have recommended restoration to the active list, or to the service, or a transfer from furlough to leave pay, you have approved the action of the courts; and when you shall have presented corresponding nominations to the Senate, you will have done as to them all which this act has committed to your discretion. As to those cases in which the courts have recommended no change, the action of the President,

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whether it be that of approval or disapproval, will not vary the result, but leave the parties in statu quo, as if there had been no inquiry. The President having no power to change the state of any person already in the Navy, except by dismissal, or by promotion with the advice and consent of the Senate, or to restore any person to it except by a new appointment, with the advice and consent of the same body, it is obvious that little could be done to remove or palliate the presumed evil which it was the object of that act to remedy, except by the prompt execution of the act itself. Unwilling to be drawn into any allegation against those officers who had been affected by the action of the retiring board, I examined the act of Congress to see if any such duty had been imposed upon me. I found that it admitted no latitude of construction. It directed a definite inquiry. It prescribed the exact limits of the investigation. It left in the Department no power to enlarge, or to restrict, or to modify. It directed the physical, mental, professional, and moral fitness of the officer for the naval service to be investigated by a court of inquiry. Accordingly the precept to the court in every case directed that precise inquiry. Instructions were given to the judges-advocate in every instance where the party desired it, to take the initiative, and to present all the evidence which they intended to introduce before the party should be called upon to respond to it, and then to give him ample opportunity. They were directed to consent to depositions when necessary or convenient. They were instructed, when rea sonable objection should be made to any court, to give way to it, and to interpose no obstacle to the transfer of the case to another court, to which there should be no objection. These instructions were given to insure a fair, impartial, and faithful execution of the intentions of Congress.

The policy has been adopted of shortening the period of the cruise in all remote seas, and several ships have been ordered home in pursuance of it. The necessity of the change has been long felt. It will conduce to the preservation of the health of both officers and men. Long exposed to the enervating influences of hot climates, they are often broken down, or their usefulness in after life impaired. It will facilitate enlistments. Making the service more acceptable to seamen by more frequently returning them to their homes, it will make them more ready to engage in it. It will promote economy. The ships returning from a short cruise of two years, will be ready for sea again without being subject to those searching repairs to which they are generally subjected after one long absence, in view of another equally long. It will contribute to the increased activity, efficiency, and usefulness of the Navy, by making it more a school of actual experience to officers and seamen, and by presenting our ships more frequently wherever there shall be American commerce or American citizens to be protected. These considerations have led to the adoption of this change, and it will probably be permanent, unless experience shall disprove its utility.

At the same time the proportion of landsmen and boys allotted to a national ship has been increased. There is often great difficulty in obtaining seamen, and still greater in obtaining American seamen-the best in the world for the United States service. The employment of landsmen and boys contributes much to remedy the inconvenience. They soon become trained and fit to take the place of seamen; and instead of being starving supernumeraries in the population of the larger cities, they become efficient and useful members of an improving and valuable class, without which neither a naval nor mercantile marine can be sustained.

Congress having, at its last session, authorized the building of five steam sloops, and appropriated $1,000,000 towards the object, measures have been taken for their immediate construction. They will be built at Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Norfolk, and Pensacola-one at each of those places. That at New York will be built by contract, in the yard of Mr. Jacob A. Westervelt. The act having expressly authorized their construction by contract or otherwise, it has been deemed expedient to commit one of them wholly to private enterprise. The object is to open the

35TH CONG....1ST SESS.

way to improvement, by summoning the skill and genius of the country to contest the palm of superiority with the navy-yards in the endeavor to give the Government the best sloop-of-war that can be built. But as the Government has its own establishments, provided at immense cost, and thoroughly organized and supplied with the requisite materials, it was thought to be expedient, and, indeed, necessary, to employ them in the construction of the others. The Department, after having advertised for the best model, plan, and specifications, and received thirteen proposals, organized a board composed of the most experienced naval officers, naval constructors, and chief engineers, to aid in awarding the contract according to the terms of the advertisement. I am confident that the result, both as to the ship built by the private contractor, and those built at the navy-yards, will reach as high a point of excellence as is at present attainable. They will be constructed with water-tight compartments-an improvement in the mode of construction which, in case of disaster, will often save the ship from going to the bottom, and ought generally to be introduced where many lives are at stake.

