Mr. FOSTER. The condition of our Navy at the commencement of this war was probably not chargeable to any lack of accommo dation in the navy yard at the city of Philadel phia. If that navy yard had been ten times as great as it was I doubt whether the condition of our Navy would have been any more effective than it chanced to be when the rebellion broke out. If the SecyNavy for 4 years or 6 years has been constantly complaining about the small size of the navy i. at Philadelphia I have not happened to ear it. It is true that he has made recommendations in regard to a change of the navy yard there to League Island, and there is something a little remarkable in the pertinacity with which the SecyNavy has urged upon Congress from time to time the propriety of making League Island a naval station. It has been on the ground that we required some more accommodation than we now have for our iron clad vessels; that for the purposes of protection and Preservation we required dif. erent and additional accommodations in the way of a naval depot for our iron vessels, which, previous to the introduction of those vessels, into our Navy, we had not required, but which afterward became a necessity. On that ground, as I understand, the honorable i.o.o. the Navy has urged the acceptance of League 1.3 by the Congress of the U.S., because that could be made, in his judgment, a proper station for iron clad vessels, not because the navy yard at Philadelphia needed any particular change or enlargement, only that we required a different arrangement for our iron clads from what we formerly had required for our wooden ships. ere, perhaps, as well as anywhere else, I may say that I think it a little strange that after the SecyNavy had appointed a commission of his own selection, under the authority of Congress, to examine this locality and he had been favored, with the report of that board of officers condemning it in terms as an ineligible location, he was still as eager and as persistent in urging upon Congress the adoption of his former plan as before this report had shown how utterly unfit this place was for the purposes contemplated. The honorable Senfrom Indiana, in quoting from one of the reports of the SecyNavy, if I mistake not the report of December 4, 1865, quoted the Secretary as saying that this board of officers appointed by him, though they differed as it respected other points in connection with League Island, agreed in this, that League Island was a fit and proper place for an iron clad navy yard. It would puzzle anybody but the SecyNavy to find any such agreement as that in the report of of that board officers. The honorable Senfrom Indiana, astute as he is, aided by the astuteness of the honorable Senfrom Iowa, will not be able to find any such statement in the report. I have the report before me and I will read the closing paragraph, from which it will be seen whether they agree to such a state of facts as the honorable Senfrom Indiana quoted the SecyNavy as saying was true. I read from this report, as contained in the letter of the SecyNavy communicating, in answer to a resolution of the Senate, the majority and minority reports of the board of officers appointed under the act, approved July 15, 1862, entitled “An act to authorize the SecyNavy to accept the title to League Island, in the Delaware river, for naval purposes.” I read from the 9th page of that report: “The board is aware of theimportance of the advantages which League Island possessesover the harbor of NewLondon in the immensesupplies of iron and coal which can, without question, be delivered at that point at cheaperrates than at any other site exannined, and also of the fact that the fresh water of the Delaware river would be very advantageous to the bottomsof iron vessels. Still, in view of the very great expensethat must necessarily be incurred in filling up this island before it can be of practical use for a nayy yard, the probability that a large annual appropriation will be required for maintaining a sufficient depth of water at the island by dredging, the great cost of pile foundations for everystructure required in the yard, the danger from drift ice, and in view of the many advantagespossessedby the harbor of NewLondon over League Island, the board, after a very careful examination of all the points under consideration and mature deliberation, is of the opinion that the advantagesof a more abundant supply of coal and iron at League Island, and at cheaper rates, together with the advantages of fresh water, are morethan balanced by the superior advantages possessedby NewLondon in other respects; and therefore “Resolved, That in the opinion of the board the public interests will not be promoted by acquiring the title to League Island for naval purposes. Reso?oc?. That the harbor of NewLondonpossesses greateradvantagesfor a navy yard and naval depot than anyother location examined by the board.” That was signed by S. H. Stringham, presiding officer; W. H. Gardner, commodore; G. J. Van Brunt, commodore; and W. P. S. Sanger, engineer. If there is anything in that which shows that the board agreed that League Island was the fit and proper place for a navy yard for iron clads, though they disagreed on other points, I should be glad to have gentlemen explain how they extract that fact from the report. The SecyNavy is quite authorized to make recommendations to Congress in regard to navy yards, and it is the duty of Congress to consider those recommendations, giving them all the weight to which they are entitled; but when it turns out that the SecyNavy appoints a board of most compe tent, intelligent officers to sites, examine various and the examination is made and a partic: ular locality is by them condemned as unfit and ineligible, I say that the continued recommendation by a SecyNavy of the same site, under those circumstances, is notentitled either to weight or to respect, especially when it is admitted that the SecyNavy is not a nautical man, and has and can have no other skill and knowledge on the subject except what he derives from those around him who are skilled, intelligent, and able to form and exPress opinions. Who has inspired the SecyNavy with this opinion I undertake not to say. The honorable Senfrom Indiana read from a pamphlet in which he quoted a letter from the Asst SecyNavy, Mr. Fox. That pamphlet by his courtesy I have been enabled to look at, and I see that it purports to have been written “by a NewEngland man.” I shall be obliged to the Senator if he is willing to say if he knows who the author of that pamphlet is?