Report of the Naval Committee to the House of Representatives August, 1850

REPORT
OF THE
NAVAL COMMITTEE
TO THE
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
August, 1850,
IN FAVOR OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A LINE OF
MAIL STEAMSHIPS
TO
THE WESTERN COAST OF AFRICA,
AND THENCE VIA THE
MEDITERRANEAN TO LONDON;
DESIGNED
TO PROMOTE THE EMIGRATION OF FREE PERSONS OF COLOR
FROM THE UNITED STATES TO LIBERIA:
ALSO
TO INCREASE THE STEAM NAVY,
AND
TO EXTEND THE COMMERCE OF THE UNITED STATES.
WITH
AN APPENDIX
ADDED BY THE
AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY.

WASHINGTON:
PRINTED BY GIDEON AND CO.
1850.

The memorial of Judge Bryan was referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs, composed of Representatives from the following States:

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the memorial of Joseph Bryan, of Alabama, for himself and his associates, George Nicholas Sanders and others, praying the establishment of a line of steamers from the United States to the coast of Africa, designed to promote the colonization of free persons of color, to suppress the African slave trade, to carry the mails, and to extend the commerce of the United States, beg leave to submit the following Report:

The proposition of the memorial involves an extension of that system, recently commenced by Congress, which has for its object the creation of a powerful steam navy, to be used in time of peace in carrying the mails, and in effecting great public objects, not to be attained by private enterprise without the aid of Congress. How far it may be desirable to extend this system will depend upon the double consideration of the present condition of our naval force, and the importance and feasibility of the ends to be accomplished by the measure. As to the first of these, the committee will present a brief statement of the facts material to a correct understanding of the comparative extent of our present steam navy.

In the report of Mr. Secretary Bancroft, made to the Senate on the 2d March, 1846, the total effective steam navy of Great Britain was stated, at that time, to consist of one hundred and ninety-nine vessels, of all classes; that of France numbered fifty-four; that of Russia, without the Caspian fleet, thirty-two; while the steam navy of the United States could boast of but six small vessels, and one in process of building; and of these one was for harbor defence, and another a steam-tug.

Since that time, however, Congress has provided for the building of four war steamers, and for the establishment of several lines of steamships engaged in carrying the mails, consisting of seventeen large vessels, suitable for war purposes, and at all times liable to be taken for the public service. Of these latter, nine will run between New York and European ports; five between New York and Chagres; and three between Panama and San Francisco.

Notwithstanding this increase in our force, it has by no means kept pace with that of other great commercial nations. The American Almanac for the present year estimates the steam navy of France at sixty-four steam vessels of war, besides a reserved force of ten steam frigates now ready, and six corvettes and six small vessels nearly ready. The French Government has also resolved to follow the example of England in establishing lines of steamers, built so as to be easily converted into ships of war, to be employed in commerce and for carrying mails, but being at all times subject to the requisition of the Government.

England, also, has added largely to her steam navy, and has increased her lines of mail steamers, giving evidence that she, at least, considers this the best and cheapest mode of providing in time of peace for the exigences of war. On this subject the committee refer to the following facts, for which they are indebted to the remarks of the Hon. T. Butler King, of Georgia, made in the House of Representatives, February 19, 1848.

By act of Parliament, 7 William IV, chap. 3, all previous contracts entered into for the conveyance of the mails by sea were transferred to the Admiralty. In the year 1839, the idea was conceived that the vast expenditures required in naval armaments might be made subservient to the purposes of commerce in time of peace. Accordingly, a contract was entered into with Mr. Cunard and his associates, for the conveyance of the mails from Liverpool, via Halifax, to Boston, in five steamers of the first class, for £85,000, or about $425,000 per annum. It was stipulated that they should be built under the supervision of the Admiralty, should be inspected on being received into the service, and certified to be capable in all respects of being converted into ships of war, and of carrying ordnance of the heaviest description. Various stipulations were entered into in this and other contracts of a similar character, which placed these ships under the control of the Government; thus, in fact, making them, to all intents and purposes, at the same time a part of the mercantile and military marine of the country.