The act authorizing the five sloops-of-war, having specified the class of vessels to be built, did not admit of the construction of small steamers of light draught, which are very much wanted in the public service. For some years past the Government has had no means of supplying its indispensable wants, except by hiring small steamers as occasion might require. At this moment, when much needed, we have no vessels which can penetrate the rivers of China. We have few that can enter most of the harbors south of Norfolk. Harbors which are the recipients of hundreds of millions of our commerce are not accessible to most of our public ships. This state of destitution is so remarkable that it should attract particular attention, especially as some of our greatest interests and most vulnerable points are thus left exposed. Besides, this class of steamers, of light draught, great speed, and heavy guns, would be formidable in coast defense. They cost but little in construction, and require but little to keep them in commission, and, for most practical purposes in time of peace, are as effective as larger vessels, and ofter more so. One or more of them should be at every point where we maintain a squadron. Three or four should be constantly employed on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Economy, efficiency, and utility, combine to recommend them as almost indispensable. Ten of them would be of incalculable advantage to the naval service, and would cost $2,300,000.

Under the present small appropriation for testing improvements, several trials have been made; but the Department feels itself crippled by the limited appropriation. The sum of $10,000 is not adequate to do justice to improvements which promise public utility. Men of inventive genius are so devoted to the one favorite pursuit that they are most frequently without the means necessary to test their inventions. Were Congress to appropriate tenfold the sum now allotted to this object for naval purposes, a single successful result, after a hundred failures, would reimburse the whole cost, while the influence of the measure in aiding the progress of improvement in the naval service could hardly be overestimated.

It is impossible, without doing injustice, to give a summary of the reports of the chiefs of bureaus of this Department. They have presented a full and detailed statement of the condition of the service in the respective branches committed to their particular charge; of public works prosecuted, of improvements introduced, of evils remedied, and many suggestions and recommendations which deserve the consideration of Congress. Their reports exhibit detailed statements of the expenditures of the present, and estimates for the ensuing fiscal year. I commend them to particular attention, as exhibiting a full view of the actual condition of the Navy and its auxiliary establishments, so far as they are under the immediate supervision of the bureaus.

The estimates for the support of the Navy and marine corps, and for all other objects under the control of the Navy Department, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1859, are—

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The aggregate estimates for the fiscal year ending June, 1858, were $13,803,212 77, being $813,085 less than the present estimates. This difference is principally caused by estimating $250,000 for the armament for the five new sloops, $350,000 more than last year for building the sloops, and by estimating for provisions and pay for one thousand additional men, authorized by the act of March 3, 1857.

The expenditures for the year ending June 30, 1857, for all purposes under the control of the Department, were $12,632,696 81; of which $4,343,698 14 being for special objects, the legitimate expenses of the Navy and marine corps for that period were $8,288,997 67.

A review of the present condition of the Navy, and of the establishments connected with it, has afforded me great gratification. I see in them, taken in connection with our commercial marine and our immense resources, the means of promptly putting afloat a naval force equal to any exigency likely to arise in the history of the country. It is not the policy of our Government to maintain a great navy in time of peace. It is against its settled policy to burden the resources of the people by an overgrown naval establishment. It is universally admitted to be inexpedient to endeavor to compete with other great commercial Powers in the magnitude of their naval preparations. But it is the true policy of our Government to take care that its Navy, within its limited extent, should be unsurpassed in its efficiency and its completeness, and that our preparatory arrangements should be such that no event shall take us altogether by surprise.

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, ISAAC TOUCEY, Secretary of the Navy.

To the PRESIDENT.

Report of the Secretary of War.

WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, December 5, 1857. SIR: I have the honor to submit the following report of the condition and operations of the Army during the past year.

The Army consists of nineteen regiments, divided into ten of infantry, four of artillery, two of dragoons, two of cavalry, and one of mounted riflemen. The whole strength of the Army, as posted, consists of about 17,984 men; and the actual strength, on the 1st of July last, was 15,764. In addition to the movements which the troops have been called on to make this year, which are set forth in a separate paper, prepared by the Adjutant General and herewith transmitted, this force is called upon to garrison sixtyeight forts of a large and permanent character, so far, at least, as it is possible to supply men for the purpose; and to occupy seventy posts less permanently established, where the presence of a force is absolutely required. The area over which these forts and posts are spread embraces a circuit of about three million square miles, and requires a journey of many thousand miles to visit the principal ones of them.

