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pared, probably indicate the direction in which further explorations shall be made by parties organized to take the field next spring, as early as the season will permit.

I refer to the report of Captain Meigs, of the corps of engineers, the officer in charge of the Capitol extension, for a very satisfactory account of the progress of that work. The exterior facing of the walls has been retarded by the difficulty of obtaining, under the contract, a sufficient supply of marble; but the brick work is well advanced. The walls of the Senate chamber and Representatives' hall are finished, and these rooms will be placed under roof during the present winter. It is expected that they will be completed by the meeting of the next Congress; but the delay in the supply of marble may so retard the completion of the outer walls, and the corridors depending thereon, as to prevent their being occupied so early.

The style of the work, both in finish and strength, has been of a higher standard than was contemplated when the estimates were made; but the administrative capacity and professional skill of the officer in charge have so kept down the expenditures, that it is believed the cost will not exceed the estimates made for an inferior building.

The modifications made in the interior plan of the structure are now so far completed as to be seen and easily understood; and I feel additional assurance as to the successful solution of the difficult problems of acoustics, optics, and ventilation, presented especially in the construction of the Hall of Representatives.

Operations on the work designed to supply this city with water have been suspended for want of funds. It is hoped that appropriations will no longer be withheld from this important work. I have seen no reason to change the opinion that it was judiciously planned and located. My confidence is strengthened that it will be completed at a cost within the estimate, and will secure the object in view with more certainty, and—taking into view the permanence of the work, its capacity to supply future wants, and the absence of machinery, entailing annual expense-more economically, than any other mode that has been suggested.

By the civil and diplomatic appropriation act, approved August 4, 1854, this department was authorized to purchase, for $200,000, the large fire-proof building at the corner of F and Seventeenth streets, which has long been occupied in common by bureaus of the Treasury, Interior, Navy, and War Departments. The lease under which it was held expired on the 30th of June, and the owner, who had given the

department due notice, refused to renew it for a less rent than $30,000 per annum, which Congress had refused to appropriate. A thorough survey of the building was made by competent engineers and builders, who estimated its value, in its actual condition, at $197,042, $197,997, and $198,342, respectively, and, after some negotiation, the owner agreed to accept the amount of the appropriation in payment for the building and in satisfaction of all claims for damages, and also for arrears of rent accrued since the termination of the lease-nearly three months--which could not be paid, as the act was regarded as making an appropriation either for purchase or rent, but not for both.

It is true the plan of the building was not considered as the best adapted for public offices, but Congress had refused to allow the rent demanded by the owner, and had thus left the department no alternative but to purchase or vacate it. Between these conditions there was scarcely a choice. Accommodations elsewhere could not be procured without much difficulty, and I should have felt great reluctance to place in insecure buildings the valuable records stored there, some of which, if destroyed by fire, could not be replaced at a cost less than the price of the building, while others could not be replaced at all. The purchase was therefore concluded upon the terms stated. I have submitted an estimate for repairs and improvements sufficient to put the building in proper condition. Much of the repairs now proposed would have been equally necessary had the government vacated the building, instead of purchasing, as the lease provided that the building should be restored in a good state of repair. The cost of the additional improvements will hardly exceed the amount of the rent that was released in the contract of purchase.

It is hardly necessary to remark that the purchase of this. building in no degree obviates the necessity heretofore frequently presented, of replacing the building assigned for the use of this department with a fire-proof structure.

The accompanying reports of the Commanding General of the army and the chiefs of the several branches of the military service contain full and exact information in relation to the duties with which they are respectively charged. To these I refer for such details as could not be embraced in this report.

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, JEFFERSON DAVIS, Secretary of War.

To the PRESIDENT of the United States.

IV. THE NAVY.

REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY.

NAVY DEPARTMENT,
December 4, 1854.

SIR: In the annual report from the Navy Department, which I now have the honor to present, I have taken the liberty, in addition to the usual statement of the operations of the squadrons and the general condition of the service, and the public property, to recommend a still further gradual increase of the navy, and to express frankly, my views of the great importance of its reorganization, and the enactment of new regulations for the discipline and improvement of seamen. If they are urged with seeming pertinacity, my only apology is, a deep interest in the magnitude of the subject, and a conviction of the necessity of legislative interposition.

Squadrons.-The vessels composing the home squadron are, the frigate Columbia, the flag-ship, Commander S. B. Wilson; the sloops-of-war Albany, Commander J. T. Gerry; Falmouth, Commander T. D. Shaw; and the steamers Princeton, Commander Henry Eagle; and Fulton, Lieutenant Commanding J. K. Mitchell. Commodore J. T. Newton still commands this squadron. The cruising of the vessels of the squadron has been principally among the West India Islands and along the coasts bordering on the Caribbean sea and the Gulf of Mexico.

