ships is quite novel in this country, the conditions to be attained most exacting and difficult. Considering the difference in the price of labor and material between the two countries, the bidding must be considered to represent a fair and not too high price for the work expected. It is believed by the Department that the contracts can all be faithfully performed with profit to the contractor and every requirement of the Government fulfilled. Concerning cruiser No. 1, orders have been given to reduce her size, for the purpose of carrying out the intention of Congress, if possible, of bringing the expense of her construction within the limit of $1,100,000. It requires a readjustment of all the weights, and in fact the designing of a new vessel, which will necessarily take some months. Meanwhile it is hoped that the limit fixed by Congress may be removed, so as to render available the present plans, which have been the result of many months of careful labor on the part of the officers of the Department. In the preparation of the form of contract to be entered into great care has been exercised to enlist the contractors pecuniarily in the attainment of a successful result. The speed of the vessel depends upon the amount of horse-power developed by the machinery. The device of paying premiums for a better result than the Department requirements, and exacting penalties for a less result, has been carefully elaborated and embodied in the contracts. This system, in general use elsewhere, will it is believed prove beneficial to both the contractors and the Government. In the preparation of the plans for these ships the ground has been gone over so thoroughly that further construction of this class of vessels could be undertaken without delay. The cruiser, the construction of which was authorized August 3 last, is now under contract to be finished in a year and six months, under penalties. It is hoped that additional ships of this class will be authorized at the coming session of Congress. THE NEW ARMOR-CLADS. Congress at its recent session authorized the construction of two ironclads of about 6,000 tons each. The subject has been referred to the Bureaus of Construction, Steam Engineering, Equipment and Recruiting, and Ordnance to take the necessary steps to prepare plans for the letting. The Department has also deemed it wise to offer to all approved naval architects and ship-builders an opportunity to compete with the work of the Department in the desigus for these new ships, and the sum of $15,000 has been offered as compensation for any ac cepted design for either of the vessels, the working drawings to be the subject of subsequent agreement. There are many distinguished architects who, of late years, have had much greater experience in new work than the liberality of our Government has made it possible for our own to enjoy, and in starting upon the creation of a new navy the Department has no embarrassment in desiring to avail of the best talent anywhere to be found in placing the new work upon a par with the best of other countries, from which point it is entirely safe to predict that the ingenuity and talent of our own countrymen will suffice to keep us in the front rank for future work. No time will thus be lost, even if no designs are submitted or accepted, for the process of preparing necessary plans is going on simultaneously in the Department. THE ARMOR AND GUNS FOR THE MONITORS AND THE ARMOR-CLADS. Congress also authorized the President, in his discretion, to direct the completion of the double-turreted monitors, and made provision with reference to the armor as follows: That the armor used in constructing said armored vessels and for completing said monitors shall be of the best obtainable quality and of domestic manufacture, provided contracts for furnishing the same in a reasonable time, at a reasonable price, and of the required quality can be made with responsible parties. Such armor shall be accepted only after passing such tests as shall be prescribed by the Secretary of the Navy and inserted in the contracts. In construing the statute for the purpose of ascertaining what, within the view of Congress, should be construed a "reasonable time," it was deemed to necessarily imply such a time as would be required to perfect in this country an additional plant adequate to the creation of the prod uct desired, inasmuch as modern armor, either of steel or compound, able to stand the tests which would be prescribed, has not, up to the present time, been made in the United States, and for a fair competition in its manufacture a "reasonable time" would be the time necessary to be taken by a manufacturer to provide himself with the necessary plant to produce the article required. A shorter time would necessarily preclude the possibility of obtaining the same in the United States. No steel manufacturer in the United States, with his present plant, would enter into a contract to deliver armor guaranteed to stand the tests, based upon the tests of armor in use abroad, which the Bureau of Ordnance would prescribe. In view, therefore, of the importance of utilizing the occasion as an inducement to steel manufacturers, it was decided to put the armor required for all of the vessels authorized by Congress into one contract, and offer the same to the competition of steel manufacturers in the United States, and allow a sufficient time for the successful bidder, if one or more should appear, to take the necessary steps in the way of the creation of plant and of initiating the manufacture. The extreme desirableness of obtaining this result has been a matter of general comment, in and out of Congress, for several years. It is closely allied with the matter of the steel forgings for the modern high-power guns, and the same course has been taken by the Department with reference to these. All of the material necessary in making the guns for the ves sels authorized by Congress has been combined in one advertisement, as an inducement to steel