Rensselaer Union, Volume 11, Number 13, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 December 1878 — Report of the Secretary of the Navy. [ARTICLE]

Report of the Secretary of the Navy.

The Secretary of the Navy, in his animal report, says, since his former report, the condition of the Navy has been considerably improved. There are now In commission twenty-eight cruising ships, one steamboat and five sailing vessels, all in condition for active service except the Gettysburg. There are six vessels, including one monitor, which can he made ready for sea in a few months. Beside these, there are thirteen needing more extensive repair#, hnt all can be pot In thorough condition \Yiih the present appropriation# ana those a#ked forme next fiscal year. In ease of necessity, ninety-one vessels of all' classes, including monitor*. can be put in service. , The Secretary submits the following estimates, w ith the reihark that the Department has not felt i:#ell justified iii going beyona the estimates of the last fiscal year: Pay of Navy . $7,350,000 Pay of civil establishment in navyyard* 189.999 Ordnance aud Torpedo Corps 273,000 Coal, hemp and equipment 800,000 Navigation slid nut igation supplies.. 104.500 Hydrographic work 40,000 Naval Observatory—Nautical Almanac.. 43,800 Repairs and preservation of vessels.. 1,500.000 Meant machinery, trails, etc. 800.000 s‘fo,visions for the Navy. 1.200.000 K-pairsof hospitals aitd laboratories. 50.000 Burgeons' necessaries and Nanil Hospital (mid. 95,000 Contingent expenses of Department and Bun-su*. ....................... - 105.000 Naval Academy 186.694 Support of Marine Corps 862-378 Naval Asylum at Philadelphia 60.809 Maintenance of yards and dcxAs 440.000 Repairs. #:c., of navy-yards 375.000 Total $14,482,180 From the tables contained in the report It will, the Secretiuv #avs. be seen that.tbe total estimate of the la*t ti-cal year, including tM'amonnt appropriated Cor deficiencies of the previous year, were sl7-468.392. After deducting the deficiencies of 1877 and 1878, which were $4,101,478. the amount chargeable to the expenditures of the year wus $13.3(81.914. which was $767,199 le-s than the actual expenses of the previous year, and $4.1*28.677 less than the expenditures, Inrlnding deficiencies,oftliat year, and $4. *130.430 less than the expenditures of the year ended June 30. 1876. Bee'y Thompson discusses the relation of the Navv to commerce, and says; "()urrapidly-increasing’ export# have demonstrated that titjs country must become the greatest producing country iu Hie world. The area of our Improved lauds fit annually enlarging, keeping pace w ith ottr rapidly-increasing population, and giving assurance that the surplus of our agricultural and manttlacturing products will become corresnoiulinglv greater every year. The consequent skill of our manufactures. ‘ artisans and laborers w ill, iu the future of onr history, be called into still further requisition, and as experience has shown that no Nation can afford to leave its commcrc* uugnawlsd upon Ihe.aeas, the. djtfy, of protecting ours is now greater and more argent than it has ever heeu before." The Secretary shows our dependency upon foreign Nations for the transportation, of onr surplus product lons to the markets of the world, and says: “ If litis conditions of affairs is to continne, our industrial Interests must he left to suffer SHII further injury. Our iron, coal and timber will decrease in valne. The enormous freight# we now pay will continne to press upon the prodneers ol our surplus exports. Our merchant vessels will in tlie etui be entirely driven from-thc sea. If, on the other hand, the 'Government shall adopt snch measure* as shall pnt the country in a position to reap the hill benefits of its commercial enterprise, and secure tho profits of our own carrying trade, which properly Delongs to ns, by means ol such fostering care as the National Government alone has the power to give, then onrNavy should have such strength and character given to it that it will he able to ftimish protection to onr commerce wheresoever it may be needed.” The remainder of the report is devoted largely to an account of the condition of various »avv-yards of the country, the Naval Academy and the torpedo service, suggestions regarding training schools for boys, etc. —At Kansas City, a few days ago, fitehEoke...Qnt_Lß_ Union Elevator, occupied by Belle Qreene, a colored woman, and her two children, aged respectively four years and eighteen months. The mother was absent from home, and the children were left in bed. The fire burned rapidly, and screams were heard in the building, but desperate attempts to save the children were unavailing. After the fire the charred remains were drawn forth, and presented a sickening sight. —Mr. Edison will soon have no reputation left A learned Chinese writes to the Official Gazette that the telephone was invented by a citiien of Pekin, A. D. 962.