Mr. GRIMES. Mr. President, a few years ago, when this subject was under consideration, I exPressed at considerable length the opinions I entertain upon it, and I am aware that if I were to attempt to do so again I should simply repeat what I, then said. I shall, therefore content myself on this occasion with a very brief statement of the case, as I understand it. The Senfrom Connecticut commenced his address to the Senate by exPressing his extreme surprise that the ComNavAffrs had reported so important, a measure as this without accompanying the bill with a written report. This question has been before the Senate for 4 or 5 years. I supposed there was hardly anyone who was not pretty familiar with its merits, and who had not already in a great degree made up his mind on the subject. Reports have been made in the HoRep for and against this measure. I wish the Senator to remember that, although he read from an adverse report made by the Naval Committee of the House, yet, at a subsequent session, that committee, composed I think of 7 of the same members who constituted the committee that made the report from which he has read, reported the identical bill which is now under consideration in the Senate. But if he was surprised at the Senate ComNavAffrs reporting this bill without accompanying it with a written report, after the discussions that have been had in the Senate, after we had been enlightened by the eloquence and astuteness of the Senator himself in opposition to League Island, I should think it much more remarkable that we should be called upon now to vote for the amendment proposed by the Senfrom Massachusetts without any basis upon which to predicate it. What is this amendment of the Senfrom Massachusetts which we are now called upon 1st to vote on? That Admiral David G. Farragut, Lieutenant general W. T. Sherman and Mr. J. E. Hilgard be, and they are hereby, appointed and constituted a commission to select a suitable site on or adjacent to the Atlantic coastfor a repair naval station for the storageand and building of iron vesselsand iron clad vesselsof the Navy, and for othernaval purposes. And the SecyNavy is herebyauthorized and eunpowered to acceptsuch selectedsite on behalf of the U.S.: Provided, The same shall beconveyed to the U.S. as a free gift, for their, exclusive useand benefit, by a valid and indefeasible title. And the SecyNavy is hereby further authorized to take possession of and occupy such site for the purposeshereinindicated, and in preparation the thereof to usesuch amount of moneyas may be necessaryout of any unexpendedappropriations for the Navy, It is not for me to suggest that such a proposition as this does not evince the highest degree of statesmanship; I am not authorized to say that it is not the wisest thing we could do; but I am prepared to say that it is the most extraordinary proposition that has ever come under the consideration of the Senate since I have been a member of this body. What does it propose? 1st, to select 3 men as commissioners, only one of whom confessedly knows anything about nautical matters. perhaps neither one of the other 2 has ever been within a navy yard, or has ever read or informed himself in regard to the necessities of the naval service. These 3 men are to be authorized to select a site on or adjacent to the Atlantic coast, without specifying the number of acres that shall be required, but simply such a site as in their opinion may be suitable for naval purposes; and then the amendment W. to authorize the SecyNavy to expend an unlimited amount of money in preparing for a navy yard such a site as these men may select. Mr. President, I do not suppose the Senfrom Massachusetts will claim a patent for this as a specimen of legislation made easy. Was there ever a case where Congress submitted such extraordinary authority to 2 men who were not all familiar with the subject they were directed to investigate, and then gave the head of a Dept unlimited control over the Treasury of the U.S.? And to do what? To establish, if they choose, a new yard when the public service does not require one. Who has recommended a new yard? Nobody. Nor will I designate this proposition as a sort of fishing proposition intended to catch the votes of all the Senators from the Atlantic States, from the State of Maine down as far as the State of Georgia, or to catch votes from the interior of the continent, because of the designation of a particular man as one of the commissioners. I will not Presume that the Senfrom Massachusetts would be influenced by any such consideration. Of course he is governed solely by lofty ideas of patriotism; I must suggest, however, to that Senator that this is an old acquaintance of mine. This same proposition, word for word, was submitted to the ComNavAffrs for their consideration, and was rejected. The Senfrom Massachusetts has acquired it 2nd hand. The Senfrom Connecticut seemed to be extremely surprised and astonished at a pam hlet, extracts from which were read by o the from Indiana, and which purported to be published by a NewEngland man. Was there anything very extraordinary in the fact that such a pamphlet was published by some anonymous person? Are not such things very usual? Has not the Senator before read