Mr. HENDRICKS. Mr. President, under the instruction of the ComNavAffrs it became my duty to report this bill back to the Senate with a recommendation in its favor, and I shall now, in its explanation, ask the attention of the Senate but a short time. In my investigation of this subject I have not considered the question which is suggested by the amendment of the Senfrom Massachusetts. I do not consider this to be a question whether the U.S. will establish and build up an additional navy yard; and I believe in that view the committee agreed with myself. It is not a question whether a new yard shall be established, but simply whether the navy yard at Philadelphia shall be removed to what is supposed to be a more desirable location; and I think the only question that the Senate is called upon now to decide is whether that removal shall take place. I think we have no sufficient reason for the establishment of an additional navy yard. That Senators may understand just how the navy yards of the country are located, I will state that there is now a navy yard in Maine of 164 and 7 8ths acres; one at Charlestown, Massachusetts, of 85 and one 4th acres; one at Brooklyn, NewYork, of 193 and one 10th acres; one at Philadelphia of 20 acres; the Washington yard, 41 and 7 8ths acres; Norfolk, to some extent destroyed, 1nineteen acres; Brunswick, no expenditure yet made, 1100 acres; Pensacola, to a large extent destroyed, 83 and one 4th acres; Mare Island, California, 900 acres; Sackett's Harbor, NewYork a very inconsiderable establishment, 3 and a half acres. Upon this statement Senators will observe that there is but one navy yard located in the middle States, that at Philadelphia. I think Senators will not consider the question now whether we shall cease to have a navy yard in the Delaware, or anywhere in the middle States, and, in connection with that, whether we shall put an additional yard upon the shores of NewEngland. I am aware that there has been a controversy growing out of the respective claims of Philadelphia, and NewLondon, in the State of Connecticut; but I do not choose, in this connection, to consider the claims of NewLondon, for the simple reason that I do not understand the question to be before the Senate or Congress whether an additional navy yard shall be established in NewEngland. That part of the country is well provided for in this respect. I think the lessons of the war teach us that the military and naval power should be fairly, equitably, and wisely distributed over the country. There is scarcely any Senator who would now say that the only arsenal should be in NewEngland, or should be in the middle States, or should be in the southern States. The possible disaffection of any section teaches us that it is important to have the military power scattered over the country; and upon that policy we have established arsenals at different points, and have not allowed the country to rely upon a great arsenal in some one particular section of the Union. So I think, in regard to the navy yards, that the policy is a wise one that they shall be carefully and wisely distributed along the coasts which we control. Perhaps one upon the Pacific coast for the present is enough. 2 or 3 in NewEng and are quite enough for that locality. Nor folk and Pensacola will perhaps when rebuilt be enough for the southern coast. But upon what propriety is it claimed that a navy yard, up to this time so useful, and found so important as the one on the Delaware, shall be aban doned and a new yard built upon the shores of NewEngland? So, sir, I have declined to consider the comparative claims of these 2 localities. Philadelphia now has a yard of 20 acres, capable of enlargement somewhat, but, according to the opinion of naval men, not capable of enlargement to such an extent as the necessities of the Government require. The measure which is now before the Senate has been recommended from the Navy Dept in every annual communication since 1862. Early in the war the SecyNav became of the opinion that the enlargemento the yard at Philadelphia was very important; but especially that there should be provision made for the laying up of our iron clads. will call the attention of the Senate very briefly to one or 2 extracts from the communications or reports of the SecyNavy. In his report of December 1, 1863, the Secretary says: “The Government is destitute of a suitable establishment for the construction or repair of iron vessels, their machinery or armature; nor has it any place for Preservingthem when laid up in ordinary. Someproper and suitable accommodationsfor vesselsof this description are necessarywhere there is fresh water, and, as stated in my communications to the last Congress, it has appeared to me that no place combines so many advantages as are to k. be on the Delaware, in the vicinity of phia.” Philadel In his report of December 5, 1864, the SecyNavy says: “The Government has not even at this time an establishment where a shaft can be made for our steamers, or a plate for our iron clads.” Again, in the same communication, the Secretary says: “A navy yard, if we baye onefor naval iron work, should be establishedon freshwater, for this isessen btieallatiodthuep pinressael trvwaatitoenrdouf iring vessels, wRheiacdhycaacncneosts to coal, iron, and timber is also important, for these essential articles should be always available on the inland waters without exposureto anenemyby coast wwihseeretrsaknilslepdoratarttiisoann. sTchaen bveicoinbittayineodf waitlhaorguet difficulty, and the facilities of markets and tenements are abundant, should be considered. A foundation of pregfrearvaeblle would for the purpose of machinery be to stone. An extensive water frontage lmisuhsmteanlstowbheesreeccuorsetdly.mFaocrhsiuncehryaanddepmoatt, aenrida, lewsotualbd: accumulate during