The Columbia returned to Norfolk, in obedience to orders from the department, and on the 28th June sailed, under instructions to Commodore Newton, on special duty to St. Domingo. Having thoroughly surveyed the bay of Samana and ascertained its depth and character, and examined the localities in its vicinity with reference to fitness for a convenient depot for naval purposes, the Columbia returned to Pensacola, and is now under orders to proceed to San Juan de Nicaragua, conveying to that point Mr. Wheeler, United States Minister resident to Nicaragua, and Mr. Marlin, United States Minister resident to Guatemala. The Princeton, Commander Eagle, sailed from Norfolk on the 31st of October for Pensacola, and will proceed on her cruise as a part of the home squadron. The Albany, Com

mander Gerry, in pursuance of the orders of the commodore, has been actively cruising during the entire year, having visited, among other ports, those of Samana, Sisal, St. Thomas, Laguyra, Curacçoa, Carthagenia, Aspinwall, San Juan, Port Royal, and St. Jago de Cuba. She has done good service, and Commander Gerry and his officers merit the approbation of the department, as I have reason to know that the appearance of our flag at those ports, and the bearing of the officers, contributed much to the encouragement and protection of our citizens engaged in commercial transactions in those regions.

The last official intelligence received from the Albany was on the 28th of September from Aspinwall, informing the department that on the ensuing day she would sail for New York. There is no doubt of her having put to sea at the time mentioned. Much time having elapsed and no tidings of her having been received, it is but natural that painful anxiety should be felt touching her fate. The prevalent opinion is, that she has sustained serious injuries from encountering storms recently prevalent in her course homeward, and that she has put into some port for repairs. With a view of obtaining information and affording relief, the steamer Princeton left Pensacola some days ago in search of the Albany. The department still entertains the opinion that she is safe.

The Fulton, which until the 24th of April was under the command of Lieutenant James M. Watson, was in useful service, and having visited many of the ports of the West Indies, returned to the United States. On the 17th May she left Norfolk under the command of Lieutenant Mitchell, conveying to the port of Vera Cruz the Hon. Mr. Gadsden, our minister to Mexico, and bearer of the treaty recently concluded between the United States and Mexico, where she remained until the treaty was ratified, and with it returned to the port of Washington, where she has since been necessarily detained, and is now ready for service.

The practicability of inter-oceanic communication by the construction of a ship canal across the isthmus of Darien, between Caledonia bay and the Caribbean sea and the Gulf of San Miguel, on the Pacific, has long been a subject of much speculation and controversy among men of science and learning. The magnitude of the work, and wonderful influence which its successful accomplishment might exert upon the commerce of the world, and more especially upon the intercourse between our Atlantic and Pacific possessions, induced the department, with your approbation, to accept the

services of an accomplished and enterprizing officer of the navy, Lieutenant I. G. Strain, who volunteered to undertake the exploration. The Caribbean sea being embraced within the limits assigned as a cruising ground for the home squadron, the department concluded that the Cyane, Commander Hollins, might with great propriety, cruise in that region, take proper soundings at Caledonia bay, and at the same time, with but little additional expense, convey any party that might volunteer to engage in the arduous and interesting exploration. Passed Midshipman Truxton, First Assistant Engineer, J. M. Maury, Midshipman H. M. Garland, and a few civilians, and seamen from the crew of the Cyane, also volunteered to embark in the adventure. The permission of the New Grenadian government having been cheerfully given, the Cyane sailed from Philadelphia in December last, and arrived at Porto Escoces, on Caledonia bay, on the 17th of January. The party were landed, and proceeded to execute the special duty assigned. They succeeded in crossing the isthmus, and returning, after encountering sufferings and hardships, and exhibiting powers of endurance, a spirit of enterprize, and a generous devotion to duty, eminently creditable to them as officers, and honorable to them as men. A few of the seamen and civilians were unable to bear up under their trying exposure, and expired. The Cyane returned with the party to New York. I refer you, however, for a more particular recital of the details of the expedition, to the interesting report of Lieutenant Strain which accompanies this communication, from which you will perceive that he is very decidedly of opinion that the work . is totally impracticable; and this, I apprehend, settles the question forever.

It is proper that I should remark that the officers of her Britannic Majesty's ship Virago, on the Pacific, were prompt and generous in extending timely relief to the suffering party, and that a proper appreciation of it has been. officially communicated to her Britannic Majesty's gov

ernment.

Intelligence having been received that the property of American citizens had been improperly detained by the people of San Juan de Nicaragua; that our minister to Central America, Hon. Mr. Borland, had been treated with rudeness and disrespect, and that the interests of our countrymen required the immediate presence of a man-of-war in that neighborhood, the Cyane, being the most available vessel for that purpose, in obedience to instructions from the department, put to sea again on the 19th of June.

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