pam phlets published by persons who did not choose to disclose their names? I suppose the material question would be whether or not the truth was contained in the pamphlet. When my colleague upon the ComNavAffrs, the Senfrom Indiana, asked the Senfrom Connecticut whether he doubted or denied the statements of fact contained in the pam hlet, the Senfrom Connecticut acknowledged that he did not. It cannot be possible that the Senfrom Connecticut was surprised that a NewEngland man should extend his vision beyond the boundaries of NewEngland, and see what were the qualities and the capacities of a tract of land within the jurisdiction of the State of Pennsylvania for naval purposes. o: He also exPressed his surprise at the per tinacity of the SecyNavy in insist:ing that we should make this acquisition of League Island. I do not know that there is anything very extraordinary in that. It may be, and I rather think it is, that pertinacity is an element of Connecticut character, and especially am I, inclined to think so when I remember that NewLondon has been perti naciously attempting to secure a navy yard for 65 years. She made an effort to secure it in 1802, but her claims were rejected. In 1817 a board of eminent naval and military engineer officers were appointed to examine that site, and they reported against it. But the maggot has never been got out of her brain, and she has been insisting upon securing a naval depot and navy yard at NewLon don ever since that time. But if the Senator really wants to know why the Navy. Dept has been so pertinacious in regard to this matter I will tell him. It is the judgment of the SecyNavy, based upon the opinions of the most skillful men, as he thinks, connected with the Navy, that the public interests require that this acquisition should be made. He believes, and I believe, that there is a vast loss every year to the Government of the U.S. because we have not acquired and occupied this territory for the purposes for which we now propose to obtain it. He believes that it is the most proper place in the country to deposit our iron naval vessels in time of peace; and this opinion is based upon the report of a board of officers familiar with our whole Atlantic coast. The Senator read to us from a report of a board of naval officers appointed to investigate the adaptability of League Island and of NewLondon for naval purposes, and I think the Senate will bear me out in the statement that from what he said no one would judge that there was any diversity of opinion in that commission on that subject. I think the Senator did not refer to the minority report or indicate that there was a minority report upon the subject; he invariably spoke of the commission as an entirety, giving their judgment against League Island. Now, sir, it is due to truth to say that there was a minority as well as a majority report. Basing my own opinion upon the 2 reports and the facts embodied in them, I have no hesitation in saying that the strongest arguments are in the minority report, written by that eminent man, Professor achee, and against the majority report. That commission consisted of the Present Admiral Stringham, Commodore Gardner, Captain Van Brunt, Mr. Sanger, Professor Bachee, and Commodore Marston. 4 of them were in favor of NewLondon as against League Island; Professor Bachee and Commodore Marston were opposed to NewLondon and in favor of League island. When the report came to the Navy Dept the arguments of the majority and mine irty were canvassed by the SecyNavy and by naval officers who were called. to assist him in forming a correct conclusion on the subject. He believed that the weight of the argument was with the minority; and hence he has insisted all the time up to the Present moment that the public interests required that League Island should be secured rather than.other spot. In other words, he has stood to his original position, that we do not need another navy yard; and I have yet failed to see a single naval officer of respecta bility who does insist or claim that we need another navy yard. The great trouble with us is that we have too many navy yards, and that those we have are too small. I told the Senate how they were originally selected. We have been enlarging them by adding to them from time to time, at immense expense, by the purchase of adjacent property, because we did not lay them out originally upon tracts sufficiently extensive to meet the demands of the country as the Navy increased and the commercial interests of the country increased. Now, Mr. President, perhaps I have a little advantage over the Senfrom Connecticut in this matter. I did not commit myself in favor of League Island until I had made personal inspection of it. I have made several personal inspections, and I am free to say that upon no subject have I ever heard so many falsehoods uttered in my life as I have on the subject of Deague Island. I have heard persons tell me and people around me that a man could stand upon the soil of League Island and shake it like a strong man standing on a bog, and yet I have myself seen oak trees growing on the island as large as I ever saw grow anywhere. The truth is that League Island is a common low interval land, which probably has