years of peace the advantages of an interior location are most manifest. These favorable conditions are to be obtained nowhereelse spooscitoiomnpletely as on the Delaware, river; and the city of League Island, within the limits of the of Philadelphia, Presents probably a stronger caonmy bination of the points that are necessarythan other location.” I read now from his report of the 4th of December, 1865: “The board of naval and scientific gentlemenappointed in 1862, in pursuanceof an act of Congress passedon the suggestion of the Dept, to select atasinitiengfordaifnfearviny gyaorpdinfioornisron purposes, while enter as to the most eligible location for a navy yard for general objects, were united in favor of League Island ‘so far as iron vessels are concerned.’” In a letter to the ComNavAffrs of the HoRep, dated March 6, 1866, the Secretary says: “The importance of a suitable navy yard and establishment for iron and armoredvesselswas felt to be a necessity during the war. League Island, on the Delawareriver, adjoining Philadelphia, was tendered to the Government for naval purposes, and the localityF. such extraordinary advantages jtehcatt I could not, do otherwise than Present the subidentto LtihnecoclonnwsiadsersaotiiomnporfeCsosnegdwreitshs. iTtsheimlaptoert Parnecse that he deemed it a duty on 2 occasionsto make special referenceto the subjectof promptly securing League Island for naval purposes.” Again, he says: pe“lWledh, en hostilities ceased, the deptwascomin consequence of the neglect to make suit able provision for our fleet, to ask and obtain, permission of the proprietors to place the armoredves selsin the back channel of League Island during the dpelesaigsnuareteof private parties, or, until Congress shall some other locality.” League Island is situated about 2 miles below the built upportion of the city of Philadelphia. There are now inclosed within the walls that protect it from the highest stages of the water about 400 acres, and the inclosure may be extended so as to make the island about 600 acres. Therefore, the proposition now is to secure for the navyard at Philadelphia 600 acres, being eague Island, about 2 miles, below the built upportion of the city of Philadelphia. This island was subject to overflow, being about 2 and a half feet below the highest water in the Delaware. It is protected from the water by a stone wall, a portion of which has stood for a great many years, and is so completely protected by that wall as that the land has been used for meadows. Now, Mr. President, I should favor this measure if we never contemplated the build:ing of a navy yard upon the island itself. I should vote to accept this donation from the city of Philadelphia if the island could be used for no other purpose than as a place of refuge and security in fresh water for our iron clads. The Delaware river flows in front of the island. There is in the rear of it a back channel, in which for the last 2 years the iron clads have been laid up not the largest size, but the medium sized iron clads have been securely laid in this channel. The channel is of sufficient length and sufficient capacity when dredged to far more than accommodate any navy which this Government. po ever provide for. I have a map of the island which shows the position of the island in relation to the city of Philadelphia and in its relation to the main channel of the Delaware river and to this back channel, and also to the mouth of the Schuylkill. I shall not stop to discuss the importance of having fresh water in which to lay up the iron clads. It is conceded upon all hands that it will not do to lay them up for any length of time in salt water. The iron is destroyed by it. The destruction of the iron in fresh water is very small, scarcely perceptible. All scien tific men who have given any opinion on this subject at all have agreed that we must have a fresh water basin in which to lay up our iron clads. That is found, according to the opinion of naval men, in the back channel adjoining League Island. It is now of about the depth of 14 feet. To accommodate the larger sized vessels it must be deeper. That channel empties into the Delaware along with the Schuylkill; and so is the water at that point that I am told by the distinguished Senfrom NewJersey [Mr. CATTELL] that very many of our vessels supply themselves before sailing with water at that point. Some objections have been made to this location of a navy yard and the selection of this back channel for the laying up of the iron clads. I will refer to them briefly. I choose rather to refer to them more fully after they shall have been suggested by those who oppose this bill. In this connection I will refer to the opinion exPressed by Mr. Fox, the Asst SecyNavy, under date of February 21, 1866, about a year ago: “The island has a shore line of 2 and a quarter miles upon the Delaware river, nearly half a upon mile the Schuylkill, and a back channel separating it from the main land 2 and a quarter miles in length, with an averagewidth between the dykes of 350 yards. At Presentthere is a mile and a half of this backehannel that is 100 feet, wide and 14 and a half feet deep, with soft bottom. Here are moored the harbor and river monitors, the light draught monitors, and tor pedo boats, also several double ender and other gunboats. A risk, natural basin, secure from every known inside of the permanent defenses of the coast, in refrehsohfwcaotaelra;nadwiraoynf, roamndicskeilalendd lcaubrorer nts; within to prepare our vessels for battle at a moderate expense; only a mile distant from the main ship channel, which has been closedby ice but once in 40 years; with no expenditure required to secure the vessels in their [. ". position that would not be incurred at our est yards, (where there is o no roomfor them;) and acomplete back channel, that by oi Ewnogullidshginvaevie ample room for the entire American an aresomeof the factswhich imPressed me with the importance of securing this in site, by accepting estimable it as a free gift, before the rapid growth of the city of Philadelphia absorbs it. “The importance of this back channel has not beensufficiently estimated, as it seems to me, in any of the able discussions which have set forth the advantages of League Island aas naval station, instead of the Present insignificant yard at Philadelphia, which has but one 5th of the frontage of the : lish navy yard at the island of Bermuda, off our coast. Our navy yards have not frontage enough to contain the vessels now laid up, and which belong permanently to the Navy.”