Democratic Sentinel, Volume 10, Number 45, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 December 1886 — SECRETARY WHITNEY’S REPORT. [ARTICLE]

SECRETARY WHITNEY’S REPORT.

Tin Condition of the Navy and Recommendations for Its Improvement. The report of Secretary of the Navy Whitney renews bis former recommendation for a consolidation of the b ureaus so asto insure responsibility in the purchase and care of supplies, and says tiia: so far as hispower extended he had consolidated in one bureau the general purchases of the department, the care and custody of 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 belonging to the department, the Secretary quotes from the report of a board appointed by him to make an inventory at the different navy yards and naval stations. Theinventory shows an accumulation of stores and supplies aggregating over $20,000,000, nearly $3,000,000 of which is obsolete and useless. Among other items there are 40,506 augers and bits, of which 25,274 are at closed yards where no work is likely to be done. The Secretary confesses that the experience of the department in its first attemptto create modern vessels of war has been disappointing. He says: “One characteristic which an unarmored cruiser must possess is great speed. This is determined by the 1 unction which she is expected to perform in modern warfare. She is a ‘commerce destroyer.’ She most 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 Chicagowere projected and contracts for their construction entered into it was well 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 attained 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 English and French boa’s only recently completed. to the disadvantage of the former The Dolphin was designed for 2,300 indicated horse power, and developed less than--2,300, while the Alacrity and Surprise, English boats of 3,000, developed 3,173 and 3,079 respectively. The Atlanta was designed 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 cruiser No. 1, for which no bid was rece ved within the limit set by Congress, that orders had been given to reduce her size to bring it within such limit, $1,100,000. The report treats of armor and guns for monitors and armor clads at great length, and deprecates the fact that this country should he content to be dependent on the manufacturers of other nations for the fabrication of armor and high-powered guns. In this conneolion the Secretary recommends the appointment of a commission to formulate a scheme of naval construction, and continnes: “If Congress should at its next session make provision for the- manufacturein this country of armor and of high-powered guns, and should take steps for securing a broader and more intelligent 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. Meanwhile 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 tho Navy is correct, in six years only three of the serviceable cruising vessels now on the list will be left, and, unless a new navy shall be created, there will be none in existenceafter that lapse of time. Concerning expenditures, the report says: “In the adjustment of accounts for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1886, after paying all liabilities for the year, it is believed there will be an unexpended balance of from $600,000 to $650,000, about one-half, which is for the pay of the navy and the marine corps, showing a total expenditure of about $13,500,000, or upward of $500,000 less than the appropriations. These amounts do not include the expenditures for s'eel cruisers and the competition of the double-turretecL monitors.” The report cites that this is the first time for many years that the expenditures have been kept within the estimates. Secretary Whitney recommends that tho naval academic course be shortened tofour years, instead of six, as at present, and also urges that apprentices be admitted to the academy. The remainder of the reEort is devoted to detailed reports from the eads of the various departments.