In 1846, the Government enlarged the contract with Mr. Cunard and his associates, by adding four ships to run from Liverpool to New York, and increased the compensation to £145,000, or about $725,000 per annum.

In the year 1840, a contract was made by the Admiralty with the Royal Mail Steamship Company, at £240,000 sterling, or $1,200,000 per annum, for fourteen steamers to carry the mails from Southampton to the West Indies, the ports of Mexico on the Gulf, and to New Orleans, Mobile, Savannah, and Charleston. These ships are of the first class, and are to conform in all respects, concerning size and adaptation to the purposes of war, to the conditions prescribed in the Cunard contracts. They are to make twenty-four voyages a year, leaving and returning to Southampton semi-monthly. Another contract has lately been entered into for two ships to run between Bermuda and New York. These lines employ twenty-five steamers of the largest and most efficient description.

In addition to the above, a contract was made, 1st January, 1845, with the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company for a line of similar steamers, seven in number, from England to the East Indies and China, at £160,000 sterling, or $800,000 per annum. This line passes from Southampton, via Gibraltar and Malta, to Alexandria, in Egypt; thence the route continues overland to Suez, at the head of the Red Sea, from whence the steamers again start, touching at Aden, Bombay, and at Point de Galle, in the island of Ceylon, from whence they proceed to Singapore and Hong Kong. There is a branch line connecting with this, from Point de Galle to Calcutta, touching at Madras.

A contract was made, 1st July, 1846, for a Pacific line of British steamers, four in number, running from Valparaiso to Panama, touching at intermediate ports. This line connects overland, from Panama to Chagres, with the West India line.

Besides these, there were, in 1848, twelve more lines of Government steamers running between Great Britain and the continent of Europe; making a grand aggregate of one hundred and fifteen ocean steamships fitted for war purposes. Very recently the British Parliament has resolved to extend the mail steamship system to Australia.

The committee do not propose that our Government shall attempt to emulate this vast network of steam navigation, with which England has already encompassed the globe. But it is believed that the recent increase of our territory, on the Pacific and in the Gulf of Mexico, forms an additional reason for a considerable augmentation of our steam navy, whether by a direct addition to the navy proper, or by the encouragement of lines of steam packets, to be established by private enterprise under the auspices of Government. If the latter system should be adopted, as already commenced, the ships will be built under the inspection of a Government officer, at the expense of private individuals; they will be commanded by officers in the navy, and will be at all times available for the public service. It will be the interest of the contractors to adopt, from time to time, all the improvements which may be made in machinery and in the means of propulsion, and the ships will be kept in good repair. Besides being commanded by a naval officer, each ship will carry a sufficient number of midshipmen for watch officers, and thus a very considerable portion of the personnel of the service will be kept actively employed, with the opportunity of acquiring the knowledge and skill requisite to the proper management of a steam navy. A corps of trained engineers and firemen will be attached to each ship, and no doubt these would generally remain with her when the ship should be called into the public service.

The committee are of opinion that it is highly desirable to have ready for the public service some very large steamships of the description proposed by the memorialist. They would have great advantages over small ships, in their capacity to carry fuel sufficient for long voyages, and to transport large bodies of troops, and place them rapidly, in a fresh and vigorous condition, at any point where they might be required.

But it is chiefly for the great and beneficent objects of removing the free persons of color from this country to the coast of Africa, and of suppressing the slave trade, that the committee are disposed to recommend the adoption of the proposed measure. The latter of these has been the subject of treaties by our Government with other nations, with whom we have engaged to maintain a large naval force on the coast of Africa to assist in suppressing the inhuman traffic; while the emigration of the free blacks has long been an object of great interest in all parts of the country, and especially in the slaveholding States, where they are looked upon by the whites with aversion and distrust. The policy of all or most of these States has been to discourage manumission, except on condition of the removal of the liberated slave. In no part of the Union do the free blacks enjoy an equality of political and social privileges; and in all the States their presence is neither agreeable to the whites, nor is their condition advantageous to themselves. In some of the slave States stringent prohibitions have been adopted, and unpleasant controversies with free States have been thereby engendered. The emigration of this entire population beyond the limits of our country is the only effectual mode of curing these evils, and of removing one cause of dangerous irritation between the different sections of the Union.

