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No. 128. [3d Session.
13th Congress.]
EXPLANATIONS OF THE ESTIMATES FOR THE SUPPORT OF THE NAVY AND MARINE CORPS, FOR THE YEAR 1815.
COMMUNICATED TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, FEBRUARY 10, 1815.
Washington, February 6, 1815.
Sir:
On an examination of the estimates from the Navy Department, for the year 1815, there appears to be an increase of expenditure proposed of $1,951,908 50, under the following heads, viz:
Increase. |
|
Pay and subsistence of the navy, |
$680,283 50 |
Ordnance, |
400,000 00 |
Navy yards, |
60,000 00 |
Contingent account, |
600,000 00 |
Marine corps, pay, and subsistence, |
206,625 00 |
Clothing, per ditto, |
5,000 00 |
$1,951,908 50 |
I am instructed by the Committee of Ways and Means to apply to you for such information as may enable them to decide on the propriety of authorizing the proposed increase of expenditure.
I have the honor to be, your most obedient,
JOHN W. EPPES.
Hon. B. W. Crowninshield, Secretary of the Navy.
Navy Department, February 8, 1815.
Sir:
I have had the honor to receive your letter of the 6th instant, requiring information respecting a proposed increase of expenditure, under the following heads of appropriation, viz:
Pay and subsistence of the navy,
Ordnance,
Navy yards,
Contingent account,
Pay of the marine corps, and
Clothing for ditto.
In reply to which, I beg leave respectfully to state that the estimates for the navy, for the year 1815, were predicated upon the actual number of officers, petty officers, seamen, ordinary seamen, and boys, required for the service, forming an aggregate of fifteen thousand two hundred, agreeably to the accompanying exhibit, marked A, showing the various grades, the number of each, and the amount of pay and extra rations. The distribution of this force will probably be in the manner following:
In sea service, |
4,000 00 |
On Lake Ontario, |
4,300 00 |
On Lake Champlain, |
1,100 00 |
On Lake Erie, |
600 00 |
Flotilla service, |
5,200 00 |
15,200 00 |
It being found impracticable to procure boatswains gunners, carpenters, sailmakers, and master's mates, possessing the requisite qualifications, particularly for the service on the ocean and the lakes, for the compensation of twenty dollars per month, heretofore allowed, it has been deemed expedient to provide for the augmentation of the pay of this valuable class of officers twenty-five per centum, making the monthly pay of each, hereafter, twenty-five dollars.
A similar augmentation of pay for seamen, ordinary seamen, and boys, has become of vital importance, as, without such a provision, it would be excessively difficult, if not impossible, to. recruit a force adequate to the public exigence. The powerful inducement of a large bounty offered in the army; the encouragement and high wages given by private armed vessels; the enhanced price of clothing, which, in the naval service, is charged to the seamen; and the hopeless prospect of prize money, owing to the general destruction of captured property, combine to produce a state of things extremely inauspicious to the recruiting service.
These observations are intended to explain the proposed increase, so far as it relates to the pay and. subsistence of the navy.
With respect to the other items, embraced by your inquiry, ordnance, navy yards, and contingent account, the sum introduced for these objects into the estimates for the present year, is, notwithstanding the apparent increase, the same, very nearly, as the actual expenditure under those respective heads during the year 1814; and it is believed that an appropriation, for these purposes, of less amount, would be injurious to the public interest, as the Department, deprived of a sufficiency of means, would be liable to have its best directed efforts rendered abortive, from its incapacity to impart efficacy to the naval operations. To avoid the exposure to the enemy, which a discussion might develop, of the extent of the preparations contemplated on the lakes, the sum of one million of dollars, necessary for that purpose, was blended under the following heads of appropriation, and in these proportions, viz:
Under ordnance, |
$300,000 00 |
Under contingent account, |
400,000 00 |
Under repairs of vessels, |
300,000 00 |
$1,000,000 00 |
This course was deemed preferable to a specific appropriation for building vessels on the lakes, and the views of the Department, on this subject, were intended to have been disclosed to the honorable Committee of Ways and Means. The heads of appropriation, which would appear to have been increased, will, after the sum merged in. each shall have been withdrawn, show the amount estimated for the service of the current year to be as follows:
Pay and subsistence of the navy, as per annexed exhibit, A, |
$3,259,624 |
50 |
Ordnance, |
400,000 |
00 |
Navy yards, |
160,000 |
00 |
Contingent account, |
700,000 |
00 |
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Although the estimates for the three last mentioned items were, for the year 1814, for considerably less sums, yet it became indispensable to have recourse to the President of the United States, as the operations of the year progressed, to direct the increase of these heads of expenditure to the extent required for the present year, by transferring to them moneys appropriated for other branches of the service.