. “The advantages to result from dredgingthe back channel for wet docks, basins for lumber, and other essential purposesare also very great. i.eague isi and contains about 600 acres, and is 2 and 4 10thsfeet below high water mark, and for a great many years has been protected by a stone wall or protectidoynke, and has not beenoverflowedsince that was established.” One great objection made to League Island is that it must be filled before a navy yard can be built upon it. I will read what Mr. Fox says on that subject: “To raise the island 3 feet above high water mark would require about 3600,000 cubic yards of earth. Dredging the back chan nel to a depth of 18feet in the middle, with a curved crosssection to zero at the sides, would give about 4 100,000 cubic yards sufficient to bring the whole island to a level of 4 feet above high water mark.” Here is a calculation, sir, upon the subject, that to place the island 3 feet above high water mark will require 3,600,000 cubic yards of earth, and this can be supplied, and more than supplied, by the dredging that will be necessary to make the back channel what we desire for the accommodation of the iron clads. Then the question arises: what will be the cost of this redging and filling of the island? We have been told in communications addressed to the committee that the expenditure will be many millions. Here is the estimate made by the distinguished Asst SecyNavy: ne“sSso, me idea of the expense, practicability, useful and healthiness of this plan may be derived from the operationsof the War Dept in the extension of the arsenal grounds in this city. There mud is being dredgedfrom the bottom of the fresh water swampknown as James' creek, and deposited upon the surface of the lands added to grounds; the arsenal and the expenseof this operation is estimated by the efficient superintendent, Mr. Wise, at 25 centsper cubic yard, which would at the s$a9mo0e,0roatoe. make the costof raising League Island Mr. Wise would be very glad to take the whole contract, at Present prices of labor, at thirt centsper cubic yard. This sum is fo less than has aling the beweanr efoxrpethnederdebpyaitrhsea Navy Dept etadmuerr Vanderbilt. It is lessthan Mr. Forbeshas expended upon the steamer Idaho, building for the Government, and is only 20%. more than some of the 1st class steam enginesbuilt since 1861.” According to this statement, to dredge the back channel, and thus to enlarge and deepen it so as to accommodate our own and the English navy, and to fill up the island and place its surface 3 feet above high water mark, will cost $900,000, less than some of our vessels have cost us, less, as has been stated by the distinguished Gentfrom whom I read, than it cost one of our builders to construct the Idaho, less than has been expended by the Navy Dept during the war for repairs and coal of a single vessel, the Wanderbilt. And yet the country has been frightened almost by the statements of the enormous expense necessaryto fit this island for a navy yard. 900,000 dollars, say $1,000,000 if you please, to make the island 3 feet above high water mark, to give us 600 acres of land for a great navy yard in the center almost of our Atlantic coast, to furnish us a basin with the purest fresh water sufficient to accommodate our Navy when it may be increased to the greatest possible extent, and finally to furnish us accommodations for the largest operations of any navy yard. Why, sir the expense of $1,000,000 is not to be Hiei in this connection. The yard at Philadelphia now does not serve our purpose. We cannot bring our iron clads to rest there. We must provide for their laying up; and where shall it be? At an expense of $1,000,000 we can provide this grand basin, if I may so exPress it, or back channel to accommodate the entire Navy. I ask Senators, if we went no further, if we stopped just there, if we dredged this back channel and made it of sufficient depth and width to accommodate our Navy, and should never build a navy yard upon this island at all, should we not be justified in the expend iture of this $1,000,000? Objection has been made I anticipate that it. be made again that Philadelphia is too far removed from the sea to furnish a suitable location for a great navy yard; that our vessels cannot be brought out to meet the service that may be required of them sufficiently ready. Why, sir, it is about 70 or 80 miles from the ocean. It is on a grand river, up which our largest vessels of war have hereto fore passed. There was some objection to the location of a navy yard for the repair of vessels far up the rivers. we depended upon sailing vessels alone; but they are abandoned. Now, of course as a naval Power we must look to a steam navy; we do look to it, and the location of our navy yard must be in view of the fact that ours will be a steam navy. A steamer finds no difficulty in going up or passing down the Delaware river..Why, sir, this argument is to prove that Philadelphia does not exist, a city that has been built up by the commerce which is brought to her and taken from her by great vessels