The committee believe it is expedient to aid private enterprize in the colonization of the western coast of Africa, because it is the most effectual, if not the only mode, of extirpating the slave trade. The success of this measure will doubtless render the African squadron wholly unnecessary, thus reimbursing a large portion of the expense attending it, and at the same time better accomplishing the object for which that squadron is maintained. It may be expedient for some one of the great naval powers to keep a small force on the coast of Africa to protect Liberia, for a limited time, against the slave traders. But the attempt to suppress this unlawful traffic by blockading the coast has so signally failed that it will probably soon be abandoned by the great European powers. While the influence of the Republic of Liberia has been shown in the complete suppression of the trade along a coast of several hundred miles in length, the combined squadrons of Europe and America have not been so successful on other portions of that unhappy shore. In 1847 no less than 84,356 slaves were exported from Africa to Cuba and Brazil. In the opinion of the committee, it is highly important to prevent the further Africanizing of the American continents. An opposite movement, so far as the free blacks are concerned, is far more in accordance with the spirit of the age, and with the best interests of all American Governments. The people of the United States have shown their strong aversion to the slave trade by the provision in their Constitution against it, and by their unremitting and vigorous efforts to suppress it. The success which has already crowned the infancy of Liberia, indicates the true mode of making those exertions effectual, while it opens up the way for restoring the free blacks to the native land of their fathers.

The committee beg leave here to present some interesting facts which satisfy them that the territory of Liberia is eminently adapted to colored emigrants from the United States; that the establishment of this line of steamships by the Government will be a powerful stimulus to the cause of colonization, and will be the means of securing the emigration of great numbers of free blacks; that the slave trade will be substituted by a peaceful, legitimate, and valuable commerce, opening new sources of enterprize and wealth to our people; and that the civilization and christianization of the whole continent of Africa may be expected eventually to follow. The facts presented are collected chiefly from the publications of the Colonization Society.

That portion of the western coast of Africa, called Liberia, embraces a tract of country included between the parallels of 4° 21´ and 7° north latitude, extending about 400 miles along the coast. The first settlement was made by free negroes from the United States, under the auspices of the American Colonization Society, in the year 1820. The objects of that society were—

“1st. To rescue the free colored people of the United States from their political and social disadvantages.

“2d. To place them in a country where they may enjoy the benefits of free government, with all the blessings which it brings in its train.

“3d. To spread civilization, sound morals, and true religion throughout the continent of Africa.

“4th. To arrest and destroy the slave trade.

“5th. To afford slave owners, who wish, or are willing, to liberate their slaves, an asylum for their reception.”

The funds of this society have seldom exceeded $50,000 per year, but they have purchased territory, enabled nearly 7,000 free people of color to emigrate to Liberia, and have made provision, for such of them as required it, for 6 months after their arrival. In July, 1847, an independent Government was formed, which has been recognised by France, England, and Prussia. Upwards of 80,000 of the natives have become civilized, and enrolled themselves as citizens of the Republic. The Liberians have a flourishing commerce. They have not only succeeded in suppressing the slave trade along their own coast, but have also made treaties with several tribes, numbering over 200,000 souls, for the discontinuance of the traffic. They have purchased their territory from time to time of the natives, and are gradually extending themselves up to the British settlement of Sierra Leone and down to the Gold Coast.

The interior settlements of the purchased tracts usually extend from about 10 to 30 miles from the coast, and can easily be enlarged by purchase in that direction at a moderate amount. In no instance have the natives from whom the land was purchased been required to remove their residences. The land in the immediate vicinity of the ocean in Liberia is generally low, and in some places marshy; but there are some elevated spots. The land generally becomes more elevated towards the interior; and in some places, within 50 miles of the coast, it is quite mountainous. It is desirable for the colony to become possessed of this back country as it is much healthier than the coast, and when the emigration from the United States becomes extensive, the mountain region will soon be occupied. The natives are a fine, healthy, athletic race; and even the emigrants to the lands on the coast have enjoyed better health than the emigrants to some of our western States in the first few years of settlement.