been formed in the course of the ast 6 or 700 years by the confluence of the waters of the snand the Delaware. I have a map of it before me. At low water it is 3 or 4 feet above the water, and at the extreme tide, which rises once or twice a year, perhaps if there were no embankments on the outside it would over flow. It is precisely like the land you find along all the streams where there is tidal water in any of the northern States. The soil is firm, and according to the report of Professor Bachee, and I think everybody admits he is a skillful engineer, having been educated as such and devoted himself to that profession in the Army before he was placed at the head of the Coast Survey it admits of as good constructions being raised upon it as the ground of any navy yard we have, unless it be at Kittery and at Mare Island, where we have stone; and for some purposes, as for instance for the construction of works for the fabrication of arms and working with trip hammers, it is infinitely better. Now, it is proposed to secure this whole area and the banks on the outside of this channel, embracing some 600 acres. The Senfrom Connecticut has read to us a statement to the effect that it is going to cost more than a million of dollars to fill up this island. Sir, we do not propose to fill it. up at once. We only propose to fill it up as we go along, as we wish to extend the works, and I assert that it will be to our advantage that that ground is low instead ofoWhat do we want of a navy yard? What are the necessities of navy yards at this time? Let me read to you an extract from the London News of last month, showing what GreatBritain is doing in regard to navy yards, and what we shall be compelled to do if we intend to occupy a 1st class position as a naval power. I read from the “naval and military” column of the London News: “CHATHAM, January 17, 1867. "THE ENLARGEMENT of CHATHAM Dock YARD, This morning, Mr. Gabrielle, whose tender for the construction of the works for the enlargement of dockyard, this by the formation of the new basins, docks, factories, and other buildings, arrived at the dock in order to make the necessary arrangements or the commencement of designs the works forthwith. The for the enlargement of the yard will necessitate the taking in of 3 acres of the land adjoining the Present establishment, by which the entire area of the dock yard will be enlarged to nearly 500 acres. Of this, 74 acreswill be deep water space, consisting of basins constructed on the natural line of cretehkr, ee p branch of the Medway, which separates StMary's Island from the main land.” There is precisely such a position as we have at League Island, where we can excavate the back channel, and make a basin of 70 acres for the deposit of your vessels in perfect safety. “Of the 3 basinsintended to be constructed, the largest will be the fitting out basin, which will have a water area of 33 acres with a depth of 30 feet, and a wharfage frontage of 85,000 100 feet. The repairing basin will cover an area of 21 acres, and the factory basin with which it is each, connected an area of 20 acres with about 4,000 feetof frontage. Contnheect Meeddwwitahytnheearrelypoapirpine gsibteasin, which will openinto o Castle, will befour spacious docks, each 420 feetin length, with a depth of water of 28 feetsix inches over the sill at the too, high water neaps. Adjoining basin, which communicateswith the other two, will be an extensive range of buildings covering an area of nearly 20 acres, and including steam factories, smiths'shops, stores, fitting shops, and other establishments. The estimatedoutlay for the entire as the necessities of the service require. undertaking is one million and a will probably beincreased half sterling, which to 2 millions when the whole of the proposed works are completed. The works connectedwith the construction ofing and fitting basinswill be 1st proceedtehdewriethp.a”ir That is a very immense work, and it is going to cost a very large sum of money. The time will come, and it is not very far distant, when we shall have to make preparations for establishing just as extensive navy yards as they have in GreatBritain. We made the preparation last winter in regard to our navy yard at Kittery, in the State of Maine. We have secured a valuable island there, which, in the course of 5 or ten years, will be covered with constructions necessary to promote the naval interest. We now propose to secure this island in the Delaware and move the Present navy. yard that is in the heart of the city of Philadelphia to it, and then to enlarge and so it. say that it is to our advantage that the ground is low. Need I undertake to illustrate that and to prove it before the members of the Senate? arol borne out by the engineers who have examined it when I say that the earth which will be taken forom the excavations for the basins will be sufficient to elevate the adjacent ground to the necessary height; and, as your engineers will tell you, the nearer you have your dumping ground to the place you are excavating the greater is the saving to you in the expense of excavation; whereas when you take your navy yard to some other place where you have a granhe or a hard pan formation the expense of preparing the grounds