Ocean Steam Navigation and the Ocean Post

Chapter XXII: Section I: ) (2)

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"What, the Committee would ask, has the Government of the United
States done in the premises? Having under its charge the control
and direction of the United States mails upon land and sea, it has
thought proper to say that it would pay for the transportation of
the mails in _American steamers_, which can, if necessary, be
converted, at a small expense, into war steamers, and adopted, if
need be, into the navy proper, at an appraised value, and thereby
become efficient protectors of American commerce in the event of a
war. This is the head and front of the Government's offending, and
has, forsooth, aroused the ire of the commercial monopolists of
New-York, Boston, and elsewhere, because they can not any longer
enjoy the gains which, for more than a quarter of a century, they
had wrested from the mass of consumers throughout the land, north,
south, east, and west. Your Committee must say that, in their
opinion, such complaints come with a bad grace from such quarters,
and it is to be feared that victorious steam will ere long,
without the aid of the Federal Government, supersede the sailing
ships of the memorialists, through the instrumentality of the
discoveries daily in progress, whereby the navigation of vessels
propelled by that power will be made a matter of comparatively
small cost."

Speaking of steam communication with Para and Rio de Janeiro, the Report further says:

"When the almost unbounded capacity for trade of the basins of the
La Plata and Amazon is taken into view, embracing as it does a
great variety of useful products which may be advantageously
exchanged for the manufactures and agricultural productions of our
own country, the mind is at a loss what limit to assign to the
trade to which civilization and the extension of commercial
facilities must eventually give rise. Nor are the advantages of
this great prospective commerce to be confined to the immediate
intercourse between this country and the regions to which we
refer. While the prevalence of certain winds, and the form of the
coast of South-America, are favorable to a direct trade with the
continent of North-America, they are such as to compel the
commerce with Europe to pass along our shores, and thus constitute
our Atlantic seaports so many stopping places at which the ships
of the old world may touch in their voyages to and fro. Heretofore
the policy of the governments which occupy the regions watered by
the La Plata and the Amazon, and their respective tributaries, has
been so exclusive in its character as to trammel, if not entirely
prevent, their intercourse with distant nations. The different
sovereignties which have sprung into existence since South-America
became independent of European control, have been so jealous of
each other that they have appeared to try which should be most
succesful in expelling foreign commerce, lest it might bring to
some one of them benefits which others did not and could not
possess. A wiser policy, however, appears to be about to prevail
since the fall of Rosas, and there is good reason to believe that,
hereafter, the commerce of those communities with the rest of the
world, will be placed upon a more liberal foundation. Should such
be the case, Rio de Janeiro can not fail to become the great
centre of a largely increased trade in the southern hemisphere."

"Should it be preferred to limit the extent of the American line
to Para, at the mouth of the Amazon, the largest river in the
world, there is at present a Brazilian line between that point and
Rio de Janeiro, which, with the lines between Rio and the mouth of
the La Plata, will render the connection complete.

"Of the Amazon, it is proper to state that it is navigable by the
largest vessels, and presents a line of shore of not less than
six thousand miles, abounding in every description of product,
with climates of all temperatures and soils adapted to all sorts
of vegetable growth. As the regions through which this vast river
passes are peopled by communities to which manufacturing is
unknown, it will at once be seen what an immense market will be
opened to American industry in the various departments of the
useful arts. The proposed connection would, together with the
intercourse by steam, which will inevitably be established on the
Amazon, draw to that river the trade of the interior, which at
present passes over the Andes on the backs of sheep and mules to
the Pacific ocean, and constitutes a large portion of the
commodities that are transported around Cape Horn. With a view to
this river navigation, Brazil has already entered into a boundary
treaty with Peru, by which she has engaged to establish steamboat
navigation on the Peruvian tributaries of the Amazon, and is
preparing to put seven steamers upon the river, where none have
heretofore been.

"The experience of the world has shown that nations do not become
commercial or manufacturing, so long as the products of the soil
are sufficiently abundant to yield them wealth; and, hence, it may
be reasonably inferred that the carrying trade to and from
South-America will, if proper measures be taken, fall into the
hands of American ship-owners. By way of ascertaining what the
extent of this trade will be, if reference be had to the interior
or back country as the standard of the commercial resources
furnished by rivers, it will be found that the total area drained
by the rivers of the world is as follows:

_Sq. Miles._
Europe, emptying into the Atlantic, 532,940
Africa, emptying into the Mediterranean, 198,630
----------
Total Old World, 1,731,570
==========
Asia, emptying into the Pacific, 1,767,280
Asia, emptying into the Indian ocean, 1,661,760
----------
Total Asiatic, 3,429,040
==========
North-America, including St. Lawrence and
Mississippi emptying into the Atlantic, 1,476,800
==========
South-America, emptying into the Atlantic--
Amazon and its confluents, 2,048,480
La Plata and all others, 1,329,490
----------
Total South-American 3,377,970
==========
Total American to the Atlantic, 4,854,770
==========

"From the above statement it will be seen that the proposed line
of steam communication will bring within thirty days of each
other, the commercial outlets of navigable streams which drain a
back country greater in extent than that which is drained by all
of the navigable streams which empty themselves into the Atlantic,
the Pacific, and the Indian oceans, from those portions of Europe,
Asia, and Africa, which are accessible to American commerce.
Settlement and cultivation will, in the course of time, make these
American river basins as rich in products as those of the old
world.

"The question next arises, who are to be the carriers of the trade
which is hereafter to spring out of these American river basins,
the English or the Americans? If Great Britain be suffered to
monopolize commerce as she has heretofore done by her steam
navigation, her people will enjoy this great boon; but if, on the
contrary, the United States take advantage of circumstances as
they should, the prize will be won by Americans."

"Your Committee would remark, in concluding this Report, that,
regarding as they do the existence and rapid extension of the
system of ocean mail steam navigation, as absolutely essential to
the dignity and permanent prosperity of the country, and as the
only means, consistent with the genius and policy of our free
institutions, of acquiring a maritime strength, which, by keeping
pace with the improvements of the age, shall place us upon an
equal footing with other civilized countries of the world, without
the necessity of an overgrown and expensive naval establishment
proper, in time of peace, they would feel themselves derelict in
the performance of their duties, did they not recommend the
measure, with the earnestness which its importance demands.