Liberia is on the “grain coast,” and is protected from the scorching winds of the north and east by ranges of mountains. The soil is fertile, and produces an abundance of Indian corn, yams, plantains, coffee, arrow-root, indigo, dyewoods, &c.

Every emigrant is welcomed to the colony, and receives a grant of 5 acres of land, besides which he can purchase as much more as he pleases at 1 dollar per acre.

The climate is not suited to the whites. The president and all the officials are colored men. There are flourishing towns, churches, schools, and printing presses. According to the statement of the Rev. R. R. Gurley, who has recently visited the colony, the people are highly moral, well conducted, and prosperous, and the value of the exports of the Republic is at present 500,000 dollars per annum, and is increasing at the rate of 50 per cent. annually.

Not only will the slave trade be abolished by the establishment of colonies of free colored people on the coast of Africa, but, as already intimated, these colonies will be the means, at no distant period, of disseminating civilization and Christianity throughout the whole of that continent. Already, a great many of the natives have placed themselves under the protection of the Liberians, whose knowledge of agriculture and the arts inspires confidence and respect.

As a missionary enterprise, therefore, the colonization of Africa by the descendants of Africans on this continent, deserves, and no doubt will receive, the countenance and support of the whole Christian world.

Two points are now regarded, both in Europe and in this country, as settled truths, viz: 1st. That the planting and building up of Christian colonies on the coast of Africa, is the only practical remedy for the slave trade. 2d. That colored men only can with safety settle upon the African coast.

That the free negroes of the U. S. will be induced to go in large numbers to Liberia, if a quick and pleasant passage by steam vessels be provided, and suitable preparation be made for them on their arrival, by the Colonization Society, cannot admit of any doubt.

The funds of that society, augmented probably twenty fold, will then be available, almost exclusively, for the comfortable establishment of the emigrants in their new homes—the expense of transportation chargeable to the society being merely nominal.

It is estimated that there are no less than 500,000 free colored people in the several States, and that the annual increase therein of the black race is 70,000 per annum. With respect to slaves, who may hereafter be manumitted, no doubt such manumission will, almost in every instance, be upon the condition that the parties shall avail themselves of the opportunity of emigrating to Liberia.

The committee do not propose that the emigrants should be landed in Liberia and then left to their own resources. Liberia is at present incapable of receiving and providing shelter, subsistence, and employment for any great number of emigrants who may land there in a state of destitution. It has been the practice, heretofore, for the Colonization Society to provide for the colonists, whom they have sent out, for 6 months after their arrival, and the cost of such provision has averaged $30 per head, in addition to the cost of transportation.

A large amount of money will be required to settle the colonists in the first instance comfortably in their new homes. But there is no doubt, that if the Government establish the proposed line of steam ships, the people of the different States, and the State Legislatures, will at once turn their attention to the subject of colonization, and that large appropriations will be voted, and liberal collections made, in aid of that object. The State of Maryland has already appropriated and laid out $200,000 in this work, and the Legislature of Virginia has lately appropriated $40,000 per year for the same purpose. But these sums are insignificant in comparison to what may be expected, if the Government shall give its high sanction to the colonization of Africa, and provide the means of transportation by a line of steam ships. In that event, the whole mass of the people, north and south, who for the most part do not appreciate the rapid progress, and the high capabilities of Liberia, will quickly discover the vast importance of colonization, and will urge their representatives to adopt measures adequate to the exigency of the case and the magnitude of the enterprise.

There is good reason to anticipate, that important assistance will be rendered to the emigrants, not only by the missionary societies of Europe, but also by those governments which have taken an interest in the suppression of the slave trade, and which are desirous of opening channels for their commerce, and marts for their manufactures, on the western coast of Africa.

