UNITED STATES MAIL STEAM- SHIPS. UNIThB mTATmS MAIL STEAi-SliPS. Facts respectfully submitted to the Consideration of the Congress of the United States. The circumstances under which the system of combining the efficient elements of a Naval and Commercial Steam Marine has been brought before the present Congress, and the official proposition to rescind the contracts under which heavy amounts have been expended, the effects of which, if adopted, must prostrate the parties who in entering upon the great enterprize have relied upon the national faith and liberality, seem to demand from the undersigned a brief statement of the facts. At the close of the session of 1b47, the Congress of the United States passed an act authorizing the Secretary of the Navy to contract with various parties for the construction of ocean steam ships, as a part of the plan to which we have alluded, of a combined Naval and Commercial Steam Marine, in connection with the mail service. Enlarged and extended views no doubt governed Congress in the adoption' f the plan, and its liberal provision for carrying it out. The adoption by the English government of a similar plan for letter-carrying by steam, had led nearly exclusively to the employment of British bottoms I in the letter-carrying and much of the commerce of the world; and of both letters and commerce in its intercourse by steam with this country, and even between one distant portion of our own territory and another. To meet and counteract this formidable monopoly, which had grown up under direct and large grants by the English parliament, and the supposed superiority of English steam machinery, required the aid of the American Congress; for it was evident that unaided American enterprize and capital could not cope with it; and such aid was offered, under a view of all the circumstances, to four different lines of steamers, embracing all the material routes of commercial intercourse by trade and letter-carrying. Among the prominent parts of this system, the act of Congress aforesaid authorised the Secretary of the Navy to contract with Albert G. Sloo, for the construction of five Steam ships, four of them of not less than 1,500 tons burden, and one of them of not less than 600 tons. They were required to be built under the direction of a Government Naval Constructor, in a manner specifically set forth in the act, adapted to all the purposes of war steam ships of the first class, and to form, whenever required by the Navy Department, a part of the Naval armament of the United States. They were also required to transport the mails from New-York to Havana and New-Orleans, touching if practicable, at Charleston and Savannah, and between Havana and Chagres, and back, twice in each month. For this service, adequate compensation was provided, throughout the duration of the contract, a period of ten years. Simultaneously with, and a part of the act of Congress authorizing this contract, were two other similar contracts, one with Arnold Harris, (subsequently assigned to Howland & Aspinwall,) for the construction of three steamships, two of not less than 1,000 tons burden and one of not less than 600 tons, for the transportation of the mails from Panama, on the Pacific, to San Francisco and Oregon, and back, and the other with E. K. Collins, and his associates, for the construction of five steamships, for the transportation of the mails from New-York to Liverpool, and back. These (with the previously authorized line from New-York to Bremen,) were the various parts of a complete and important plan, adapted to the growing wants of the public service, and for providing an adequate Steam Marine, whenever the exigencies of the country might require it, and for facilitating intercourse, and the transmission of the mails, between remote parts of our own country and other nations. For the due performance of it, in all its ramifications, it required a large aggregate of capital, skill and intelligent enterprize. After a lapse of nearly three years, portions of the undertaking have gone into efficient operation; and already the fruits of it, its utility and its advantages and benefits to the American government and people, have been demonstrated. 4 When the various parts shall be completed, and the plan, in all its features, shall be in full operation, its immediate practical results, aside from its prospective effectiveness in furnishing a class of war steamers for any ultimate purpose of the American government, will be found fully to justify the action of Congress, and the participation and favor of the Government, and confirm the public confidence in its great utility and value. Viewing the matter in this enlarged and liberal light, the undersigned entered into an agreement with Mr. Sloo to construct the ships, and his contract with the government was assigned to them, with the assent and approval of the Secretary of the Navy, which approval they regarded as an essential condition of the investment of their capital. The assignment was accepted, and filed in the department about the 1st of October, 1847. Notwithstanding the burden of the ships had been fixed in the contract at 1500 tons, it was believed that the interests of government and the business in which they were to be engaged would be promoted by vessels of much larger tonnage. For all immediate or ultimate purposes of government, it cannot be doubted the larger ships would be most serviceable and most valuable. For carrying an armament, and for all war purposes, their superiority over smaller vessels of less comparative strength and far less effectiveness, was obvious. For speed also in transmitting the mails, and for capacity as well as expedition, in transporting troops, they were considered much 5 superior. At the request of Mr. Sloo, the original contractor, and they beg leave to remark, not without the approval of the Secretary of the Navy, the ships were enlarged to those of the largest class, one (the Ohio) of 2,434 tons, and the other (the Georgia) of 2,727 tons, and their construction entered upon by the undersigned, with the knowledge and at least implied approbation of the government. But they had many obstacles to overcome. They were the pioneers in the construction of ocean steam ships of this magnitude. American ship builders and engine-makers were without experience in the construction of large steam ships. Much time was necessarily consumed in procuring the proper plans and models of the hulls, and especially the machinery. Aside from these difficulties, it was well known to all the parties, and to the Secretary of the Navy at the time of completing the assignment of the contract to the undersigned, that with the increased size of the