passing up and down this river. i. many the remoteness of this position from the ocean is regarded as an advantage. The yard and the vessels at anchor there are well protected from any enemy; and other Governments are abandoning their yards that are located near to the shore and within range of the improved guns of this age. It will not do any more to locate a navy yard within 4 or 5 miles of the coast. A navy yard thus located must be protected; it cannot protect itself. Philadelphia is already protected. We must always protect Philadelphia, and the protection necessary to that great commercial city is the protection for this navy yard. We have no cost in providing a protection for the navy yard. Its position gives it its protection, and its remoteness from the sea, instead of being an argument against it as a location for this great navy yard, is an argument in its favor. Objection has been made to this location because of the liability of the vessels to be injured by the ice in the Delaware river. I will read on that subject: “The iron monitor steamer Dictator, the NewIronsides, the Atlanta, and the StLouis have iain, during the whole of tremity the last winter, mooredoff the exof a single wharf projecting from League Island into the Delaware river, and built 22 years ago; none of these vessels have received any injury whatever. “The ice, in a severe winter, is occasionally inconvenient at the city of Philadelphia, but it is League Island, not so at which is situated below the city, as the current throws it along the NewJersey shore opposite the island. “The ice of the Delawareriver hasnever been urged as an objection to the yearly appropriations madefor the Philadelphia navy yard, nor has it Philadelphia prevented city from becoming the 3rd commercial in the Union.” If I can turn to iIt will read what Professor Bachee says upon this subject of the ice. I read from the report of Professor Bache and Captain Marston: “When icemakes in the delaware in extremely cold winters it is ho deposited on the Horseshoe shoal, and, up, passes in the direction of the currents to the NewJersey shore, and thence in a gentie, an: dulating curve to the lower end of League Island. The testimony of pilots shows that the breaking u of ice is never a serious matter on the shores o League Island. It is usually honeycombed and rotten before moving. The ice boat is with rare exceptions of extremely cold winters, say once in 40 years, able to keep the Delaware open; in ordinary winters its use is not required; and in the coldest on record in 18 years it was able to make way through the ice on any day of the season, one of these yearsincluding the scverestwinter on record.” If we provide a fresh water resting place for the iron clads we have got to meet the difficulty of ice unless we locate the yard upon the southern coast; and I suppose that the difficulty from ice in the Delaware in the neighborhood of Philadelphia is perhaps less than would be encountered in any river furnishing a sufficient and suitable resting place for the iron clads north of that latitude. Go to Connecticut, to Massachusetts, or to Maine, and do you expect to find fresh water free from ice, and do you expect in any of these localities to avoid the inconveniences to which I have referred? But I think the statement of Professor Bachee on this subject is quite sufficient. The advantages of this location are obvious. In the 1st place the yard will be near a large city, furnishing at all times to the Government a supply of skilled labor. In the 2nd place it is as convenient and advantageous a location as can be found with a view to the necessary timber for use in a navy yard; the supply will be as convenient and cheaply obtained as at any other point. Then the supply of coal and iron, a most important consideration indeed, will be more certainly secured at all times and more cheaply at Philadelphia I Presume than at any other locality in the country. Some objection has been made to the remoteness of the island from the city of Philadelphia and the want of accommodations for the fami lies of the laborers at such a yard. I shall not stop to discuss that at any length. I suppose that the extension of 2 or 3 lines of stotreet cars down Broad street and other streets the shore will furnish sufficient convenience to all the laborers. But there is no doubt that as soon as the navy yard is established, tenements will be erected at once. This navy yard cannot be established advantageously to the Government in the heart or near the heart of the city of Philadelphia; no point furnishing the advantages which we must now have can be found nearer to the city of.p or perhaps to any other city than League Island; and as soon as the work commences, every Senator knows that the necessary accommodations will grow up; it will come to be the interest of men to make improvements. I intended, Mr. President, at this time merely to indicate some of the views of the committee upon this subject, and not to discuss it elabo rately. I suppose there will be objection made, as there has been elsewhere, to this bill. I favor it because I am not willing to see the only navy yard which we have in the middle States removed from them. I should considet it a great national calamity to remove the only yard that is now found in the waters that flow through the middle States. I do not intend to discuss this matter in any sectional view; I do not suggest this with any purpose to address any sectional sentiment; but we have agreed by the establishment of arsenals over the country that the military and naval power of the country ought to be distributed into the different sections. It is a lesson taught us by the late war, and I would not consent unless the reasons were entirely controlling to the abandonment of a navy yard at Philadelphia.