"Circumstances indicate, with a clearness not to be misunderstood,
that in any future struggle for superiority on the ocean, the
contest will be decided by the power of steam. With a view to this
result, England has applied herself with even more than her wonted
energy to the construction of a regular steam navy which shall be
superior to all others. The number of ships which Great Britain
has of this kind, is at present two hundred and seventy-one, and
there are no less than nine royal war steamers in progress of
construction, to say nothing of the mail and other steamers which
are being built. The course thus pursued by the great commercial
rival of the United States, renders a corresponding energy and
activity on our part absolutely necessary, in a national point of
view; a steam navy must be provided for future emergencies in the
way proposed by the Committee, or war steamers must be built at an
enormous outlay of public money and kept ready in the navy yards,
or in commission, at an expense which is appalling to every lover
of judicious economy, or the stripes and stars of our country,
which have heretofore floated so triumphantly on every sea, must
grow dim, not only before the 'meteor flag of England,' but the
standards of the secondary powers of Europe. If members of
Congress are prepared to adopt either of these latter two
alternatives, let them say so, and let a system which promises,
under an honest and faithful discharge of duty on the part of the
executive branch of the Government, to realize the most sanguine
expectations of its friends, be at once abandoned. Let Great
Britain be again the guardian of our commercial interests and the
beneficiary of American trade. Let the Liverpool, Bremen, Havre,
California, and other lines, which have furnished twenty-four as
noble sea steamers as ever floated, be abandoned to their fate,
and let the Cunard line and other British steam mail lines and
royal steamers supply their places on the Atlantic and Pacific
oceans, and our Southern seas.

"Your Committee would again repeat that the question to be
considered is not one of mere dollars and cents, or whether
certain individuals are to be sustained, or not, but one of
infinitely greater consequence--whether this proud republic shall
now and hereafter exist as a power competent to maintain her
rights upon the ocean. The present condition of political affairs
in Europe is such as, in the opinion of many, to threaten a
general war among the nations of that quarter of the globe, and
the United States should stand ready, and able too, to protect the
rights of her citizens upon the ocean, in such an event. Were such
a crisis to take place to-morrow, or the next year, or within the
next five years, is the country prepared for it? The steam navy
proper amounts to sixteen steamers of all classes, which, together
with the twenty-four ocean mail steamers in the employ of the Post
Office Department, would give us a steam naval force not exceeding
forty in all. Is this the position we should occupy, while Great
Britain has at command upwards of three hundred war and mail
steamers? France has, it is believed, upwards of a hundred, and
the secondary powers of Europe have naval steam armaments in
proportion, most of them exceeding our own. This question will be
decided by the continuation or rejection of the system under
consideration, which, with all the difficulties attendant upon new
enterprises and under the most embarrassing circumstances, has
gone very far to sustain itself, and promises, at no distant
period, to become a source of large revenue to the Government, and
incalculable commercial advantages, pecuniarily and otherwise, to
the country."

The following is copied from the Report made by Mr. Rusk in 1850, and published in Special Report of the Secretary of the Navy, 1852. Speaking of the services of the mail steamers in our system of defenses, the Report says:

"The truth is, that, in the opinion of your Committee, the temper
of the times requires that we shall keep pace with the rapid
improvements of other nations in their commercial and military
marine, and that the only choice is, whether it is to be done by
constructing vessels for the packet service, at a boundless
expense to the Government, or by aiding private enterprise, and
thus not only eventually avoiding expense, but adding largely to
the revenues of the country. It will be seen from the above
extract from Mr. King's speech, that, in the course of five years,
the balance in favor of the Government from the Cunard line alone
was $5,286,000. The New-York and Liverpool and Bremen lines will
come in for a large, if not by far the greater, share of the
postage and freightage heretofore enjoyed by the Cunard line; and
the line to Chagres, for the advantages that have, up to the time
of its partial commencement, been in the exclusive possession of
the British packet establishment in that direction. Nor are the
freightage and postage moneys the only sources of profit. In
proportion to the increase of these facilities will be the
extension of trade, and consequently the Government will receive
the duties payable upon all foreign merchandise brought into the
country. Besides, persons _in transitu_ will leave much money in
our cities and along their routes, to say nothing of the porterage
and costs of transportation of goods. To benefit our people is to
benefit our Government; as the more we enrich the former, the more
able are they to contribute to the support of the latter.

"To construct ships and keep them in our navy-yards, subject to
the injuries of time and casualties, does not consist with the
notions of the American people, on the score of economy; nor is it
in accordance with received opinions in regard to the propriety of
placing excessive patronage in the hands of the General
Government. At the same time, it is in perfect unison with the
spirit of our free institutions that the arts of peace shall be
made tributary to the purposes of defense, and the same energies
which extend the commerce and manufactures of our country shall,
in the event of necessity, be capable of being made use of for our
protection. While the crowned heads of the Old World keep in
constant pay vast armies and navies sustained by the heart's blood
of the oppressed people, for the protection and preservation of
their unhallowed power, it is the proud boast of our country that
our soldiers are our citizens, and the sailors, who, in time of
peace, spread the canvas of our commercial marine throughout the
world, are the men who, in time of war, have heretofore directed,
and will continue to direct, our cannon against our foes."

