Mr. THAYER. For the information of the Gentfrom Connecticut [Mr. Hosanna I will read what the SecyNavy sai in his communication in reference to this subject. It is as follows: “ The selection of this siteforn navy yard will save to the Governmentjust the sumat which the present yard in fhilndclphiucan besold, the estimatedvalue of which is 1, 800. at we must have a yard at which iron vesselscan be built is, I think, admitted. Were it establishedatanyother placethan Philadel hia. the yard at that place would becontinued, with Es officers and large annual expense. Established on ensue Island the present yard would be vacated and sold and the costof keeping up the present cs Mblishmentsaved. The price that could e realised are lit! 81:39. pearly equip and complete the yard on I do not believe that any gentleman who has advocated this measure has ever entertained any other idea than that. So far as I know, nobody has even suggested that there should be 2 naval stations at Philadelphia. On the contrary one 'of the great advantages of the proposed change has always been regarded to bet ic advanlage which the Government derives from obtaining a new site for nothing, and selling the old site for $1, 800,000. I will not detain the House by a detailed enumeration of all the advantages which may be presented in favor of this measure. But it would perhaps not be amiss for me to sum them up in a short way by a brief allusion to them, in order at any rate that the attention of the House may be called to them, even though it be in a very cursory manner. In the 1st place, these advantages have been set forth at great length, and dwelt upon with great emphasis, by the SecyNavy, who, I suppose, should be awarded at least the credit 0i disinterested patriotism upon this subject. He is not a citizen of Philadelphia or of Pennsylvania; he is not in any way so situated as to be likely to be influenced by Pennsylvania interests. He has acted in this matter not only disinterestedly, but, as we all know, to some extent to his own disadvantage, inasmuch as the course which he has pursued has brought u)Ofl him the wrath of some of his own people. But he has had, I have no doubt, aperfectly clear and disinterested judgment throughout this whole inquiry. And the advantages of League Island, which so loudly call upon the Government for the adoption of this measure, are very terse] y and satisfactorily summed up by him as follows: “1. Reontuins thoreqnisitoamountoflnnd. There are on the island 409 acresof what is called fast lund, being high, dry and tilla hlo, susceptibleot usewithout embankmentor other preparation: 124 acres of marshland cast of Broad street m1d77 acresWestofllroad street.embrucingiu the aggregate an areaof 600 acres, or morethan 5times the area.of the lar est of our presept navy yards, and twice the size 0 “ the largestyard in Europe. 2. The island possesses this necessaryamount of frontageupon the water.which is u most important consideration, and the want of which is one of the rent defects of all ourpresent yards. the wuter trout of the island Will extendsix miles, furnishing room for mooring in safety all the vesselsin our presentNavy and all we shall be likely to have for many yearsto come. The sumofpiuney to be saved in warping vesselsin and outof slips when u change in their position may be necessary, and in wharfage and rent of docks where private property is used, will be very grentin the courseofa SIDKIOyear, and, of course, greaterin the lapse oftime and the necessary addition to our Navy. By posses singan expan sive frontageworkmen.materials, and stores can be placedon board at the wharfinslcad of being put on card of tendersand transportedinto the stream, as is required to bedoneat all of our iirds wl iertchere is an insulficiencyof front c, as t or is in a pecu ltinr degreeat the Philadclp in. yard at the present mac. “3. There is an abundantdepth of water for all of the purposesof Government. Along the outershore of tie island, ncurto its edge, and for more than 3 miles in lcngth, thero is a sulfieient depth of water to float the largestelassofwur vessels. “4. The greatestadvantage of this location, and that which, taken in connection with the frontage and depth of water, lines it far beyondany rival, is Itthe fact that theyu would boin waterwholly fresh“ is a well known fact thatiron oorrodcsanddecem posesin salt muchmorerapidly than in freshwater, upd hencethat the endurance of an iron vessel, when either in service or laid up in ordinary, is inueh greater in fresh than in salt water. Nor is this all. ron vessels when exposed tothe action ofsaltwntpr for a considerable period of time, and especiallyin warm climates become foul by the accumulation of marine crustacca, thus not only lessening their speed and iniuring the vessels, but requiring them to be taken into dry dock to be sore ed. As an illustration of this fact, the iron bloc ndinl vessel SCarolina, after a service of ninement in the Gulf of Mexico, had her speedreduced by the accumulation of barnnclcs sca w, and other marincnui sauces from 12 to 6 knots an hour, requiring her to be sent North to becleaned. llad the Philadelphia navy yard beenin a condition to recciveher, an complete her other necessaryre airs. hor passage through the fresh water of the cln wa rreiver from NewCastle Wellcl] is practically the limitof the saltwater, would u itself have cleaned her bottom of these impediments.as perfectly at it could have be“eIntdone by mechanical means is hardly doubtedby anyone that iron vessels are hereafterto constituteour principal reliance for harbor defense. It will unquestionablybe the policy of the Government to kpep these vessels, when not required for active stance. in some secure place, where theywill be as little liable to decay as maybe, raenpdawirh. erethe largestpossiblenumbercan beput in and dispatched toltho threatened points at the shortestnotice. Itxpericiice HM ‘iow the pixies pity or economyof kliffllll; sun h 'ls in dry slips, in which case the caprmty of this lrlllflll ml by no means emced the necessitiesof the Government. Should it be otherwise, and should it be incluedad ’ Sillpl0to dismantleand incur themin wet docksin time of peacc. the value of Leann" Island fora naval stationmay bemorecorrectlyestimutiz ilw, hen I say that it is t ie opiniop of naval officers, and of scien tific experts, that pn iron vesselwill last more than ten times longer in fresh than in salt water. The 1U8n4it4e, d States iron steamer Michigan was built in has been in continuous serum in the fresh water lakes of the North 18 years and hashad no repnirsto her hull. which i is apparentlyas perfect asit ever was. In salt water her ottoni would probabl have been destroyedten, veursago. ". (The proximity of the island to a large maritime and manufacturing cityis one of its greatest advantagestor a.nil val station.) Whenever an extra forceof mechanicsor scumenare required, or an extra supply of naval stores uceded.theycan be procured at short notice and at no extra expense. It is well known that whenever such extra force b requiredat the southernyards.neither of whloh was near a largo industrial population accustomed to such labor, thocostof procuring lboneccrmrycralls menwas much greaterthan at Charleston n.Brook lyn or Philadelphia. The men had to be transported at Govcriimentexpense, extrnwngeswei edemanded, and the laborers in almost every instance ivereclum orousto be retained permanently.because of nllczed loss of situutions at home. Nor could sailors be procured at those yards in In euicrzency. except by sendingto the northern cities to recruit. always an expensive process, audycnerally consuming weeks of time, the value of which could not becomputedin money. 'Iho great advantagesof n.Governmentes tublisment of this kind in proximity to a large mechanical population, whose leading pursuit is the fabrication of iron in its various forms and for its numerouspurposes.cannot be overestimated.”