ships, their completion at the period named therein, was an impossibility, and that contracts with ship-builders and engine-makers could not be made for their being finished within from six to nine months beyond the period named. And the result was, that although contracts for the engines were made, in which it was stipulated that they should be completed for the Ohio on the 9th of May, 1849, and for the Georgia on the 9th of July of that year, they were not completed until October in the one case, and in De 6 cember in the other. These facts were reported, from time to time, to the Navy Department; but the only official intimation that an attempt would be made, under such circumstances, to deprive the undersigned of the fruits of their labor and heavy investment of capital, was in the first annual report of the present Secretary of the Navy, in December last. In consideration of the greatly increased size of the ships, and with a knowledge of the fact that delay in their completion was unavoidable, Congress, late in the session of 1848, did not hesitate to renew an expression of its approval of the system and the progress in building the ships, and virtually to sanction the delay in their construction, by authorizing an advance to the undersigned, as also to the two other mail steam lines, of the amount of one year's mail service, to aid in the construction of the ships. By the terms of the act of Congress and the contract, a portion of the service was required to be commenced on the 1st of October, 1848; but owing to the lapse of time before the agreement between the undersigned and Mr. Sloo was consummated, and to the enlarged size of the ships, it became, as we have already stated, impossible, as was apparent to all the parties and to Congress, to finish either of the ships at the period named; and the Falcon, a new steam ship, of 1000 tons burden, with double engines, and admirably built throughout, was purchased by this company for temporary use in transporting the mails, and with 7 the belief that a vessel, so superior to a ship of the class of 600 tons required by the contract, would be accepted by the government. With the assent of the Secretary of the Navy, and under a special agreement, the Falcon was so employed in the mail service, and has been continued in the regular performance of this duty to the present time. The period of commencing the service by any of the ships, was material on-, ly in relation to the mails; and by the employment of the Falcon, this service was entered upon as soon as the corresponding service on the other side was begun by the Pacific line. The undersigned offered to enter upon it at an earlier day, and did enter upon it as soon as the government expressed a desire for its commencement. Accordingly the first mail for California and Oregon was delivered by the Falcon at Chagres before the first mail ships in the Pacific had arrived, at Panama. In regard to the transportation of the mails: from New-York to New-Orleans via. Charleston, Savannah and Havana, and from New-York to Chagres, the service was performed monthly, and we believe satisfactorily, from Dec. 1, 1848, by the Falcon and Isthmus steam ships, and after Sept., 1849, by the Falcon and Ohio; and since the 1st of January last, twice a month, to New Orleans and Chagres, and back, by the Georgia,. Ohio and Falcon. Since the commencement, and the running of the ships of the undersigned under their contract, they have performed 145,000 8 miles mail service; and the quality of the ships and the character of the machinery may be understood from the fact that this extensive service has been performed with great regularity in the arrival and departure of their ships-not one of them having been delayed in the least by any accident or by any defect in the machinery, and having been always ready to go out of port as soon as their coal and supplies could be taken on board, The mail service is now performed "in full and strict compliance with the law of the contract," and more frequently than the Pacific line of U. S. mail steamers are able to connect with this line at Panama. The undersigned have been led to present these facts for the consideration of the present Congress, in consequence of having observed that in the bill making appropriations for the naval service for 1851, as reported by the committee on ways and means of the House of Representatives, the appropriation for the transportation of the United States mail between New-York and Liverpool, between New-York and New Orleans, Havana and Chagres, and between Panama and some point in the territory of Oregon, is accompanied by the following "Proviso": "Provided, That no part of this appropriation, or of the unexpended appropriations for the same service heretofore made, shall be drawn from the Treasury, unless the contract under which payment is sought shall have been performed in full and strict compliance with the law of the contract. And the Secretary of the Navy is hereby authorized and required to rescind such of said contracts as may not have been fully and substantially performed according to the terms and stipulations thereof" This proposed Proviso of course derives importance from the circumstance that it is presumed to have been introduced at the suggestion of the Secretary of the Navy. It proposes to vest in that functionary the absolute and unconditional power to rescind the contracts, or any of them, whenever he shall judge that they have not been literally and strictly complied with. That power, the rightful exercise of which is so material to the public interests and to the full success of the original intention of Congress, and so vital to those who for the past three years have embarked their means and labor in this large undertaking, is now in the hands and under the control of the representatives of the people. If this Proviso shall be adopted, it places the whole question, and all the rights and interests it involves, exclusively at the disposal of the Secretary of the Navy, without even judicial remedy or appeal, no matter under what circumstances the power might be exercised. It invests an Executive officer with the highest judicial functions, and implies that they are to be rigidly exercised, and are not to be tempered by the principles which govern in cases of equity. He, not the courts, nor the body from whence the 2 10 service emanated, adjudicates upon the whole question. In his hands are placed the fortunes and property of American citizens to a vast amount. The highest power known to our laws,the power to pass upon the obligations of contracts and their performance-a power held sacred, and protected by constitutional reservations and judicial forms under all