for basins will be 1nnense. But it is said that the soil on League Island is not adapted to naval constructions. Let Professor Bachee and Commodore Marston answer this objection: “7. Adaptation of thesite to the construction of permanent stone dry docks, wet basins, piers, wharres, rolling mills, forgeshops, and otherheavyworks. “Either site is adapted to the construction of per iminagn meniltlss, tofnoergdeocskhso, wpse, tfbuarnsianese, sp, iers, wharves, rol and other heavy works. “The foundations of heavyworks at League Island must be piled; those at Winthrop's Point be cut from a high gravel hill, 40, 60, or high, according 100 feet to distance, with a hard gravel or a rocky basis. At the back of League Island is an arm of the river of 200 feet, in width in average, the and which not only contributes to the defense of the navy yard site, but will serve for the provision of wharves for small docks, for depots of timber and other materials, giving thus a large additional front if needed., This passagemay be readily defended if it is desirable to deepenit. “League Island hasall the advantages of an insular situation from this otages without the disadvan to which an island at a from themain considerable distance is exposed. “While marsheshave formedbelowthe island, the channel ways have deepened, and the improvements proposed to be made at League Island,:. of to correct principles of hydraulic engineering, will still further increasethe depth of “League the river channels. Island will probably be filled o in part ample, materials for which are found, in the gray of Red, Bank, or of the main near the gas works, or in the refuse of works, the city founderies and iron and for the removal of which the owners of theseestablishmentsnow pay, which can be brought by water to the island, and aboveall the ashes, slag, and otherFo of the forges, founderies, and furnaces, which also would bean expense to remove, and which will in timeafford materialsfor the extension of the island over the Presentflats. “Works producing 120 to 150 tons of iron per day furnish a vast amount of slag and other matterswhich accumulate in immensepiles, as we have seen at the iron works on“WthientSherhoupy'slkilPloainntdmLueshtigbhe.cut downtohard diluvial grayel, and probably in part through roek. Should hard pan bemet it will beovenmore difficult to removethan rocks. “The subsoil of LeagueIsland is driving favorable for the of piles, a bed of diluvial gravel underlying the ‘alluvial clay' at depthson the average of 37 feet. In borings one spot upon the old, island the of the commissionreachedgravel at 25 feet, and werecarried on 7feet further with difficulty, reaching a stony bed at that depth. the softestboring on the new part of gravel the island the was reached at 56 feet. These are all admissibledepthsfor piling. “The slag, ashes, and other refuse matters of furensatcaebslaisnhdmfeonrgtsense, awrhtihcehwahrearnvoewsocfatrhrieed citaywoafyPfrhomil adelphia, could be transported by water cheaply to League Island if needed for filling in. We have ascertained that 4 private establishments at adelphia, with rolling and puddling furnaces, Pphroilduce some 415 cubic yards of wastage per week.”. Again, they say: “5. Either site is adapted to the construction of docks and other appurtenancesof a navy yard.” I suppose, Mr. President, that almost every member of the Senate has read this report of Professor Bachee; and if so, I am perfectly will.ing to leave all the matters involved, so far as they are discussed at all by any members of the board, to the consideration of the body. The Senfrom Connecticut has read very copiously from the report of the ComNavAffrs of the HoRep in 1864. It should be borne in mind, however, that that, committee, at a subsequent session, reversed its action, and reported the bill now under consideration, when there was only a change of 2 members, I think, upon the committee. I think I am justified in sayin that the report from which the Senator rea was written by a citizen of NewLondon, the place that sets itself up as a rival to League sland. I do not know that that should detract at all from the merit of the report or from the consideration that the Senate ought to give it; nor do I know that the fact which is alleged by some, though not here, that Professor Bachee was born in the city of Philadel phia and lived there till he was 16 years old, should detract from the consideration we ought to give to his report. On the other hand, the gentleman who was associated with him, Captain Marston, was a native and is recorded on the naval register as a citizen of the State of Massachusetts. Nor would I say that because Commodore Stringham is a citizen of NewYork and NewYork seems to be ar rayed against this proposition on account of her rivalry to Philadelphia that fact should lessen the influence or the weight which his report ought to have upon the minds of the members of this body. These are considerations which, I trust, will not be entertained by anyone. The question is, what are the facts as submitted by these 2 reports? I say that the weight of evidence, the strength of the argument is with the minority report, although numerically the strength is with the majority. My opponents say