"The simple fact that the ships employed in it [the mail service]
_may hereafter, if the Government thinks proper_, be purchased and
commissioned as regular war steamers, to be officered and manned
as ships of war, should not and can not prevent the construction
of steam or sailing vessels for ordinary naval purposes. Your
Committee are of opinion that, so far from being an impediment to
the proper increase of the Navy, the prosperity of the ocean steam
packet service must operate in favor of an enlargement of the
naval force, the necessity for which is increased in proportion to
the extension of our commercial relations with foreign countries.
The routes upon which lines of steam packets can be sustained and
made profitable to the owners are comparatively few, when we take
into view the infinitely diversified ramifications of trade. Great
Britain, with her vast colonial and general commerce, had, in
1848, but fifteen lines in which national or contract vessels were
employed, including the home stations, as they are called, or
points of connection between the British islands. Nor has the
ocean steam packet system hindered, in the slightest degree, her
progress in the construction of steam or sailing vessels for the
naval service. In speaking of steam vessels available for naval
service, Captain W. H. Hall, of the British Navy, in the course of
his examination before the special Committee of the House of
Commons, hereinbefore referred to, says: 'I some time ago sent to
the Admiralty a plan for making the whole of the merchant steamers
available in case of need; and if there were an Act of Parliament
that these ships should be strengthened forward and aft to carry
guns, it might be then done with a very trifling expense; that
would give this country more power than any other country in the
world. We have nearly one thousand steam vessels, half of which,
at least, might be made available in case Government required
their services. Our mercantile steamers are some of the finest in
the world, and five hundred of them might be turned to account.
They should all be numbered and classed, so that Government would
merely have to ask for the number of vessels they wanted, when
they might go to Woolwich, or other places, and put the guns on
board, and then they would be ready for service.'

"Here is the opinion of a _captain in the British Navy_ with
reference to the availability of steam vessels for national
defense; and what a lesson does it teach to us in America, where
steam navigation is found penetrating every portion of the Union,
and spreading itself on our maritime and lake frontier in every
direction! Here is found no expression of apprehension lest the
mercantile steamers might interfere with the growth or efficiency
of the Navy to which the witness belonged. This opinion, moreover,
is expressed in a country where, according to the testimony before
the Committee already named, there were, in 1848, 174 _war
steamers, with an aggregate horse-power of_ 44,480 _horses_; and
where Mr. Alexander Gordon states, in a letter addressed to the
same Committee, the Steam Navy had then cost the country
L6,000,000 sterling, or $30,000,000, '_exclusive of all
reinstatements and expenses during commission_;' the same
gentleman also alleging that the annual repairs amounted
to L108,000
Annual cost for coals, 110,000
Depreciation at a moderate allowance, 600,000
---------
Making the total amount of annual cost, L818,000
Or $4,094,000
===========

"The regular employment of the best engineers on board of contract
vessels, and the great experience they would acquire from being
constantly on active duty, would furnish to the naval service, in
the event of a war, a corps that would be invaluable. In speaking
of the superiority of the engineers on board of contract vessels
in the employ of the British Government over those on board of the
Queen's ships, a witness before the select Committee of the House
of Commons says: 'Last year there was a universal complaint of the
inferiority of the engineers and all persons connected with steam
employed in her Majesty's service. It was explained, and very
easily explained, by the superior advantages in the merchant
service, and particularly the high wages paid. In all contract
steam packets, they have men on board the vessels who are
competent to superintend any alterations or repairs in the
machinery which may be required.'"

Secretary Graham said on this subject to the Senate Committee, 20 March, 1853:

"While their discussions [mail steamers] justify the conclusion
that vessels of this description can not be relied on to supersede
those modelled and built only for purposes of war, it is
respectfully suggested that a limited number of them, employed in
time of peace in the transportation of the mails, would be found a
most useful resource of the Government on the breaking out of war.

"If conforming to the standards required by these contracts, their
readiness to be used at the shortest notice, their capacity as
transports for troops and munitions of war, and their great
celerity of motion, enabling them to overhaul merchantmen, and at
the same time escape cruisers, would render them terrible as
guerrillas of the ocean, if fitted with such armaments as could be
readily put upon them in their present condition."

Post Master General Collamer also said on this subject, June 27, 1850:

"There are three modes which have been mentioned of transporting
the mail. The first is by naval steamships, conducted by the Navy,
as a national service. This will occasion so enormous an expense
that it is not probable the project will be entertained.

"The next mode suggested is the sending the mails, from time to
time, by the fastest steamers which are first going. This has one
advantage: it gives occasional aid to the enterprising; but there
are many and great objections to it:

"1st. It is entirely inconsistent with fixed periods of departure
and arrival.

"2d. It makes all connections on or with the route uncertain.

"3d. A price must be fixed, to prevent undue exactions of the
Government; and yet no one would be under obligation to take the
mail at the price, so that it would be uncertain of going at all.

"4th. It would be impracticable to send agents with all those
mails, to take care of them and make distributions, except at an
enormous cost.

"5th. There would be constant difficulty with slow and unsafe
boats.

"6th. The great object of obtaining steamships, so constructed,
under the inspection of the Navy Department, as to be suitable for
war vessels, and subject to exclusive appropriation and use as
such, would be sacrificed.

"The third project is the making of contracts, for a stated term
of years, _upon proposals advertised for in the ordinary method
adopted for mail-coach service_. This would not answer for ocean
steam service, unless provision were made for security, in the
strength, capacity, and adaptation of the vessels, with their
machinery, etc."

Regarding our steam service in the Gulf, and in reviewing the contract made by the United States Mail Steamship Company, the Hon. Edwin Croswell, and associates, in a letter to the Chairman of the Senate Postal Committee, presented the following important reflections:

"As early as the year 1835, the attention of the British
Government was directed to the plan of changing the mode of
conveying the mails by the ships of the East-India Company and the
Government, and adopting the contract system with individuals and
companies, with a view to combining the essential properties of a
naval and commercial steam marine.

"In consequence of the Report of the Commissioners appointed by
Parliament to inquire into the management of the English Post
Office Department in 1836, the mail steam packet service was
transferred to the Admiralty. The Report stated the conviction of
the Commissioners of Inquiry that 'the advantages which a System
of contract must generally secure to the public over one of the
establishment, however well conducted, were such that they wish
they could have felt justified in recommending that it should be
universally and immediately adopted.'