governments not absolute or abitrary in their structure-is conferred upon an executive, not a judicial functionary, without process, inquiry, or judicial proceeding, and protection or remedy of any sort. It not only authorizes and directs the abrogation of the contracts, at the will of such officer, but prohibits the payment on the service of any part of the present or any previous appropriation-not one dollar of which has yet been allowed to any portion of the service performed by the undersigned. If not in derogation of the letter of that clause of the Federal constitution, which prohibits the passage of laws affecting the inviolability of contracts, it must be regarded as trenching upon its spirit. How it will be exercised, if Congress shall relinquish its own control over the question, and vest the legislative or judicial power to pass upon these contracts in the hands of an executive officer-and what immrunity against great loss if not ruin the parties can be supposed to have-cannot be altogether forseen by those interested, but the undersigned cannot but feel that they are threatened with consequences at once injurious and undeserved. It will be claimed, as the undersigned are assured and believe, that these contracts have not been carried into full and complete effect, because the ships have not been built within the period named therein. This ground of complaint has been already answered in the statement of the causes of the delay, and the acquiescence of the government in a postponement that was unavoidable. The ships were not completed at the time stipulated, and could not be from the nature of things, because they were greatly enlarged, and rendered thereby doubly valuable for all the intended public purposes, —an enlargement approved by the Navy Department and sanctioned by Congress. Another objection is the omission to copper the Ohio. This omission, when this ship was launched, was believed and intended to add to the value of the vessel, and promote the interests of government therein. It is a received opinion among experienced ship builders, that it is very important that a vessel should, after having been caulked for the first time, remain in the water many months, and until her planks have sl runk and she has been recaulked before the copper sheathing is put on. After a ship has been in the water about a year, the planks shrink, and the seams open, and a recaulking becomes important both for the strength of the ship and to prevent leakage. If the coppering is done before such lapse of time and before such recaulking, it soon 12 becomes necessary, and long before the copper is worn out, to take it off (and it is thus wholly lost for use as sheathing) and recaulk the vessel and copper her a second time. This consideration was one of the strong reasons for sending the Ohio to sea in the first instance without her copper, and as the termini of her voyage were in fresh water, or water nearly fresh, it was perfectly unobjectionable in that respect, while in every other it was advantageous to the ship and the interests connected with it. But another and an equally strong reason was that she could be made ready for sea at a much earlier day, by avoiding the delay of coppering, at a time when the government and the public required her services. Another circumstance also tended to render it expedient to avoid delay in sending the Ohio to sea. While the subject of coppering was under consideration, an examination was made of the docks upon which, if coppered, she must be taken from the water, and it was found that the Ohio, being the largest steam ship which had ever been completed in this country, and her engines and machinery larger and heavier, the weight of the whole rendered it necessary to strengthen and improve the ways before the hazard of placing her upon them was incurred, which in case of accident might be very destructive. The experiment of coppering the Georgia was made on the only dock then adapted to that purpose, and although it was effected with that ship with only a portion of her machinery placed in her, yet it 13 has not been considered safe to renew the experiment with the Ohio, with the increased weight of her entire machinery; and the undersigned, while they are and have been ready and desirous to complete her coppering, have regarded it as necessary to wait till the completion of the government dock for that purpose. To effect this object at the earliest day, application has been made to the Secretary of the Navy for permission to enter the government dock. His reply, and other correspondence on this subject, are appended to this paper.* It was the intention of Congress, as the undersigned suppose, to build steam ships adapted to the coast defence, and especially the southern coast and ports. By the literal terms of the contract, the vessels were to be steamers of the first class, of not less than 1,500 tons, to conform in all respects to the model and dimensions of the late steamship Missouri. The draught of water of the Missouri, if required in the mail steamships, would have utterly defeated the intention of Congress. A " full and strict compliance with the law of the contract," would have shut out the material purpose for which, as a part of the National Steam Marine and as a branch of the mail service, the plan was intended. With the assent, therefore, of the government, the dimensions of the Missouri were departed from, under an indispensable necessity to adapt the ships to the intended object. But this change not only involved other changes, but greatly increased the *Vide Appendix A. 14 cost of the ships. To gain the requisite lightness of draught of water to enter the port of New Orleans, and at the same time to build ships the most formidable for Naval purposes, capable of carrying an armament, and to attain the highest speed known in Ocean Steam ships, it became indispensable to increase their length and breadth, and enlarge their engines and boilers. In this manner, some four feet in the draught, and by improvement in the model and the enlargement of the machinery, a speed of four miles per hour, were gained beyond that of the Missouri. But this involved a departure from " a full and strict compliance with the law of the contract." To have adhered to it literally would have resulted in a sacrifice of a great and material object in the construction of the ships, both for defensive purposes and for letter-carrying, to say nothing of the purposes of trade and intercourse they were intended to promote. Had the ships been built strictly upon the model and dimensions of the Missouri, not one of them could have entered or departed from the port of New-Orleans loaded, nor could their speed have