The external boundary of our country, requiring throughout a more or less vigilant military supervision, is eleven thousand miles in length, presenting every variety of climate and temperature, from the inclement cold of our Canada frontier to the tropical regions of southern Texas. But the occupation of this long line of frontier is a trifling difficulty in comparison with that of protecting the double line of Indian frontier, extending from the Lake of the Woods to the banks of the Rio Grande, on the east side of the Rocky Mountains, and from beyond the river Oregon, on the British frontier, to the head of the Gulf of California, on the western slope of those mountains. Superadded to these lines, requiring to be occupied, are the great lines of intercommunication between the valley of the Mississippi and the Pacific ocean, which imper

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atively demand that protection which only the United States troops can furnish. These lines are very long, and are now extremely important, whilst every year renders them more and more

So.

From our western frontier of settlements to those of northern Oregon the distance is about one thousand eight hundred miles; from the same frontier to the settlements of California, via Salt Lake, is one thousand eight hundred miles; from the frontier of Arkansas, at Fort Smith, by Albuquerque or Santa Fé, to Fort Tejon, is about one thousand seven hundred miles; and from San Antonio, by El Paso, to San Diego, near the borders of the white settlements, is one thousand four hundred miles; constituting an aggregate line of six thousand seven hundred miles which ought to be occupied, and which we pretend, in some sort, to keep open and defend.

This simple statement of facts demonstrates, stronger than any arguments could do, the absolute necessity for an increase of the Army.

The policy of our Government and the spirit of our people are alike opposed to a large standing army, and very properly so; but if an army is needful at all, it should be organized in such manner as to answer the purposes for which it is required. Its numbers should correspond with the service it is intended to perform. If from any disproportion in this respect it stops short of efficiency, it becomes insignificant, and entails upon the country expenditures wholly incommensurate with any service it can render.

It will not be denied that an army, properly organized and of sufficient strength, constitutes at once the cheapest and most efficient means by which the indispensable services it is designed to perform can be secured by the Government.

There is no substitute for an army; and to ren der it at once economical and efficient, adequate numbers are essential. If there is a higher duty than another devolved upon a well-regulated Government, it is to afford perfect protection to its citizens against outrage and personal violence; yet this great obligation is not performed by the Government of the United States. For a large portion of the year, scarcely a week elapses without bringing to us intelligence of some Indian massacre, or outrage more shocking than death itself; and it most frequently happens that these acts go unpunished altogether, either from the want of troops for pursuit, or from their remoteness from the scenes of slaughter, which renders pursuit useless.

In former times, when the hardy pioneer was allured away from the line of white settlements by fertile lands alone, he scarcely ventured so far as to be beyond succor and protection from those he left behind. But far different is the state of things at present. Our Pacific settlements, with their great inducements of rich lands, salubrious climate, and fabulous mineral treasures, present to the inhabitants of the Atlantic States temptations to emigration which the privations of an intervening wilderness and desert, and continual danger from roving bands of savages hanging upon their march for many hundred miles together, cannot deter them from undertaking. This migration strengthens the natural ties between the Atlantic and Pacific States, and adds immensely to the defensive strength of that remote region. Justice and humanity alike demand protection for these emigrants at the hands of our Government.

To render governmental protection to our vast frontier and emigration perfect, a very large aug mentation of the Army would not be required. Five additional regiments would answer the purpose if properly posted.

It will be seen from a paper carefully prepared from reliable data by the Adjutant General, that no increase of our forces is so efficient, or near so cheap, as the augmentation of our regular Army.

A line of posts running parallel with our frontier, but near to the Indians' usual habitations, placed at convenient distances and suitable positions, and occupied by infantry, would exercise a salutary restraint upon the tribes, who would feel that any foray by their warriors upon the white settlements would meet with prompt retaliation upon their own homes. In addition to this means of defense, there should be concen

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