Report of the Naval Committee to the House of Representatives August, 1850
REPORT OF THE NAVAL COMMITTEE TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, August, 1850, IN FAVOR OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A LINE OF MAIL STEAMSHIPS TO THE WESTERN COAST OF AFRICA, AND THENCE VIA THE MEDITERRANEAN TO LONDON; DESIGNED TO PROMOTE THE EMIGRATION OF FREE PERSONS OF COLOR FROM THE UNITED STATES TO LIBERIA: ALSO TO INCREASE THE STEAM NAVY, AND TO EXTEND THE COMMERCE OF THE UNITED STATES.
WITH AN APPENDIX ADDED BY THE AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY.
WASHINGTON: PRINTED BY GIDEON AND CO. 1850.
The memorial of Judge Bryan was referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs, composed of Representatives from the following States:
Fred. P. Stanton, Tenn. Thos. S. Bocock, Va. Robert C. Schenck, Ohio. Emile La Sere, La. Hugh White, N. Y. Elbridge Gerry, Me. E. Carrington Cabell, Fla. John McQueen, S. C. Lewis C. Levin, Pa.
The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the memorial of Joseph Bryan, of Alabama, for himself and his associates, George Nicholas Sanders and others, praying the establishment of a line of steamers from the United States to the coast of Africa, designed to promote the colonization of free persons of color, to suppress the African slave trade, to carry the mails, and to extend the commerce of the United States, beg leave to submit the following Report:
The proposition of the memorial involves an extension of that system, recently commenced by Congress, which has for its object the creation of a powerful steam navy, to be used in time of peace in carrying the mails, and in effecting great public objects, not to be attained by private enterprise without the aid of Congress. How far it may be desirable to extend this system will depend upon the double consideration of the present condition of our naval force, and the importance and feasibility of the ends to be accomplished by the measure. As to the first of these, the committee will present a brief statement of the facts material to a correct understanding of the comparative extent of our present steam navy.
In the report of Mr. Secretary Bancroft, made to the Senate on the 2d March, 1846, the total effective steam navy of Great Britain was stated, at that time, to consist of one hundred and ninety-nine vessels, of all classes; that of France numbered fifty-four; that of Russia, without the Caspian fleet, thirty-two; while the steam navy of the United States could boast of but six small vessels, and one in process of building; and of these one was for harbor defence, and another a steam-tug.
Since that time, however, Congress has provided for the building of four war steamers, and for the establishment of several lines of steamships engaged in carrying the mails, consisting of seventeen large vessels, suitable for war purposes, and at all times liable to be taken for the public service. Of these latter, nine will run between New York and European ports; five between New York and Chagres; and three between Panama and San Francisco.
Notwithstanding this increase in our force, it has by no means kept pace with that of other great commercial nations. The American Almanac for the present year estimates the steam navy of France at sixty-four steam vessels of war, besides a reserved force of ten steam frigates now ready, and six corvettes and six small vessels nearly ready. The French Government has also resolved to follow the example of England in establishing lines of steamers, built so as to be easily converted into ships of war, to be employed in commerce and for carrying mails, but being at all times subject to the requisition of the Government.
England, also, has added largely to her steam navy, and has increased her lines of mail steamers, giving evidence that she, at least, considers this the best and cheapest mode of providing in time of peace for the exigences of war. On this subject the committee refer to the following facts, for which they are indebted to the remarks of the Hon. T. Butler King, of Georgia, made in the House of Representatives, February 19, 1848.
By act of Parliament, 7 William IV, chap. 3, all previous contracts entered into for the conveyance of the mails by sea were transferred to the Admiralty. In the year 1839, the idea was conceived that the vast expenditures required in naval armaments might be made subservient to the purposes of commerce in time of peace. Accordingly, a contract was entered into with Mr. Cunard and his associates, for the conveyance of the mails from Liverpool, via Halifax, to Boston, in five steamers of the first class, for £85,000, or about $425,000 per annum. It was stipulated that they should be built under the supervision of the Admiralty, should be inspected on being received into the service, and certified to be capable in all respects of being converted into ships of war, and of carrying ordnance of the heaviest description. Various stipulations were entered into in this and other contracts of a similar character, which placed these ships under the control of the Government; thus, in fact, making them, to all intents and purposes, at the same time a part of the mercantile and military marine of the country.
In 1846, the Government enlarged the contract with Mr. Cunard and his associates, by adding four ships to run from Liverpool to New York, and increased the compensation to £145,000, or about $725,000 per annum.
In the year 1840, a contract was made by the Admiralty with the Royal Mail Steamship Company, at £240,000 sterling, or $1,200,000 per annum, for fourteen steamers to carry the mails from Southampton to the West Indies, the ports of Mexico on the Gulf, and to New Orleans, Mobile, Savannah, and Charleston. These ships are of the first class, and are to conform in all respects, concerning size and adaptation to the purposes of war, to the conditions prescribed in the Cunard contracts. They are to make twenty-four voyages a year, leaving and returning to Southampton semi-monthly. Another contract has lately been entered into for two ships to run between Bermuda and New York. These lines employ twenty-five steamers of the largest and most efficient description.