exceeded ten miles per hour. Not one of the ocean steam ships, capable of carrying a formidable armament, except the Georgia and Ohio, is suitable for the defence of the southern coast, owing to their draft of water. In making these improvements, adapted to the purposes of Government and of Congress, and to 15 the nature of the service, and in subjecting themselves to the greatly increased expenditure, and the unavoidable delay in the construction of the ships, caused thereby, it was supposed by the undersigned that a public good was achieved. It was not imagined for a moment that in securing higher qualities for the ships, in giving to them a -double capacity and value, and in rendering them in all respects more suitable for the service required and worthier of the character and objects of the government, they were affording grounds for questioning their ability to carry forward the enterprize, or for placing their contract, the large amount of capital they have expended on the ships, and all their rights and interests, in jeopardy. When the undersigned entered upon the per.. formance of their engagements under their contract, they did not suppose that technical objections would be made as to the time of the completion of the ships, or their precise conformity to a particular and impracticable model; especially when they had built ships double the size of those required by the contract, and at a greater cost for the two, than for the four ships agreed to be built therein; and especially when the mail service has been performed as often for all the time as the mail ships in the Pacific could receive or bring them, and during the present year more frequently. If judged by "a strict and full compliance with the law of the contract," and if' slight deviations from it, or, when regarded as ad 16 vantageous, as in the instance of the enlargement of the ships, material departures from it, afford the ground or pretext for annulling the contracts, or for the exercise of that high and extreme power, not one of the contracts can remain in existence, for every one of them have departed from their literal stipulations. The undersigned were not unaware that local and individual interests, now that the labor, hazard and responsibility of establishing these lines have been incurred, and the difficulties overcome, desire, for selfish purposes, to retard and destroy the contracts under which, in good faith, they have been projected and carried forward; but they entertain no belief that such considerations will be allowed to affect the action of Congress, in any manner inconsistent with the public interests and a just recognition of the rights of the parties to the contracts. The undersigned cannot doubt that equitable considerations will have their just weight with Congress, as they have already had with the judicial tribunals, in its action upon this subject. In a suit involving all the merits of this case, between A. G. Sloo and the undersigned, in the U. S. circuit court, before Judges Nelson and Betts, decided last November in favor of the undersigned, and which was soon thereafter amicably adjusted and settled between the parties, Judge NELSON delivered the opinion of the court. He said, that "in respect to the delay in the construction and equipment of the steam ships, and the action of the court prayed for in the prelimi 17 nary proceeding founded thereon, it is sufficient answer to say, that from the affidavits read upon the hearing, it appears to have been occasioned by the very great enlargement of the tonnage and capacity of the ships, and to have been assented to and acquiesced in by all the parties concerned; that the two completed are almost equal in tonnage to the four, with machinery in proportionand will cost an amount nearly equal to the cost of the four —and that some indulgence on the part of the government, might, therefore, be naturally expected." In relation to the several lines of steam ships,, a liberal policy has been pursued by the Government and by Congress. The Bremen line, although authorized previous to the Liverpool, Chagres and Pacific lines, has not yet completed its ships. The Liverpool line, (Mr. Collins,) has been granted an extension of time for the completion of its ships, and its two now in service were not completed within an average of six months of the completion of the Ohio and Georgia, and the mail service was not commenced by that line until a very recent period. The Pacific line did not enter upon the mail service as soon as it was commenced by the line belonging to the undersigned; and the contractors, (Messrs. Aspinwall,) have been allowed to perform the service from San Francisco to Oregon in sailing vessels, and a part of the service between Panama and San Francisco in an inferior foreign ship. The undersigned cannot doubt that equal indulgence, (greater is not desired,) will be extended to their line. 3 18 The committee on ways and means were naturally desirous to retrench the expenses of the Naval arm of the public service. The Secretary of the Navy directed their attention to these contracts, and suggested that they be rescinded. In placing that grant of power upon the requirement of a full and entire compliance with the terms of the contract, there is an assumed ground of right to do what would not, in ordinary cases, be regarded as a due observance of the public faith. If the parties had sought to evade the performance of their obligations, or if they had built ships inadequate to the service, or of inferior capacity and character to those required by their contracts; if they had attempted to filch from or defraud the government, by the construction of vessels of an inferior class, at a less cost, or of reduced value; any such course would have afforded ground at least for censure, if not for reduced compensation, or for damages-it may even have been regarded as plausible ground for rescinding their contracts. But when the parties have shown no such disposition-when they have produced much larger and better vessels than the contracts required-have expended a far larger amount of money than they were bound to expend-when the ships they have already built have cost as much as all they were required to construct, and are prepared to build others of a higher character than the terms of their contract demanded-when all the deviations from "a strict and full compliance with the letter of the contract," have 19 been for the purpose not of saving money to the contractors, but to improve, advance and enlarge the means of performing the service, creditably, advantageously and usefully for the government and the mail service-it is pot to be supposed that the Congress of the United States will regard