manufacturers of the country to undertake the necessary expenditure to prepare for the production of these heavy forgings. It is, of course, an experiment; but considerable interest has already been manifested by the steel manufacturers of the United States, and it is confidently expected that the offering of these important contracts to competition will eventuate in securing the result desired, and in rendering us independent of other countries in these most vital and important regards. It is certainly a most lamentable circumstance that a country like ours, with its immense products of iron and steel, should be content to be dependent upon the manufacturers of any other nation for the fabrication of armor and high-powered guns, both of which are now essential and indispensable parts of a modern fighting ship. Whatever its commercial policy may be, for the creation of its necessary implements of war it should certainly be independent. The armor and the armament of the vessels already authorized by Congress involve an estimated expenditure of $8,732,000. It is assumed by the Department that these large contracts, instead of being thrown into the hands of foreign manufacturers, should be utilized at home and made the means of securing the establishment of this branch of industry here, so important to the Government. If this policy is correct, and is to be pursued, the matter requiring immediate attention is not so much the authorization of the construction of more ships, but the means of securing the production of armor and heavy forgings in the United States. Unless these essential elements of a fighting ship are to be purchased abroad, any ships, the construction of which should be authorized at the coming session of Congress, would be finished from one to three years, probably three years, before the armor and the armament could be prepared. This policy involves delay in the construction of the first vessels authorized, but at the end of five years the country would, by pursuing it, be independent and in a much stronger position in every respect than would result from any other course. In order that no time may be lost in preparing for the construction of further vessels, it is suggested that the Department have authority to employ existing and future appropriations made for new construction, in procuring, during the coming year, the preparation of plans of armored vessels to be hereafter authorized by Congress. It has been the policy of Congress to require from the Department specific data covering the characteristics of the ships for the construction of which authority is asked from Congress, and a year is not too long for this work. It would be a great benefit at the present time if the ap pointment of a commission should be authorized to lay before the next Congress a comprehensive scheme of construction, such commission to be composed of both civilian and naval experts fit to deal with the subject. 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 the construction proper to be undertaken, no time would in the end be lost and mistakes would be avoided. Meanwhile, it is my duty to call attention to the urgent necessity for immediate action. The report of the Chief Constructor of the Navy sets forth the present condition of the vessels now in commission and their probable duration. If his estimate is correct, in six years the country will be possessed of but three serviceable cruising ships of those now upon the list; and unless a new navy shall be created, there will be none in existence after that lapse of time. The small amount of modern armor which has been used by the Department of late years has been purchased abroad-a policy certainly not in keeping with proper dignity and pride, nor at all consistent with wisdom. At the present time and for many years to come, in the event of a conflict with either a first or second class naval power, it would be quite impossible for the United States, as at present situated, to produce within its territory either the armor required for armored ships or the guns necessary for their armament. Nor would it be possible for the Navy of the United States to protect such articles in transit across the ocean, even if it were possible to obtain them elsewhere in time of As at present situated the country would be entirely defenseless in the absence of any ability to produce armor or the larger highpowered guns. war. ESTIMATES, APPROPRIATIONS, AND EXPENDITURES. The amount of the appropriations applicable to the current expenses of the Navy for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1886, was $14,050,103.62, as follows: 14,050, 103 62 Sam applicable as above stated..... Drawn from the Treasury, deducting sums refunded, during the fiscal year...... Balance undrawn June 30, 1886...... In the hands of disbursing officers June 30, as reported by the Fourth 12, 273, 626 86 1,776,476 76 963, 170 57 Amount available July 1, 1836.... 2,739, 647 33 Drawn from the Treasury between July 1 and October 31, for the payment of liabilities of the year 1886.... 1,050, 115 30 Balance available November 1, 1886...... 1,689, 532 03 In the adjustment of the accounts for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1886, and after paying all liabilities for the year, it is believed that there will be an unexpended balance of from $600,000 to $650,000, about one-half of which is pay of the Navy and pay of the Marine Corps, showing an expenditure of about $13,500,000, or upwards of $500,000 less than the appropriations. These amounts do not include the expenditures for steel cruisers and completion of the double-turreted monitors. Of the amount appropriated for the current expenses of the present fiscal year, there has been drawn from the Treasury, after deducting sums refunded, from July 1 to October 31, $3,698,603.94, or $587,160.45 less than during the same period of the past fiscal year. Statement of appropriations and expenditures for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1886. |