"The Secretary of the Admiralty stated that, 'in acting upon this
opinion, the Admiralty entered into contracts for conveying the
mails by steam vessels to and from Spain and Portugal, and
subsequently between Alexandria and England, with the Peninsular
and Oriental Steam Navigation Company. Contracts were also entered
into for the conveyance of the mails between England and
North-America, and England and the West-Indies and Mexico.' That
'the execution of all these contracts, with the exception of the
latter, had given general satisfaction. But for this exception,
the extent and complication of the plan at its commencement
afforded some apology.' That 'the spirit in which the steam
contractors had generally executed their contracts merited notice,
as they had in almost every instance exceeded the horse-power
stipulated in their agreements, and thus insured an accuracy in
the delivery of mails which experience has shown, if the letter of
the contract had been adhered to by them, would not have been the
case.' And that 'the contract system had been generally
satisfactory to the Admiralty and the public, and had tended
largely to increase the steam tonnage of this country, (England,)
to encourage private enterprise in scientific discovery, and the
regulation and economical management of steam.'

"Such, certainly, were among the valuable results of the system;
but these were not the only considerations that led to its
adoption. The English Government, with the forecast for which that
far-reaching power is distinguished, saw the advantages which an
extended steam marine would give to its commerce over that of
every other nation in the world. It saw also the value of
connecting this great branch of the national service with the
commercial and practical skill of the country. It soon formed and
matured its plan, embracing within its scope nearly the entire
commercial world. Steam lines, as stated in the preceding extract
from the Admiralty Report, were established, radiating from
England to all the prominent European ports, to the Mediterranean,
to Egypt, the East-Indies and China, the West-India Islands,
South-America and Mexico, the ports in the Gulf of Mexico and
Havana, the United States and the English colonial possessions in
North-America, and to the islands and ports in the Pacific ocean.
This vast chain of intercourse was not only completely
established, but it became a matter of national policy to enlarge,
strengthen, and maintain it. By it much of the commerce of the
world by steam, and nearly all the letter-carrying by steam
between this continent and the European ports, and even the
distant parts of our own territory, were engrossed by British
ships."

"Important national considerations, aside from the design to
engross for British bottoms and British capital the trade and
intercourse of the commercial world, and especially with the
American continent and islands, entered into the Government plan.
It was ascertained to be a far less expensive mode of maintaining
a naval steam force adapted to the purposes of Government, and to
any emergency that might require these ships for other than mail
purposes, than to build, equip, and keep in service national
steamships of war. The experiment has proved its adequacy to the
intended object; and it continues not only to receive the approval
of the Admiralty and Government of England, but to be continually
undergoing enlargement and expansion."

"The West-India mail steam line was proposed to the British
Government in April, 1839, by sundry merchants of London. A
charter was granted to the contractors in that year, under the
title of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company. It embraced the
following routes:

"1. _Outward Atlantic Route._--From Southampton to Madeira,
Barbados and Grenada--steamer, every 15 days.

"2. _Trinidad Route._--From Grenada to Trinidad and
Barbados--steamer, every 15 days.

"3. _Demarara Route._--From Grenada to Courland Bay,
(Tobago)--steamer, every 15 days.

"4. _Northern Islands Route._--From Grenada to St. Vincent, St.
Lucia, Martinique, Dominique, Guadalupe, Antigua, Montserrat,
Nevis, St. Kitt's, Tortola, St. Thomas, and St. John's, (Porto
Rico)--steamer, every 15 days.

"5. _Jamaica and Mexican Route._--From Grenada to Jacmel, (Hayti,)
Kingston, Havana, Vera Cruz, and Tampico--steamer, every 30 days.

"6. _Jamaica and St. Iago de Cuba Route._--From Grenada to Jacmel,
Kingston, St. Iago de Cuba, St. Juan's, (Porto Rico,) and St.
Thomas--steamer, every 30 days.

"7. _Bermuda, Havana, and Jamaica Route._--From St. Thomas to
Bermuda, Nassau, Havana, Kingston, Jacmel, St. Juan's, and St.
Thomas--steamer, every 30 days.

"8. _Homeward Fayal Route._--From St. Thomas to
Southampton--steamer, every 30 days.

"9. _Laguayra Route._--From Grenada to Laguayra, Porto Cabello,
and St. Thomas--steamer, every 30 days.

"10. _Panama and St. Iago de Cuba Route._--From Kingston (Jamaica)
to Santa Martha, Carthagena, Chagres, and St. Juan de
Nicaragua--steamer, every 30 days.

"11. _Honduras Route._--From Havana to Balize, (Honduras)--sailing
schooner, every 30 days."

"The contract system, combining the efficient features of an
extended commercial and Government steam marine, was thus adopted
after full investigation on the subject by the Board of Admiralty,
the Treasury, and the different Government Departments, including
the Post Master General. The merits and benefits of this system
have been tested by England. That Government was the first to
engage in it, and, as we have already stated, fully approve, and
are constantly extending it. The Committee of Inquiry of
Parliament, as we have already quoted, say truly that it 'had
tended largely to increase the steam tonnage of that country, to
encourage private enterprise in scientific discovery, and the
regulation and economical management of steam.' After an
examination of it in the most scientific and practical manner,
that Government regards it as altogether more economical for the
nation, and for the general public interests, than the exclusive
employment of Government vessels. The ships built by the contract
companies have far exceeded in speed and other essential qualities
the ships constructed by Government. A far greater amount of
service was obtained, at a cost much less than would be incurred
by Government in building, equipping, manning, and running
national vessels for even a partial performance of the same
service. Individual and associated skill, enterprise, and capital
were called into requisition, and, aided by Government means,
contributed to enlarge, extend, and fortify the naval and
commercial power of England.

"The practical operation of this great system of steam lines was
to place within the reach of English vessels, of a semi-national
character, and ready to be converted into ships of war, our entire
Southern coast and harbors, besides yielding to them the foreign
trade, commerce, and letter-carrying, by steam, to and from all
parts of our country. To meet and counteract this state of things,
became the object and duty of the American Congress and
Government. It was the more obvious at that time particularly,
engaged as we were in a war with Mexico, and our only means of
coast defense of any force being a single steamer, and she not
capable of entering the Southern harbors, while English steam
fleets literally filled and occupied our waters. To counteract, so
far as was demanded by the requirements of our own commerce, and
the defense of our coast, a monopoly so formidable, which had
grown up under the direct and liberal cooperation of the English
Government, and the supposed superiority of English machinery,
required the aid of Congress; for it was evident that unaided
American enterprise and capital could not cope with it.
Accordingly, at the close of the session of 1847, the Congress of
the United States passed an act authorizing the Secretary of the
Navy to contract with sundry parties and different steam lines for
the construction of ocean steamships, as part of the plan of a
combined naval and commercial steam marine, in connection with the
mail service."