these as reasons for destroying their contracts, and for prostrating those who in good faith have placed their means in these steam lines, and have induced others, relying upon the government faith, to embark therein. The retrenchment of the public expenditures is at all times laudable, where it can be done without injury to the public service, and without wrong and injustice to the rights and just claims of individuals. Government may possess the abstract power to annul a contract-and citizens of the republic may have no means or power of redress-but nothing except a great public exigency and a clear necessity, and upon ample remuneration, could justify the exercise of a power so ruinous to the parties who have entered into engagements with the government, and who rely upon them and the public faith to protect them from loss or ruin. In making the important experiment of combining the naval and commercial service, it was considered as true economy, and a prudent regard to the public interests, to build two ships and test their qualities, before proceeding to the construction of other vessels for the same object, and having like duties to perform. In this department of naval architecture in this country, in the construc 20 tion of ships of this magnitude, comparatively little was known. American engine-makers and ship-builders had not attempted the construction of such vessels. The experiment of obtaining a sufficiently light draught of water, combined with high speed, by an increased breadth of beam, that would not cause the ship to be uneasy at sea, was untried. We were without a guide, and were obliged to proceed according to our best judgment, without experience, and without the aid of previously ascertained results. Two ships under stuch circumstances were considered sufficient for the experiment. Two certainly would have been sufficient had they proved failures. In the construction of these ships, no cost or pains have been spared. So far, they are altogether superior to any ocean steam ships in the service of this or any other government, in their adaptation to war purposes. The undersigned point indeed to the fruits of the system adopted by Congress, and as carried into effect by this and the other ocean steam lines, with the confident belief that they will be approved and sustained by the general voice of the American people, and by their representatives. Under this system, steam ships have been built and others are now in progress, surpassing any hitherto constructed in this country, and superior indeed in size, model and speed, and in adaptation to naval purposes, to the steam ships of any nation in the world.* In the course of the present year, a steam *Vide Appendix, B. 21 marine of least twenty large ships will traverse the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. They have led to great improvements, and to the acquisition of much valuable information, in this branch of naval architecture. They have given an impetus to the practical labors of machinists, engine-makers and ship-builders in this country, which has served greatly to advance those arts, and promote and improve home skill and industry. They have tested the capacity and enterprise of our countrymen, and have combined, with government encouragement, it is believed for the public good, the energies and means of American citizens; have enlarged the field of practical science in its application to a steam marine; and have established our capacity to cope with the highest skill and lavish means of the most powerful nations of the old world, in all the elements of naval supremacy. They have materially aided in rendering the commerce of the world, at least the commerce of this continent, tributary to American ports and to American capital and skill. Already they have taken the place of English steam ships, which, until these efforts were put forth, engrossed the commerce by steam with European ports, with the distant parts of this continent, and the islands of the Pacific; and they will soon, if not interrupted by adverse legislative action, bear away the palm of naval superiority, in steam ships, in the old world as in the new, as proudly as has been achieved by the 22 American government in the construction of national ships of war. They have provided, and will provide, an effective steam marine, for immediate uses in transporting the mail, and ready at any moment, and at the smallest cost, to be converted to war or naval purposes, and especially for the defence of the southern coast, whenever the exigencies of the government shall call them into service. It is not necessary to add, that these great and important results could not have been effected, or even attempted, without the liberal and undoubted aid and co-operation of Congress. They have been attempted and effectted, under the full expectation that, in good faith, and without regard to unavoidable deviations from the strict letter of the contract, not calculaed to hinder but advance its general objects, such co-operation would be afforded and continued; and a very large outlay of money has been freely ventured upon such reliance. This then is the present attitude of this question: The undersigned for nearly two years, or since service was first required under their contract, have been in direct and approved co-operation with the government. Of their three steam ships, now in service, the Ohio, Georgia and Falcon, U. S. naval officers are in command. The Georgia and Ohio have been built under the inspection of a U. S. naval constructor. In these ships, all the principal officers who navigate and govern them, are appointed from the Navy of the 23 United States. They have been at all times at the service of government, in any form it chose to direct. They were the first to convey the officers of government to California and Oregon, without cost to the government. They have conveyed the mail with regularity; and are now in the full discharge of their duties under the contract. Having completed, besides the Falcon, their two large steam ships, in the most approved manner, with the best skill of the country, it was considered desirable to test their qualities, and to ascertain whether, in the judgment of Congress and the Government, any farther improvements in their models, dimensions or machinery, to adapt them to the defence or service of the Southern coast, was necessary, and to obtain the consent of Congress to make such modifications, before proceeding to build the remaining vessels required by the terms of the contract. With this view, although their own plans have been made, and contracts with builders entered into, for the additional ships, they have been temporarily suspended. And