Mr. BRANDEGEE. It will give me the greatest pleasure to answer that question in that part of my argument in which shall address myself to that part of the subject. I hope I shall not forget so important a question; if I do I will thank the gentleman to remind me of it before I get through. Now, ifl can get the attention of the House for a very few moments, I will read from the report of Admiral Stringham. I do not pretend to offer myself as a disinterested witness on this question. Everybody knows the interest by whichI am biased. I ask this House to believe nothing of my statements except it is corroborated by the testimony of disinterested witnesses or supported by sound argument. Now, if those who feel an interest in the American Navy and in so important a question as this will listen a moment, I will read from this report, signed by Admiral Stringham and 3 others of the highest naval authorities of this country. On page 16 of that report, I read the following: " League Island is n reclaimed marsh surrounded by a dry stonewall and enibnnkmentol earth, raised tosxcludo the river. A l)ufll(ln of the island was reclaimedman years since, and is known as the old meadow. We have no positive information on this point, bul. Presume that at the time the wall and em Iiankment were built all the land worth reclaiming was embraced within the llli‘lOSllff. Subsequently, and about 18 yearssince. aswe are informed, the inclosure was extended so as to embrace an additional area. now known as the new meadow. accordin to a plan which has been submitted to the board ya committeefrom lllf' Board of Trade, this old meadow contains 219 acres and the new meadow 155 BCI‘CS My friend, who I suppose has studied Da bollis Arithmetic, by putting together these 2 sums, 155 and 219, will fin the precise area of this island. If my mathematics are not at fault it amounts to only 374 acres. Where, then, are the 600 acres of valuable land for this grand naval station, according to the assertion constantly made by the Dept, and which the gentleman has repeated here today? Sir, there are but 374 acres there at best. “On the north of the island, and between it and the main there is a channel.” And here is the point where they proposeto make a basin for our iron clads. “ ere is achannel which, we are told, was of sufficient depth in former days to float large ships'of war; now it is a narrow and shallow channel, not sufficient to float vessels of any size used by the Navy.” And Admiral Smith, whom the gentleman notes, the chief of the Bureau of ards and ocks, told us in his testimony that the ironclads which were there today were aground 3 feet in the mud; nndI am credibl in formed that the bottoms of 2 of them have been stove through during the past winter. “Large areas of marshes have formed on the east and west ends and on the north side of the island, and the whole appearance indi‘ cates a constant and rapid accumulation from the immense deposits of the Delaware river. To raise the surface of the island" and Icall the attention of the Gentfrom Ohio [Mr. DELANO] particularly to this point “To raise the surface of this island to a height which 'would render it safe from the encroachment of high tides will require a filling of from 9 to ten feet over the whole area; and if, as has been suggested, a line of wharf front be car ried out to the 23 feet line, ” which is where the water in the channel is 23 feet dee. For bear in mind the face of this island isa out 3 or 400 yards from this channel, and the water along the front line of the island is not deep enough, and you must go out to the 23 not line of depth before you can get a place for a vessel to lay in. And to do that, “will involve an additional filling of a space one mile long, and averaging 481 feet wide and 19 feet deep.” And then the report goes on to say, “To furnish the materia s for this immense filling which will amount in the aggregate to several millions of cubic yards, it is sai that an abun dant supply can be had from Red Bank, on the op osite side of theriverf’ that is in the State ofIJewJersey. They have to go over to NewJersey to get the necessary filling to build up this island. For bear in mind that the whole main land in contiguity to League Island is as low as the island itself, and is diked to prevent the water from overflowing it. There is no place there where matarials can be obtained for this filling in, but they must go to NewJersey for it. I do not know whether it is free soil in NewJersey or not. I suppose not, for this report goes on with rather quaint humor to say: “ There is probably an abundance of good material on the shores of NewJersey, but it must he purchased from the proprietors and transported across the river; a process' which, in the opinion of the board, will involve an expenditure of at least one million dollars." Now, everybody who came before the Naval Committee of this Congress agreed that there must be this filling to the extent of 3, 6, or 9 feet. Asst Secretary Fox a very high authority upon questions of naval engi nee ring, of course, he being a lieutenant in the Navy, and from a lieutenancy havin been translated to' the Navy Dept, an new we hope, translated to a more honorable and comfortable position abroad Asst Secretary Fox himself agreed that it must be filled 3 feet. Admiral Smith, the chief of the bureau who has charge of this matter, testified that it must be filled to the level of the wall, or at least 9 feet. Now, to ct. rid of this objection of having to go to the ewJcrsey shore to get dirt for this filling, a mostingenious plan was suggested by Asst Secretary Fox, whose name, even, is suggestive ofingenuity upon that subject. He su gested to the committee that this back chan ne, which had been filled up by the accumulation of the immense deposits fromthe Delaware, should be dredged out and spread upon the island, although the island is now so soft. that you cannot put a building 11 on it with less than 50 or 60 feet piling tom the surface. And in a letter volunteered to the committee and he has written a great many letters to the committee, besides seein its members, and a great many members of the House in a letter to the committee he su gested that that plan ought to commend itsel to the judgment of the committee on account of its prac ticability, economy, and healthfulness an isl and upon which no man can live without shaking the clothes 05' his back with fever and ague; an island in reference to the healthfulness of which I wish to submit some evidence from a paper which I hold in my hand it is a copy of the Real Estate, Railroad, and Business Guide of January 15, 1866, published in the city of Philadelphia, cepies of which were sent to members of Congress during this session a aper which advocates the claims of League sland, and appeals to the Philadel liia delegation to support that project in this a“nguage: Do not forgot the advantages combined by natnra to make Red Bank a fort of the 1st magnitude and League Islunil. opposite.a shipping port. not to be surpassed in the