Rensselaer Republican, Volume 19, Number 14, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 December 1886 — SECRETARY WHITNEY’S REPORT. [ARTICLE]

SECRETARY WHITNEY’S REPORT.

Th? Co- dltiim of the Navy and Recommendations for Its Improvement. The report of Secretary of the Navy Whi'pey renews Lia former recommendation for a consolidation of the bureaus so as to insure responsibility in the purchase and care of supplies, and says that so far as his power extended he had consolidated in one bureau the general purchases of the department, the care and custody of stores, nnd had created a system of book-keeping by which the responsibility for the carol and disposal or property can be had. To show th it there is nt present no real responsibility for property belonging to the department, the Secretary quo.es from the report of a board appointed by-him to miike an inventory at the different naVy yards mid naval stations. The in venton' shows aif 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 nearly $3,000,000 of which is obsolete and useless.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 46,566 aiigers and bits, of which 25,274 are at closed yards where no work is likely to ba done. ' The Secretary confesses that the experience of the department in its first attempt to create modern vessels of war has been disappointing. He says: “One characteristic which an unarmored cruiser must po-sees is great speed. This is deteimined by the function which she is expected toperform in modern warfare. She is a ‘commerce destroyer.’ She must be able to escape from iron-clads and outrun, so as to overhaul, merchantmen. If slower than iron-elads she could not keep the sea, and if slower than merchantmen she might as well stay in port. * * * When the Dolphin, Boston, Atlanta, and Chicago were 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 be content to be dependent on the manufacturers of other nations for the fabrication of armor and high-powered guns. In this connection the Secretary recommends the appointment of a commission to formulate a scheme of naval construction, and continues: “If Congress should at its next session make provision for the manufacture in 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. Meanwhilfeitis my duty to call attention to the urgent necessity for immediate action.” _j...„The Secretary says that if the estimate of the Chief Constructor of the 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 existence after 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 $659,000, 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 steel cruisers and the competition of the double-turreted 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 the naval acadeifiie course be shortened to four years, instead of six, as at present, and also urges that apprentices be admitted to the academv. The remainder of the report is devoted to detailed reports from the heads of the various departments.