now the question is, whether such farther alteration may be directed by Congress, as will gain a still lighter draught of water, and thus enable the ships to enter other ports and harbors. This is believed to be a desirable if not an indispensable requisite. The ships already built are as good as any that can be constructed, suitable for war purposes, and for great speed for 24 that object and for transporting the mails, and enter the port of New Orleans. If it is desirable to extend the means of defence to other portions of the Southern coast and seaboard, then it will become necessary, in order to enable the contractors to meet any such requirement, for Congress to direct the requisite modifications in " the law of the contract." The undersigned do not fear to present all their acts, and their entire proceeding under their contract, to the scrutiny and decision of Congress. They have no fear that at the hands of the representatives of the American people, in both branches of the national legislature, they will not receive just and liberal treatment, nor that their efforts, and the fruits of them, will not be fairly appreciated. But they desire that a question involving consequences of such magnitude to themselves, and to all the parties who have embarked in these enterprizes relying upon the faith of their contracts, and of such general importance in its relation to the rights and property of American citizens, should not be withdrawn from the cognizance of Congress, and submitted to the sole judgment and decision of any Executive officer, however elevated and disinterested; or that the several parties should be judged by a rule of full and strict performance of the requirements of their contracts, the deviations from which have been unavoidable, and believed and intended to promote the public good and to advance and improve the service. The respec 25 tive contracts were made with. an express reference to the supervision of Congress over them; and any change or delegation of such supervision, conferring power to annul the contracts at pleasure, would seem to be alike unjust to the parties interested, and in derogation of the spirit of the contracts. GEORGE LAW, M. O. ROBERTS, E. CROSWELL, For themselves and their associates. New-York May 29, 1850. 4 APPENDIX A. NEW-YORK, April 25, 1850. SIR-This Company has been desirous since the Steamship Ohio commenced running, on the 20th of September last, to provide for her being coppered. With this view we have been prepared to arrange her departure from this city, whenever she could be admitted into the Government Dry Dock. As it is necessary to make the arrangement a voyage in advance, I respectfully solicit permission to place her in the Government Dock, and to be advised when she can be admitted. I have the honor to be, With great respect, Your ob't servant, M. 0. ROBERTS. Hon. WM. BALLARD PRESTON,? Secretary of the Navy, Washington. NAVY DEPARTMENT, l April 29th, 1850. SIR-Your letter of 25th instant, asking permission to place the Steamship Ohio in the Dry Dock, at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, with a view to her being coppered, &c., has been received and referred to the Chief of the Bureau of Yards and Docks. That officer informs me that it is probable the Dock will not be ready for such use before September next. It will, however, depend upon the time when the turning gates shall be completed, and the pumps and appendages for discharging the water shall be finished and in place. I am, very respectfully, Your ob't servant, WM. BALLARD PRESTON. M0. O. ROBERTs, Esq., New-York. 28 NEW-YORK, May 3, 1850. DEAR SIR-Will you do us the favor to inform us, when, in your judgment, it will be practicable to admit the Steamship Ohio into the Government Dock for the purpose of having her coppered? May we with safety make the experiment of having the Ohio coppered in the Sectional Dock? She has double engines, and four boilers of about 800 tons weight. With your knowledge of the subject, can you advise us to make that experiment Very respectfully, your ob't servants, GEORGE LAW, (Signed.) M. 0. ROBERTS, E. CROSWELL. C. B. STEWART, Esq.,? Chief Engineer, U. S. Dry Dock. DRY DOCK OFFICE, U. S. Navy Yard, l Brooklyn, May 6, 1850. GENTLEMEN-In answer to your letter of the third instant, I would state that it is now confidently anticipated by Governeur Kemble, Esq., the contractor for erecting the large engine and pumps for this work, that he will have them ready for operation as early as the middle of July next. If this work is not detained for the appropriation for the next fiscal year, it will, I doubt not, be ready by the last of July at the latest. The Dock cannot be used until the permanent pumps and engine are erected, the temporary ones that were used for docking the sloop-of-war' Dale" last winter, having been removed last March from the pump well to make room for those now being erected. I should not deem it prudent nor expedient to put a steamer of the size and weight of the'~ Ohio," with her double engines and four boilers on board, into a Sectional or Floating Dock, for many reasons that are too obvious to need detailing; and although large steamers have been, as you are aware, taken into that kind of Dock, yet I should think the experiment too hazardous to repeat without some very controlling cause. Since writing the above, the able and experienced Naval Constructor of this yard, informs me that he fully coincides with the opinions above expressed, relative to putting the Ohio with all her machinery on board, into a Sectional Docko 29 If economy of time was an object with you, the Ohio could be put into Dock, coppered and taken out, in twenty-fou hours, if the proper arrangements were made in season. In very great haste, I remain yours, CHAS. B. STEWART, Chief Engineer, U. S. Dry Dock. To Messrs. GEORGE LAW, MARSHALL 0. ROBERTS, 1 E. CROSWELL, New-York. APPENDIX B. U. S. MAIL STFAM SHIP GEORGIA JVew-York, JMlarch 9, 1850. SIRAgreeably to your instructions, I lay before you a report of the performance of this ship, since the time I have been in command of her. I sailed from New-York on the 28th of January last, on her first voyage, with seven hundred tons of coal on board, two hundred tons of freight, and one hundred and eighty passengers, with an extra quantity of baggage. The ship's tlim was sixteen feet forward and fifteen feet aft, that being considered her best trim for sailing by the constructor. We cleared the bar of New-York with the wind and a heavy sea from the southward, which chopped round to NW. in the course of a few hours, and ended in a gale (not heavy.) I found the ship easy, though steering badly, owing to being so much by the head. I immediately