world. from its advantageouslocation for the shipmentof western or easternproduce. winter and summer.having alwaysa sutiicient depth of.water and the water at that point being brackish or saline. does not freeze." This is the fresh water site on the Delaware river, one of the chief advantages of which, accordin to the recommendation of a Philadelphia journal, is the fact that the water at this point is brackish or saline, and consequeutly does not freeze. Then there is a statement in reference to the question of healthfulness, The writer goes on to say: “This proposition. faithfully carried out. would makePhiladel hiaa commercialport2ndto nono in the U.S., nature havineinade the June tiop of the Delaware and Sqhuylkill. With its flat strip of land about 7 miles in length, and an averageof 3 milesin breadthmivmg21 square miles below the navy yard for a shipping port and harbor of great in nitude. such as few other ports ever assessed wich. by the way is scarcelyfit from t o surrounding miasina for anything else. not fit for the habitation of human heings which.if built up for that purpose. malignant atmospheriedisease is always rat to attack such localities." The gentleman is welcome to the authoritya paper published in Philadelphia and representing the claims of League Island. This journal says that the land is so unhealthy by reason of the miasma, that it is not fit for human habitation; yet Secretary Fox and the committee following him recommend to the House to dig out the back channel and put millions of cubic yards of mud and ooze and slime and vegetable deposit on that island, and the chief recommendation is on account of its healthfulness and economy. What the healthfulness of such a lan may be when the dog star blazes in the tilynament above us, I leave to conjecture rather than argument. As to its economy, even according to the testimony of the Asst Secretary of the My, as given before the committee, he estimates the cost of fillin up the island to the height of 3 feet with mud from this chan nel to be $900,000, and if it be filledup to the height of 9 feet, as Admiral Smith says must he one, and as this commission say must be done, the cost will be $2, 700,000. In addition to that Admiral Smith testified before the committee that if it should be filled with mud it would be necessary to place on to 3 feet of gravel in order to make a soli surface for teams and men. Hence, to the expense of $2, 700,000 for placing mud upon this island there must. be added a sum of $1,000,000 for placing gravel to the depth of 3 feet over that mud, making in the aggregate about 4 million dollars as the amount necessary to fill up this island; and when this is done you have an island for the 1st time above the water'. There is a League Island then. It is brought into sunlight for the 1st time. Then you must pile every foot and rod of that ooze before it will be safe to put a permanent structure upon it, as is testified to by every witness with one exception, Mr. George Davidson, of Philadel phia; all the other witnesses, including Mr. Secretary Fox, Admiral Smith, Commodore Turner, the members of this epmmission, and in fact everybody who knows anything about the subject or who is any authority upon the subject, acknowledge that you must pile all that part of the island used for heavy struct ures, and according to the judgment of this commission the piling must be on an average of 32 feet in depth, in some cases 25, and in others 56, making an average of 32. What is this piling? Admiral Smith explained the process to the committee. You must drive the piles within one foot or one foot and a half of each other. Then. where are you going to put the buildings? There must be cross iling. On top of the timber there must be lai a foundation ofcement and stone. When all this is done you have for the 1st time a foundation for your buildings. When before the committee the inquiry was put to Admiral Smith as to the probgble expense of all this, that wise old man shook his head very sagely and said that be for one was not able to form even a conjectu'ral a proximation as to the expense, but he would say that it was the most expensive process known to naval or civil engi neering. Vhen this is done it will be necessary to build a quay wall of stone 19 feet high and one mile long and fill up behind that wall 481 feet in width in order to get from the face of the island out to the channel of 23 feet, where vessels can lie. These are facts which are supported by the testimony of men in whom we ought to have confidence, men who have been enlightened by long service in the Navy, the most compe tent minds in the country with reference to naval affairs. Now, I say that nobody can pretend to conjecture the expense, or even approximate to it, of selecting this site for a naval station. I do not stand here and say that it shall not be the site of the great naval station of the U.S. I re ose in the bill which I have submitted tot e house as a substitute for the report of the Gentfrom Pennsylvania, [Mr. ELLEY] that a commission shall beraised of honest men, of officers and engineers, to be appointed b the President, not b the SeoyNavy and I commen the gentleman for his prudence in taking that authority from this Secretary and giving it to the POTUS, and he may explain it to the Secretary in any way he eases a commission to which this subject shall be in trusted. The Gentfrom Pennsylvania has much assurance, but he had not assurance enough to put this matter within the power of the SecyNavy. He asks that the commission shall be appointed by the President, and so do I. The ifference between his plan and mine is this: by mine this commission is required to make a thorough examination of the advantages and disadvantages of the several sites; by his it is confined to one, and that one the only one heretofore rejected b a competent board. I ask this House whether that is not a fair proposition. Is not the substitute a fair proposition '1 There are 5 places offered for this great naval station one or 2 on the Hudson, one on the Patuxent, one at Portland, Maine, one at League Island, and one at NewLondon. By an amendment of the Gentfrom NewYork I have included any other site they may choose to examine and report on. Is not that a fair proosition? Has not the Government of the (IU.S. the right to have the best place for this purpose in the U.S.? Shall we be narrowed down by the Navy Dept or the Philadelphia delegation to the examination of one site, and one site alone, and that the only site ever rejected by a coin etent board? 0Iask anything unreasona le? I do not ask you to accept NewLondon. I do not ask you to examine NewLondon alone. I do not, as I might, like the Gentfrom Pennsylvania, confine the report of the commission to NewLondon. I say examine all places, and let us have that which is best. I will say one thing further. I do not think I betray nn confidence. I believe I have the right to may 'e the statement. It is this: when I 1st submitted my proposition to the Gentfrom Peunsylvania he accepted it.