After enumerating the various lines established by Congress, he further says:

"These (with the previously authorized line from New-York to
Bremen) were the various parts of a complete and important plan
adapted to the growing wants of the public service, and for
providing an adequate steam marine, whenever the exigencies of
the country might require it, and for facilitating intercourse and
the transmission of the mails between remote parts of our own
country and other nations. For the due performance of it in all
its ramifications, it required a large aggregate of capital,
skill, and intelligent enterprise. After a lapse of nearly three
years, portions of the undertaking have gone into efficient
operation; and already the fruits of it--its utility, and its
advantages and benefits to the American government and
people--have been demonstrated. When the various parts shall be
completed, and the plan in all its features shall be in full
operation, its immediate practical results, aside from its
prospective effectiveness in furnishing a class of war steamers
for any ultimate purpose of the American Government, will be found
fully to justify the action of Congress and the participation and
favor of the Government, and confirm the public confidence in its
great utility and value."

"When it came to the knowledge of the English government that
Congress had entered into contracts establishing steam lines to
Chagres, Havana, and New-Orleans, its first movement to counteract
or discourage the proposed American line in that direction was to
run branches of the Royal West-India mail line from Bermuda to
New-York, and from Jamaica to New-Orleans and Mobile. Now that the
American line to Chagres has gone into full operation, and the
news from the Pacific comes by this line to New-York, and thence
to Liverpool, some fifteen days sooner than the same news brought
by the British line,[J] the English government has revised,
enlarged, and extended its West-India line. It has entered into a
new contract with the Royal Mail Steam-Packet Company, a material
feature of which is to run a mail line direct from Southampton to
St. Thomas, and thence to Chagres and back, twice a month, with
steamers of larger capacity and power, and with a proposed speed
of from twelve to fourteen miles per hour. For this line, five or
six new steamships are, under the contract, to be built, while the
old vessels are to form branches from this main line or trunk to
other of the routes of this great and extended plan of steam
intercourse and letter-carrying; at the same time that government
will withdraw its branches to the Balize, Mobile, and New-York,
extend its line to Rio de Janeiro, and enlarge its line in the
Pacific, from Panama to Valparaiso, converting it from a monthly
to a semi-monthly route. These movements show not only the
immediate results of American enterprise in ocean steamships, and
the important consequences, aside from any purposes of coast and
harbor defense, to which it has already led, but the strong public
reasons on the part of our Government to foster, continue, and
encourage it. It has already counteracted the best efforts of the
large and long-established English steam lines, and transferred
the commerce and letter-carrying so long exclusively enjoyed by
them to American ships. If promoted and favored by the Congress of
the United States, it will still meet and counteract the new
efforts of the English Government to recover the ground which
American skill, enterprise, and capital, aided by the Government,
have won from them.

[J] "By the contract of 1846 with the West-India Royal Mail
Steam-Packet Company, the voyage from Chagres to Southampton is
performed in 33 days. By the United States Mail Steamship Company
the voyage from Chagres to New-York, and thence to Liverpool, is
performed in 22 days.

"In relation to the comparative cost to the two governments by
which these lines of ocean steamers, in connection with the naval
and mail service, are maintained, it will be seen that the British
Government pays as much for its single West-India and Chagres line
as the American Government pays for all its lines--Liverpool and
New-York, New-York and Bremen, New-York and Havre, New-York,
Havana, New-Orleans, and Chagres, and Panama and San Francisco.
The entire annual payments by the British Government amount [This
was in 1850.--T.R.] to $3,180,000. Those by the American
Government, when all its lines shall be in full service, will be
$1,215,000. The British-West India Mail Steam-Packet Company are
paid $3.08 per mile for mail service: the United States Mail
Steamship Company, $1.88 per mile."

The Committee presented some few queries to Commodore M.C. Perry on the capabilities of the postal steamers for war purposes, to which he replies thus:

"I now proceed to reply to the first division of the inquiry, as
follows:

"Question first: 'Whether the steamships employed in the
transportation of the United States mail, under contract with the
Navy Department, or any other steamships employed in the
transportation of our foreign mails, are, in all respects,
suitable for immediate conversion into steamers for war purposes,
capable of carrying the armament or battery appropriate to the
class specified in the contract?'

"In answer to the foregoing (first) question, I am of opinion that
they are _not_ 'in all respects suitable.'

"Question second: 'And if not suitable for such immediate
conversion, whether they could be altered so as to make them
efficient war steamers?'

"Answer: The following named Atlantic steamers maybe converted, by
slight alteration, into war steamers of the first class:

"_Of Collins's line._ The Atlantic, Pacific, Arctic, and Baltic.

"_Of Law's line._ The Ohio, Georgia, and Illinois.

"_Of Mortimer Livingston's line._ The Humboldt and Franklin.

"_Pacific steamers--of Aspinwall's line._ First class, the Golden
Gate. Second class, the Panama, Oregon, California, and Columbia.

"The foregoing vessels of the respective contracts are variously
constructed as to materials, fastening, strength, and model.

"Question third: 'And if so, what alterations would be necessary
to be made, and at what expense, to make them war steamers of the
first class:'

"Answer: If these vessels had been originally constructed
comformably to the _spirit_ (though it was not called for by the
letter) of the contracts, as they should have been, and all
English mail steamers now are, _in anticipation of their possible
conversion, into war vessels_, the cost of converting them would
be much less.

"Most of them were completed before I was ordered to their
supervision; but I lost no time, after entering upon the duty, in
calling the attention of the contractors to this important
consideration, an observance of which would not have added more
than one per cent upon the cost of construction.