commenced trimming her by the stern, using coal from forward, and found she felt it at once. We made our run from New-York to Charleston bar in fifty hours. Had it not been for the bad steering of the ship, we would have run the distance in forty-six hours: the first twenty hours she averaged twelve knots an hour, and until we reached Charleston, thirteen knots an hour. At Charleston laid her to under main and mizen trysails to save coal-laid to very well, coming up and falling off a point only. From Charleston to Savannah we were four hours and thirty-five minutes-,whole distance run, seventy-three miles —nearly fifteen knots an hour. From Savannah to Havana, we were sixty hours, against fresh breezes and Gulf stream. Whole running time 30 from New-York to Havana, five days and twelve hours, including seventeen hours detention at Savannah and Charleston. This is the quickest running time on record by two days. From Havana we proceeded to New Orleans. The first four hours out, the sea for the first time was perfectly smooth, and she ran fifteen miles an hour with fifteen pounds of steam on. Then we encountered a fresh norther, with a heavy sea. She madetwelve knots an hour through it all, excepting for two hours, when I ordered the steam slacked up, as the sea was too heavy to lorce her. She made, however, twenty-four miles in three hours. As soon as the sea moderated, I ordered the steam to be put on, not above fifteen pounds, and she ran the remainder of the distance, one hundred and seventyfive miles, against the stream, in twelve hours and a half, reaching the bar at the Balize in fifty-six hours from her anchorage at Havana. Though the gale was not a heavy one, it was sufficiently so to test the ship. Nothing could be more beautiful than her performance, she being perfectly easy, and not feeling the shock of the head seas at all-her engine working as smoothly as if it was in smooth water. Her run from the bar up to New-Orleans was a remarkable one, being performed in eight hours and a half, against a very strong current-the distance one hundred and ten miles She burnt on her trip to New-Orleans 449 tons of anthracite coal. Running time six days and twenty-three hoursdistance two thousand and ten miles. At New-Orleans I took in six hundred and fifty tons of bituminous coal, bricked up the furnace so as to cut off the fire surface, and proceeded to Chagres, with four hundred and thirty passengers-ship drawing 15 feet 9 inches forward, and 14 feet 4 inches aft. Passed the bar at dead low water without any difficulty-wind blowing from the NW. at the time, and increasing gradually to a heavy gale-running under five pounds of steam. The ship being by the head steered badly and had a tendency to broach to as the sea increased. I put all the head sail she would carry on her, but it would not counteract the effcts of wheel houses and the after masts, and as I was in no hurry, I thought it prudent to run no risks. I hove her to under steam alone, making about four turns a minute, and going to windward three miles an hour. She remained hove to for fourteen hours, and I cannot speak in too high terms of her behavior-being perfectly easy, giving evidence of great strength, and not taking on board a drop of water; engines working very smooth, When the gale moderated, I bore up on my course, and arrived in Chagres in six 31 days and eight hours, carrying only five pounds of steam: consumed 275 tons of bituminous coal-distance 1,610 miles. While at Chagres, I had occasion to go to Porto Bello for water, and returning used only the two fore boilers to save coal. With the two boilers, she run from Porto Bello to Chagres in two hours and ten minutes, distance by patent log 281 miles, 29- by the chart; consumed five tons of coal, including getting up steam, and averaged one ton and a quarter per hour while under way; amount of steam carried, ten pounds. We left Chagres on the 27th for Havana, and made the run from anchorage to anchorage in three days and fourteen hours; distance run 1120 miles, 60 miles current against us; ship light, and carrying fifteen pounds of steam. The first two days, I carried twelve pounds of steam, and only until sure I had plenty of coal, ordered her to be put to her speed. At times she run sixteen knots an hour, and averaged fourteen knots up to Havana. The last days' run we had a heavy sea on the quarter, and being light, the ship rolled considerably, but steered remarkably well, which proves she only wanted to be on an even keel to make her steer. At Havana, we stopped thirty-six hours, and took on board 369 tons of coal, part anthracite, and part bad Scotch coal, half clinker. We cleared the harbor at six o'clock precisely, on the evening of the 4th, with a fresh breeze ahead; fifteen pounds of steam on, and making twelve knots an hour, I trimmed the ship four inches by the stern, and all difficulty about steering was at an end. She steered for hours without scarcely moving the wheel. On the second day out, the wind hauled round to S. E., freshening up, and gradually increasing to a very heavy gale, with an ugly sea on; ship scudding under fore sail, and steering well. Proper attention not being paid to my orders about using coal from forward, she gradually got by the head, and did not steer so well, proving her trim to be by the stern. She made most rapid headway with wind and steam, it blowing so hard at the time that it was with difficulty we could get our fore sail in and furl it. Fiftytwo hours from Havana the wind shifted to the windward, still blowing heavy. All this time the ship was so easy that not a thing in her moved from its place, and below the motion was scarcely perceptible, the engine making sixteen revolutions, and ship making fourteen miles and over through the water. At day light we found our patent log gone, on which we depended to know our distance run, but we calculated we were up with Hatteras, sixty hours after leaving 32 Havana. On getting an observation, found we.had run by the cape thirty miles, making the distance run from Havana one thousand and fifty miles in sixty hours, no doubt the greatest distance ever yet performed by a ship. Hauled up for New-York against a heavy N. W. gale, making ten knots an hour, and arrived at the dock in New-York in four days and three hours, including an hour's detention at the Quarantine. The shortness of my stay will prevent my going more into particulars, and on my return to this place, I will enclose you a copy of our journal. Very respectfully, Your obedient servant, D. D. PORTER, Lt. U. S. JXavy. Commodore Mt. C. PERRY, U. S. Navy, New-York. U. S. MAIL STEAM SHIP GEORGIA, JVew-York, Jlpril 8th, 1850. S SIR-Since my last report, I have made