otherwise. Let the Senate decide. The Senator has talked to us about the health of League Island. He told us that the evidence is very strong that the health of League Island is bad. I have heard no such evidence. There was a man who appeared before the ComNavAffrs who told us that it was bad; and he told us some people had told him so. He was a citizen of NewLondon. He did not live and never had lived in Philadelphia, or in that neighborhood. I know of no evidence, I have seen no evidence, the gentlemen representing NewLondon and o: to League Island have never adduced any evidence before the committee or before me individually, to show that League Island was unhealthy. I think the Senfrom NewJersey [Mr. CAT TELL] can give a sufficiently satisfactory reason to the Senate why it is that Philadelphia has grown north rather than toward League Island. He at any rate convinced me on the subject, and that it did not spring from the unhealthiness of the lower part of the city. But it is said that the distance is too great from the sea, and the Senator undertook to illustrate that to us by giving a very graphic and eloquent account of the encounter between the Merrimac and the Monitor. I failed to observe the appropriateness of the illustration, although I admit that it was very elegantly said. It seems to me that it would have been as difficult to get the Monitor from NewLon don to Fortress Monroe to attack the Merri mac as it was from Philadelphia. It is said that the channel is tortuous and that vessels of war could not go to Philadelphia and return. I assert that we have not got a vessel of war and have never had a vessel of war that could not go without difficulty to Philadelphia and return at her leisure, provided she came with a high tide, which is the case in NewYork and Boston as well as Phil adelphia. Mr. President, other Governments have come to the conclusion that it is to their interest to seek insular positions for their navy yards; and that is the great effort today of the British and French Governments. It was proposed 2 or 3 years ago to break upports mouth navy yard in England and locate it somewhere else because of its apparent inde fensibility; but now they have determined to go on and expend some 20,000,000 in attempting to still further fortify it. This is urged by the most experienced and capable officers as an argument in favor of having a oestablishment for workshops and soon at Philadelphia. But the Senfrom Connecticut and his friends do not exactly see it in that light. I confess I do not agree with them. I think that Philadelphia should receive a greater consideration than she otherwise would from the fact that she is incapable of being attacked. The Senator told us that the river was frequently obstructed by ice. The minority of the naval commission appointed to investigate this subject reported that once in 40 years up to that time it had been so obstructed by ice as to prevent the navigation of the river and not oftener. I do not know that the Senator has any stronger testimony than that. I agree that the river above League Island, at what is known as the Horse Shoe, is occasionally obstructed by ice, and has been for a considerable time this year; but that is between the city of Philadelphia and League Island. I have seen gentlemen here this winter whose vessels have gone up as far as the Horse Shoe, and then been compelled to fall back and anchor abreast of League Island, and some have dropped down as far as Chester, but they had no difficulty in getting up as far as League Island. But, sir, the same argument applies to the Brooklyn navy yard, to the Boston navy yard, and to the Washington navy yard as well as to the Philadelphia navy yard. I undertake to say that there have not been 5 consecutive days in 25 years when a vessel of war could not without difficulty pass to and from League Island to the sea on account of any obstruction of the ice that might be in the river. Now, Mr. President, let us look at the bill that we propose and compare it with the amendment proposed by the Senfrom Massachusetts: That the SecyNavy be, and is hereby, authorized to receive and accept from the city authorities of the city of Philadelphia the title to League Island, in the Delaware river, and adjacent marsh land, including the whole of the creek known as the Back Channel, from the Schuylkill to river, and all the riparian rights and thoe D?ela.waoref snaeild, tLoegaegtuheeIrsland, adjacentmarsh, and 13ackChan with so much of the oppositeshoreof the Back Channel from the League Island shore as shall, in the opinion of ample the SecyNavy, be to enable the Government to have the sole and exclusive use of said Back Channel and both shoresthereof; the said island and appurtenances to be held for naval purposes by the Government of the U.S.: 1'rovided, That thesaid League Island, marsh adjacent, and Back Channel, with its shoresas aforesaid, shall not be received or accepted until the title to the whole of the same, as herein described, is complete and indefeasible, nor unless the acceptance thereof shall be recommendedby a board of officers to be appointed by the President. Nothing can be done under this bill until a commission composed of naval officers shall report in favor of it.