"In altering these vessels so as to make them available for war
purposes, the most simple, expeditious, and economical plan would
be to razee them, or cut off their upper decks and cabins forward
and abaft the wheel-houses; not by tearing them to pieces and
defacing the costly ornamental work, which, though of no value to
the Government, still need not be destroyed.

"The razeeing should be effected by sawing the top timbers, and
cutting off by sections the whole of the upper dock, excepting the
space between the wheel-houses, thus leaving the greater part of
the main deck exposed and for the accommodation of the armament,
and enough of the sides above that deck to answer for bulwarks and
side-ports.

"Below, it would only be necessary to remove the state-rooms not
wanted for the accommodation of the officers, and convert the
after-hold and fore and main orlops into magazines, store-rooms,
shot and shell lockers, etc., etc.

"According to my calculation, the cost of the conversion of either
of the before mentioned vessels, exclusive of armaments, repair of
machinery and ordinary repair, would not, or certainly _ought_
not, exceed, for steamers of the first class, $20,000, and for
those of the second class, $15,000; and it could be readily done
for this at any of our navy yards, provided that _useless_
alterations were not made.

"It should be taken into view that those mail steamers, if called
into service as war vessels, would be considered as forming an
auxiliary force to the regularly constructed ships, and hence the
impolicy of expending much money on them. The requisites of sound
hulls and powerful engines, with efficient armaments, should
alone be considered, leaving superfluous ornament out of the
question.

"The armaments of the respective vessels would, of course, be a
separate cost; and to arrange the guns on the upper deck, it would
only be required to close up three or four of the hatches or
sky-lights; to strengthen the deck by additional beams and
stanchions; to cut ports, and construct the pivot and other
carriages; probably it might be desirable to shift the capstan and
cables.

"With respect to the description and weight of the respective
armaments, I am clearly of opinion that the first-class steamers
already named could easily carry each _four_ 10-inch Paixhan guns
on pivots, two forward and two aft, of the weight of those in the
Mississippi; _ten_ 8-inch Paixhans, as side-guns, ditto.

"The _second-class_ steamers could with equal ease carry each
_two_ 8-inch Paixhans on pivots, one forward and one aft, and
_six_ 6-inch ditto, as side-guns.

"With the additional strengthening recommended, I am perfectly
satisfied that the armaments suggested would not, in the least,
incommode the vessels. Indeed, the weight of armament would be
actually less than that which would be taken away by the removal
of the upper decks and cabins, and the miscellaneous articles
usually stowed on one or the other of two decks--such, for
instance, as ice, of which not less than forty tons is generally
packed in one mass; nor would the munitions and provisions
required for the war vessel be of greater weight than the goods
now carried as freight, saying nothing of the provisions and
stores carried by the steamers for an average of 150 to 250 souls,
including crew and passengers.

"It may again be remarked, that steamers thus brought into service
would be far inferior to regularly constructed and appointed war
vessels; yet in the general operations of a maritime war, they
would render good service, and especially would they be useful,
from their great speed, as dispatch vessels, and for the
transportation of troops, always being capable of attack and
defense, and of overhauling or escaping from an enemy."

Captain Skiddy, the Special Naval Constructor appointed by the Government to superintend the building of all the mail packets, says in a letter to Com. Perry:

"In reply I will commence with the first-class ships, which are
the 'Atlantic,' 'Pacific,' 'Baltic,' and 'Arctic,' of Collins'
Liverpool line; the 'Franklin' and 'Humboldt' of Mortimer
Livingston's Havre line.

"These ships, although equal in strength, probably, to any
steamships afloat, are not suitable for _immediate_ war purposes,
but can be made efficient in four or six weeks, capable of
carrying the armament or battery of a first-class frigate--say
four ten-inch guns and twelve eight-inch guns. These alterations
would consist of a removal of the deck-houses, spar or upper deck,
forward and abaft the paddle-wheel boxes, fitting the after and
forward bulwarks in sections, cutting port-holes, fitting hammock
cloths or nettings, putting in extra beams and knees, and
stanchions, moving the windlass below, building magazines,
shell-rooms, officers' rooms, etc., etc. The cost of all these
alterations and fixtures would not exceed ($15,000 or $20,000)
twenty thousand dollars each ship. These ships would then be
relieved of about one hundred and fifty tons weight, or nearly
double the weight of guns and carriages, with less resistance to
water and wind, adding an increase to their already great speed."

In the case of all these steamers, that is, of the Havre and Bremen, the Collins, the Aspinwall, and the Pacific lines, Commodore Perry reported that they "_were capable of being easily converted into war steamers of the first class_."

PAPER F.

OCEAN STEAM LINES OF THE WORLD.

[K] Building another steamer of 2,500 tons for the Brazil line.

[L] These vessels average about 250 horses' power each. Their tonnage is large, probably 1,200 tons each.

There are several other lines of ocean steamers in Europe; but it is almost impossible to ascertain anything definite about them. The list above embraces all of the most important companies of the world. The lines are continually changing, while the vessels are passing into new hands almost every week.

PAPER G.

The following official letter from Hon. Horatio King explains itself.

Post-Office Department, }
Washington, Nov. 12, 1857. }

Sir: In answer to your letter of 10th inst., I have to inform you,
that the ocean mail steamship lines now under contract with the
Government for the conveyance of mails, are as follows, namely:

1. The New-York and Liverpool (Collins) Line, performing twenty
round trips per annum, at an annual compensation of $385,000.
Length of route, 3,100 miles.

2. The New-York and Bremen Line, _via_ Southampton, performing
thirteen round trips per annum, for the gross amount of United
States postages, (sea and inland.) Length of route, 3,700 miles.

3. The New-York and Havre Line, _via_ Southampton, performing
thirteen round trips per annum for the gross amount of United
States postages, (sea and inland.) Length of route, 3,270 miles.

4. The New-York, Havana, New-Orleans, and Aspinwall Line,
performing twenty-four round trips per annum, at an annual
compensation of $290,000. Length of routes 2,000 miles from
New-York to Aspinwall _direct_; 2,000 miles from New-York to
New-Orleans _via_ Havana; and 1,200 miles from Havana to
Aspinwall; making in all, 5,200 miles.