another trip to Chagres, encountering such heavy weather, as will establish the character of this as the best of sea boats. We sailed from New-York on the 13th of March, with 700 passengers, meeting very heavy weather the moment we cleared the harbor. The ship being trimmed four inches by the stern, behaved most beautifully, steering to my entire satisfaction. We made our run to Havana in a little over six days, including our stoppages at Charleston and Savannah, with ten pounds of steam. At Havana we took in 450 passengers from the Falcon, making with the crew over 1200 persons, and carried them to Chagres in four days, without any great inconvenience, and the ship scarcely felt the load. It was a good test of her capacity to carry troops, and if she was differently fitted, she could carry on board 1800 men, without any difficulty. Her engines go on improving every trip, and I hope on my return to lay before you the Engineer's log, which is being copied for that purpose. On my return from Havana, I trimmed the ship eight inches by the stern, and did not use the coal from the side bunkers until the last. This remedied all defects, if there were any. She was easy, steered beautifully, and made her best speed, having run from her anchorage to the bar in three days and twenty-two hours, an average of 340 miles a day: two days of this was heavy weather, and one of the days it blew heavy 33 from the N. E., knocking up a very heavy sea in the Gulf, and yet she made 265 miles, or an average of eleven knots an hour, without shipping a sea, which I think it impossible for her to do if she is in trim. If the time should ever come when it will be found necessary to put a battery on her, it will make her a still better ship, as it is a difficult matter to get her deep enough in the water; and I venture to say, that no model ever built will prove her superior in any one respect. Veiy respectfully, Your obedient servant, D. D. PORTER, Lt. U. S. J'avy. Commodore M. C. PIERRY, U. S. Navy, New-York. UNITED STATUS MAIL STEAMSHIP GEORGIA, JVew-York, MJlay 12, 1850. SirThe Steamship Georgia has again arrived in port, after making the most successful run ever yet made from Chagres to New-York, seven days and eight hours running time, weather adverse. The qualities of this ship have so far been tested to my satisfaction, that it leaves me but little to say about her, except to repeat what I have already said in my former reports. She has returned to her dock without wanting any repairs in hull or machinery, though she has gone through some heavy weather, and thus far, I am satisfied that every part of the ship has received that attention in the construction which was desired by the Government. I am getting her in a little better order than when she first started, and hope in two or three trips more, to have her in good condition. Thus far, we have been rather hard pushed for time, and have carried a large number of passengers, which have prevented me frorn doing many things to the ship which she requires. I see by the papers, that the Niagara sailed from England the same day we sailed from Chagres, and arrived in Halifax, the same day we arrived here. The distance is about the same; our navigation the most difficult. Her running time was 9 days and some hours, with I believe, favorable weather; while we have to deduct 59 hours we lay at Havana, which would give us a gain of 732 miles over her, in nine days. I state this circumstance, to enable you to make a comparison between the respective speed of the Georgia and the Niagara, 5 34 the best and fastest British steamer afloat. I have never, under any circumstances, (except once, for a few hours,) pressed this ship, because in the first place, the facilities for getting coal on our route, (which is very much lengthened by stopping, at Charleston and Savannah,) will not permit, and because I endeavor to keep up a uniform rate of speed. How far the ship can be depended on, can be seen from an inspection of her three trips. She has always arrived in Havana, going to and coming from Chagres, at the same hour. Her first trip from Havana lo New-York was 3 days and 23 hours and ahalf. Second trip, 3 days and 22 hours. The third trip 3 days and 20 hours. Every trip she has met with heavy weather and adverse to steaming. Our trip out from New-York is not so well to be depended on, as we are much delayed and embarrassed by stopping at Charleston and Savannah, with the loss of much time, and attended with risk to the ship. If the government feel any interest in these ships I do not suppose they would desire them to run any unnecessary risks, and Savannah and Charleston are so near to each other, that it seems to be a useless waste of time to stop at both places; in bad weather it is utterly impossible for us to communicate with either. I have already run the ship on something I supposed to be a shoal, and marked the position most accurately, and took soundings at the moment we struck in 17 feet water. The chart gave at that spot 10 fathoms. The superintendent of the coast survey immediately ordered an examination made by Lieut. Maffit of the Navy, who after a careful search could find nothing like a shoal, and supposes that I ran foul of some heavy drift wood that came out of the river. I am confident notwithstanding, that we either struck a sunken wreck, or a shoal, and in conversing with the pilots they tell me that shoals are thrown up between Charleston and Savannah after heavy gales; but their information only extends to the harbors on the coast, and they know little or nothing about it. Very respectfully, Your obedient, (Signed) D. D. POTTER, Lieut. U. S. A Com. M, C, PERRY, U. S. Navy, New-York. 335 APPENDIX C. The ships stipulated to be built by the undersigned, (the U. S. Mail Steamship Company), under their contract, were, Four ships of 1500 tons each......... 6,000 One ship of 600 tons,........,.. 600 --- 6,600 tons. They have built, and have in service, One ship of........... tons, 2,434 do 0............ " * 2,727 do...........e *..... 1)000 -- 6,151 CC being only 449 tons less than the entire tonnage required by their contract. The proportionate cost of large ships is greater than the increased tonnage. Thus, The cost of the ships, under their contract, would have been as follows Four ships of 1500 tons, at $225,000 each, would have cost,...................a.......... $900,000 One ship of 600 tons,...................... 100,000 $1,000,000 The Ohio cost,.. 0............. $449,250 The Georgia cost,........................ 468,550 The Falcon cost,....................... 175,000 $1,092,800 Without interest or commissions on the disbursements dur. ang the period of building, or commissions on building.