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13th Congress.]

No. 128.

[3d Session.

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
per
month.

Amount
of
pay
per
annum.

Rations
per
day.

Number
of
Rations
per
annum.

Price
of
Rations.

Amount
of
Rations.

Amount
of
pay
and
Rations.

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