5. The Astoria, San Francisco, and Panama Line, performing
twenty-four round trips per annum, at an annual compensation of
$348,250. Length of route, 4,200 miles.

6. The Charleston, Savannah, Key West, and Havana Line, performing
twenty-four round trips per annum, at an annual compensation of
$60,000. Length of route, 669 miles.

7. The New-Orleans and Vera Cruz Line, performing twenty-four
round trips per annum, at $1,210.93 the round trip. Length of
route, 900 miles.

The contracts on these lines expire as follows, namely:

New-York and Liverpool (Collins) Line, 27th April, 1860.
New-York and Bremen Line, 1st June, 1858.
New-York and Havre Line, 1st June, 1858.
New-York, New-Orleans, and Aspinwall Line, 1st Oct., 1859.
Astoria and Panama Line, 1st Oct., 1858.
Charleston and Havana Line, 30th June, 1859.
New-Orleans and Vera Cruz Line, 30th June, 1858.

I am very respectfully your obedient servant,

HORATIO KING.

To DR. THOMAS RAINEY.

PAPER H.

THE FRENCH, ENGLISH, AND AMERICAN NAVIES.

The following list is kindly furnished me by Hon. Wm. A. Harris, of Washington. The French list is taken from the "_Tableau General des Batiments a Voiles et a Vapeur composant les Flottes de la Marine Imperiale Francaise_."

SAILING VESSELS.

SHIPS OF 120 GUNS.--Ocean, Friedland, Ville de Paris, Valmy.

SHIPS OF 100 GUNS.--Hercule, Temmasses, Tage Turenne.

SHIPS OF 90 GUNS.--Jena, Suffren, Bayard, Breslau, Hector,
Achille, Eole, Santi-Petri, Tilsitt, Sceptic, Castiglione.

SHIPS OF 86 GUNS.--Diademe, Neptune, Jupiter.

SHIPS OF 82 GUNS.--Marengo, Trident, Ville de Marsailles, Alger,
Triton, Duperre, Genereux, Latour d'Auvergne, Saint-Louis.

FRIGATES OF 60 GUNS.--Iphigenie, Independante, Didon, Uranie,
Belle-Poulle, Surveillante, Andromaque, Forte, Minerve, Melpomene,
Perseverante, Renomme, Vengeance, Etrepienante, Victoire,
Semiramis, Guerrierre, Pallas, Semillante.

FRIGATES OF 52 GUNS.--Alceste, Calypso, Sirene, Atlante,
Andromede, Nereide, Zenobie, Sybille.

FRIGATES OF 50 GUNS.--Reine Blanche, Cleopatre, Danae, Virginie,
Poursuivante, Pandore, Nemesis, Bellonne, Amazone, Astree, Junon,
Hermione, Dryade, Circe, Flore.

FRIGATES OF 46 GUNS.--Thetis, Armide, Grigone, Margicienne,
Africane, Penelope, Medee.

FRIGATES OF 40 GUNS.--Constitution, Psyche, Clorinde, Heliopolis,
Jeanne d'Arc, Algerie, Resolue, Tiris, Ceres, Armorique.

CORVETTES OF 30 GUNS.--Ariane, Thisbe, Heroine, Alemene,
Embuscade, Sabine, Aventure, Favorite, Jeanne-Hochette, Corneline,
Circe, Cybele.

CORVETTES OF 28 GUNS.--Arethuse, Bayonnaise, Arthemise, Galatee,
Serieuse, Eurydice, Capricieuse, Constantine.

CORVETTES OF 24 GUNS.--Brillante, Naide, Creole, Danaide,
Triomphante.

CORVETTES OF 20 GUNS.--Camille, Bergere, Iguala, Coquette, Echo.

CORVETTES OF 16 GUNS.--Diligente, Cornelie, Egle, Perle, Oritie.

CORVETTES OF 14 GUNS.--Astrolabe, Zelee, Prevoyante, Expeditive,
Recherche, Active, Indienne, Sarcelle, Prudente, Indefatigable,
Emulation.

BRIGS OF 20 GUNS.--Ducouedic, Palinure, Cygene, Alcibiade, Adonis,
Hussard, Chasseur, Griffon, d'Hassar, Meleagre, Acteon, Bisson,
Lapeirousse, Cassard, Oreste, Pylade, Nisus, Euryale, Beaumanvir,
Chevert, Droupot, Alacryti, Voltigeur.

BRIGS OF 18 GUNS.--Mercure, Dragon, Faune, Genie, Faucon,
Grenadier, Entreprenant, Fanfaron, Janus, Victor, Olivier, Zebre,
Obligardo, Alerte, Cuirassier.

BRIGS OF 10 GUNS.--Volage, Surprise, Fleche, Alcyon, Comete,
Sylphe, Dupetit-Lhouars, Bougainville, Argus, Fabert, Lutin, Cerf,
Messaeer, Papillon, Rossignol, Agile, Geyer, Inconstant, Zephir,
Railleur, Russee, Lynx.

BRIGS OF 8 GUNS.--Allouette, Alsacienne, Malouine, Tactique,
Virgie, Eglantine, Panthere.

CORVETTES DE CHARGE 32 GUNS, 800 HORSE POWER.--Proserpine, Adour,
Abondante, Oise, Caravane, Allier, Agathe, Fortune, Aube, Egerie,
Rhin, Somme, Meurthe, Mosselle.

SLOOPS OF 28 GUNS, 600 TONS.--Perdrix, Loire, Provencale,
Marsouin.

SLOOPS OF 20 GUNS, 550 TONS.--Robuste, Giraffe, Chandernagor,
Cormoran.

SLOOPS OF 16 GUNS, 300 TONS.--Hecla, Dore, Cyclope, Vulcain,
Lamproie, Volcan, Bucephale, Licome, Lezard, Mahe, Lionne.

SLOOPS OF 12 GUNS, 200 TONS.--Anna, Pintado, Menagere.