In addition to the above, a contract was made, 1st January, 1845, with the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company for a line of similar steamers, seven in number, from England to the East Indies and China, at £160,000 sterling, or $800,000 per annum. This line passes from Southampton, via Gibraltar and Malta, to Alexandria, in Egypt; thence the route continues overland to Suez, at the head of the Red Sea, from whence the steamers again start, touching at Aden, Bombay, and at Point de Galle, in the island of Ceylon, from whence they proceed to Singapore and Hong Kong. There is a branch line connecting with this, from Point de Galle to Calcutta, touching at Madras.
A contract was made, 1st July, 1846, for a Pacific line of British steamers, four in number, running from Valparaiso to Panama, touching at intermediate ports. This line connects overland, from Panama to Chagres, with the West India line.
Besides these, there were, in 1848, twelve more lines of Government steamers running between Great Britain and the continent of Europe; making a grand aggregate of one hundred and fifteen ocean steamships fitted for war purposes. Very recently the British Parliament has resolved to extend the mail steamship system to Australia.
The committee do not propose that our Government shall attempt to emulate this vast network of steam navigation, with which England has already encompassed the globe. But it is believed that the recent increase of our territory, on the Pacific and in the Gulf of Mexico, forms an additional reason for a considerable augmentation of our steam navy, whether by a direct addition to the navy proper, or by the encouragement of lines of steam packets, to be established by private enterprise under the auspices of Government. If the latter system should be adopted, as already commenced, the ships will be built under the inspection of a Government officer, at the expense of private individuals; they will be commanded by officers in the navy, and will be at all times available for the public service. It will be the interest of the contractors to adopt, from time to time, all the improvements which may be made in machinery and in the means of propulsion, and the ships will be kept in good repair. Besides being commanded by a naval officer, each ship will carry a sufficient number of midshipmen for watch officers, and thus a very considerable portion of the personnel of the service will be kept actively employed, with the opportunity of acquiring the knowledge and skill requisite to the proper management of a steam navy. A corps of trained engineers and firemen will be attached to each ship, and no doubt these would generally remain with her when the ship should be called into the public service.
The committee are of opinion that it is highly desirable to have ready for the public service some very large steamships of the description proposed by the memorialist. They would have great advantages over small ships, in their capacity to carry fuel sufficient for long voyages, and to transport large bodies of troops, and place them rapidly, in a fresh and vigorous condition, at any point where they might be required.
But it is chiefly for the great and beneficent objects of removing the free persons of color from this country to the coast of Africa, and of suppressing the slave trade, that the committee are disposed to recommend the adoption of the proposed measure. The latter of these has been the subject of treaties by our Government with other nations, with whom we have engaged to maintain a large naval force on the coast of Africa to assist in suppressing the inhuman traffic; while the emigration of the free blacks has long been an object of great interest in all parts of the country, and especially in the slaveholding States, where they are looked upon by the whites with aversion and distrust. The policy of all or most of these States has been to discourage manumission, except on condition of the removal of the liberated slave. In no part of the Union do the free blacks enjoy an equality of political and social privileges; and in all the States their presence is neither agreeable to the whites, nor is their condition advantageous to themselves. In some of the slave States stringent prohibitions have been adopted, and unpleasant controversies with free States have been thereby engendered. The emigration of this entire population beyond the limits of our country is the only effectual mode of curing these evils, and of removing one cause of dangerous irritation between the different sections of the Union.
The committee believe it is expedient to aid private enterprize in the colonization of the western coast of Africa, because it is the most effectual, if not the only mode, of extirpating the slave trade. The success of this measure will doubtless render the African squadron wholly unnecessary, thus reimbursing a large portion of the expense attending it, and at the same time better accomplishing the object for which that squadron is maintained. It may be expedient for some one of the great naval powers to keep a small force on the coast of Africa to protect Liberia, for a limited time, against the slave traders. But the attempt to suppress this unlawful traffic by blockading the coast has so signally failed that it will probably soon be abandoned by the great European powers. While the influence of the Republic of Liberia has been shown in the complete suppression of the trade along a coast of several hundred miles in length, the combined squadrons of Europe and America have not been so successful on other portions of that unhappy shore. In 1847 no less than 84,356 slaves were exported from Africa to Cuba and Brazil. In the opinion of the committee, it is highly important to prevent the further Africanizing of the American continents. An opposite movement, so far as the free blacks are concerned, is far more in accordance with the spirit of the age, and with the best interests of all American Governments. The people of the United States have shown their strong aversion to the slave trade by the provision in their Constitution against it, and by their unremitting and vigorous efforts to suppress it. The success which has already crowned the infancy of Liberia, indicates the true mode of making those exertions effectual, while it opens up the way for restoring the free blacks to the native land of their fathers.