Relative to the proposed increase on account of the pay and clothing of the marine corps, it may be proper to observe that the sum estimated for the pay and clothing of that force, for the year 1814, was two hundred and twenty-eight thousand two hundred and thirty-two dollars and ten cents; and that proposed, for the same objects, during the current year, is three hundred and sixteen thousand ninety-one dollars and fifty cents, making a difference of eighty-seven thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine dollars and forty cents, which, it is presumed, will be considered a moderate increase, when viewed in connexion with the act of Congress, passed on the 16th day of April, 1814, authorizing the augmentation, of the corps of marines, by the appointment and enlistment of eight hundred and forty-six officers and men.
I have the honor to be, very, respectfully, sir, your obedient servant,
B. W. CROWNINSHIELD.
Honorable John W. Eppes,
Chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means.
A.
Estimate of the Pay and Rations of the Officers and Seamen of the Navy of the United Slates, (including theFlotilla service) for the year 1815.
Pay |
Amount |
Rations |
Number |
Price |
Amount |
Amount |
|
30 Captains, |
$100 |
36,000 |
7 |
76,650 |
25 cts. |
$19,162 50 |
$55,162 50 |
25 Masters Commandant, |
60 |
18,000 |
4 |
36,500 |
do |
9,125 00 |
27,125 00 |
141 Lieutenants, |
40 |
67,680 |
2 |
102,930 |
do |
25,732 50 |
93,412 50 |
24 Lieutenants Commandant, |
50 |
14,400 |
3 |
26,280 |
do |
6,570 00 |
20,970 00 |
510 Midshipmen, |
19 |
116,280 |
116,280 00 |
||||
230 Sailingmasters, |
40 |
110,400 |
1 |
83,950 |
do |
20,987 50 |
131,387 50 |
50 Surgeons, |
50 |
30,000 |
1 |
18,250 |
do |
4,562 50 |
34,562 50 |
12 Chaplains, |
40 |
5,760 |
1 |
4,380 |
do |
1,095 00 |
6,855 00 |
50 Pursers, |
40 |
24,000 |
1 |
18,250 |
do |
4,562 50 |
28,562 50 |
10 Coast Pilots, |
40 |
4,800 |
1 |
3,650 |
do |
912 50 |
5,712 50 |
45 Captain's clerks, |
25 |
13,500 |
1 |
13,500 00 |
|||
80 Surgeon's mates, |
30 |
28,800 |
1 |
29,200 |
do |
7,300 00 |
36,100 00 |
220 Boatswains, |
25 |
159,000 |
193,450 |
do |
48,362 50 |
207,362 50 |
|
220 Gunners, |
|||||||
45 Carpenters, |
|||||||
45 Sailmakers, |
|||||||
530 |
|||||||
240 Master's mates, |
25 |
72,000 |
72,000 00 |
||||
96 Boatswain's mates, |
19 |
61,104 |
61,104 00 |
||||
96 Gunner's mates, |
|||||||
56 Carpenter's mates, |
|||||||
20 Sailmaker's mates, |
|||||||
268 |
|||||||
220 Quarter gunners, |
18 |
238,896 |
238,896 00 |
||||
180 Quartermasters, |
|||||||
45 Masters-at-arms, |
|||||||
45 Armorers, |
|||||||
96 Yeomen, |
|||||||
40 Coxswains, |
|||||||
20 Coopers, |
|||||||
20 Ship's Corporals, |
|||||||
220 Stewards, |
|||||||
220 Cooks, |
|||||||
l,106 |
|||||||
5,000 Able seamen, |
16 |
960,000 |
960,000 00 |
||||
6,849 Ordinary seamen and boys, |
14 |
1,150,632 |
1,150,632 00 |
||||
15,200 |
$3,259,624 50 |