SLOOPS OF 8 GUNS, 150 TONS.--Pourvoyeur, Seudre.

SLOOPS OF 6 GUNS, 90 TONS.--Vigilant, Pilote, Ile d'Oleron,
Mayottais.

SCHOONERS OF 6 GUNS.--Merange, Estafete, Gazelle, Hirondelle,
Topaze, Beaucir, Euroquoise, Decidee, Jouvencelle, Tonguille,
Amaranthe, Fauvette, Legere, Encelade, Etoile, Fine, Doris,
Brestoise, Mouche, Bella Helene, Eugenie, Tafne, Parisienne,
Gentille, Ibir, Mignonne, Souris, Egle, Iris, Papeiti, Sultan,
Agathe, Touronnaise, Daphne, Levrette, Bose, Dorade.

CUTTERS OF 4 GUNS.--Rodeur, Furet, Moustique, Espeigle, Moutin,
Favori, Levrier, Eperlan, Renard, Eclair, Goelund, Chamois,
Emeraude, Esperance, Cupidon, Orglae, Aigle d'Or, Colibi,
Antilope, Seybouse, Pluvier, Ecureuil, No. 1, Ecureuil, No. 2,
Mirmidon, Capelan, Corvril, Boberach, Palmer, Belette, Colombe,
Cigorle, Tafnal, Amiral, Papillon.

SAILING SHIPS CHANGED INTO STEAMSHIPS.

SHIPS OF 120 GUNS.--Montibello 650, Souverain 650, Desaix 650,
Louis XIV. 650, Bretagne 960.

SHIPS OF 100 GUNS.--Fleurus 650, Ulm 650, Dugay-Etains 650,
Annibal 650, Eyleau 650, Prince Jerome 650, Navarin 650,
Austerlitz 650, Wagram 650, Massena 650.

SHIPS OF 90 GUNS.--Inflexible 450, Dugueschin 450, Donnawerth 600,
Fontenoy 600, Charlemagne 450, Duquesne 450, Tourville 450,
Alexandre 600, Jean-Bart 450.

STEAM VESSELS.

SHIPS OF 90 GUNS, 960 HORSE POWER.--Napoleon, Imperiel, Algesiras.

FRIGATES OF 650 HORSE POWER.--Mogador, Isly.

FRIGATES OF 540 HORSE POWER.--Descartes, Vauban.

FRIGATES OF 450 HORSE POWER.--Gomer, Asmodee, Labrador, Magellan,
Montezuma, Cacique, Panama, Eldorado, Pomone, Albatros, Sane,
Orenoque, Ch. Columb, Canada, Ulloa, Darien, Caffarelli.

MIXED FRIGATES--(New Construction.)

800 HORSE POWER, 50 GUNS.--Imperatrice Eugenie, Indomitable,
Foudre, Audacieuse.

CORVETTES OF 400 HORSE POWER.--Infernal, Reine Hortense,
Bertholet, Catinat, Rolland, Phlegeton, Laplace, Primaugnet,
Dassas.

CORVETTES OF 320 HORSE POWER.--Prony, Caton, Colbert.

CORVETTES OF 300 HORSE POWER.--Patriote, Eumenide, Gorgone,
Tanger, Coligny, Tisiphone.

CORVETTES OF 220 HORSE POWER.--Espadon, Veloce, Lavoisier,
Cameleon, Gassendi, Pluton, Archimede, Duchayla, Phoque, Elan,
Caiman, Titan, Cassini, Chaptal, Newton.

ADVICE VESSELS.

OF 200 HORSE POWER.--Monette, Heron, Laborieux, Eclaireur, Phenix,
Lucifer, Biche, Goeland, Promethee, Souffleur, Milan, Aigle,
Megere, Sentinelle.

OF 180 HORSE POWER.--Petrel, Reguin, Epervier, Dauphin.

OF 160 HORSE POWER.--Ardent, Crocodile, Phare, Fulton, Meteore,
Chimere, Vantour, Styx, Acheron, Cerbere, Tartare, Phaeton, Cocyte,
Tonnerre, Gregois, Grondeur, Euphrate, Tenare, Australie, Narval,
Bruddon, Solon, Etna, Sesostris.

OF 120 HORSE POWER.--Castor, Brazier, Flambeau, Vedette,
Passe-Partout, Pelican, Ramier, Salamandre, Ariel, Daim, Flambart,
Marceau.

OF 100 HORSE POWER.--Anacreon, Averne, Tantale, Galilee.

OF 80 HORSE POWER.--Galibi, Voyageur, Marabout, Alecton, Rubis,
Eperlan.

OF 60 HORSE POWER.--Antilope, Chacul, Liamone, Var.

OF 40 HORSE POWER.--Grand-Bassam, Ebrie.

OF 30 HORSE POWER.--Basilic, Serpent, Pinogouin, Guet n'Dar.

OF 20 HORSE POWER.--Oyapock, Acbar.

FLOATING BATTERIES.

Devastation, Lave, Tonnate, Foudroyante.

GUN BOATS.

Stridente, Mitraille, Etincelle, Bombe, Eclair, Flamme, Alarme,
Coulevaine, Doilleuse, Alerte, Meurtriere, Bourasque, Raffale,
Fusee, Foudre, Fleche, Grenade, Mutine, Tourmente.

MIXED TRANSPORTS.

Ariege, Adour, Durance, Loiret, Gironde, Marne, Aube, Rhin,
Charente, Nievre, Rhone, Tarn, Mosselle, Yonne, Saone, Loire,
Isere, Dordogne, Allier, Meurthe, Finestere, Meuse, Oise, Somme,
Garone.

GENERAL RECAPITULATION.

SAILING VESSELS.

Guns.
31 ships of all sizes, mounting an aggregate of 2,866
61 frigates do do 3,028
49 corvettes do do 1,024
57 brigs do do 1,006
14 corvettes de charge do do 448
28 sloops do do 444
38 schooners do do 228
33 cutters do do 132
--- -----
317 sailing vessels, carrying a grand aggregate of 9,176

STEAM VESSELS.

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