It is estimated, that by the time when the first two ships are to be finished and ready for sea, there will be a large body of emigrants ready to take passage in them, and that for the next two years each ship will take from 1000 to 1500 passengers on each voyage, or from 8,000 to 12,000 in each of those years. To furnish each family, intending to devote themselves to agricultural pursuits, with a dwelling-house suitably furnished, and a piece of land of sufficient extent cleared and planted, together with the necessary agricultural implements and a stock of provisions, will, it is calculated, cost the society a sum equal to $30 or $40 per head for each emigrant, allowing each family to consist of five persons. The cost of establishing families intending to follow trading and mechanical pursuits, will be somewhat less than the above estimate for agricultural families; but the average cost for the whole of the emigrants may be estimated at $50 per head, including all the expenses of transportation, making a total of from $400,000 to $600,000 per annum, for the first two years.

As the colony increases in population, and the interior of the country becomes settled, any number of emigrants that may be sent out will be readily absorbed, as there will be a demand for all kinds of laborers, mechanics, and domestic servants, and it will be unnecessary to make that provision for them which is now indispensable.

The Colonization Society will, as heretofore, so regulate the emigration as to send out only suitable persons, and keep up a due proportion between the two sexes.

By the compact between the Colonization Society and the Republic, made when the society ceded its territory to the Republic, ample power is reserved by the society for the protection of emigrants who may be sent out by them. Moreover, the authorities invite emigration, and each emigrant receives a donation of a tract of land.

The establishment of prosperous colonies on the western coast of Africa will, doubtless, tend greatly, in the course of time, to the augmentation of the commerce of this country. It appears that British commerce with Africa amounts to no less than 5 millions sterling, or about $25,000,000 per annum. The belief is now confidently entertained in Great Britain, that an immense commerce may be opened up with that continent, by putting an end to the slave trade, and stimulating the natives to the arts of peace.

The commerce of Africa is certainly capable of great extension, and it is worthy of observation, that the proposed steamers will open entirely new sources of trade.

On this subject, the committee beg leave to submit the following particulars, from which the future resources of this vast undeveloped region may be, to some extent, anticipated.

Palm oil is produced by the nut of the Palm tree, which grows in the greatest abundance throughout Western Africa. The demand for it, both in Europe and America, is daily increasing. The average import into Liverpool of palm oil for some years past has been at least 15,000 tons, valued at £400,000 sterling.

Gold is found at various points of the coast. It is obtained by the natives by washing the sand which is brought down by the rivers from the mountains. An exploration of the mountains will probably result in the discovery of large quantities of the metal. It is calculated that England has received, altogether, $200,000,000 of gold from Africa. Liberia is adjacent to the “Gold Coast.”

Ivory is procurable at all points, and constitutes an important staple of commerce.

Coffee, of a quality superior to the best Java or Mocha, is raised in Liberia, and can be cultivated with great ease to any extent. The coffee tree bears fruit from thirty to forty years, and yields an average of ten pounds to the shrub yearly.

Cam wood and other dye woods are found in great quantities in many parts of the country. About thirty miles east of Bassa Cove is the commencement of a region of unknown extent, where scarcely any tree is seen except the cam wood.

Gums of different kinds enter largely into commercial transactions.

Dyes of all shades and hues are abundant, and they have been proved to resist both acids and light.

Pepper, ginger, arrow-root, indigo, tamarinds, oranges, lemons, limes, and many other articles which are brought from tropical countries to this, may be added to the list. Indeed, there is nothing in the fertile countries of the East or West Indies which may not be produced in equal excellence in Western Africa.

The soil is amazingly fertile. Two crops of corn, sweet potatoes, and several other vegetables, can be raised in a year. It yields a larger crop than the best soil in the United States. One acre of rich land well tilled, says Governor Ashman, will produce three hundred dollars’ worth of indigo. Half an acre may be made to grow half a ton of arrow-root.

“An immense market may be opened for the exchange and sale of the innumerable products of the skill and manufactures of our people. Africa is estimated to contain one hundred and sixty millions of inhabitants. Liberia enjoys a favorable geographical position. She is protected by the great Powers of Europe. The Liberians have constitutions adapted to the climate, and a similarity of color with the natives. They will penetrate the interior with safety, and prosecute their trade in the bays and rivers of the coast, without suffering from the diseases which are so fatal to the white man. Liberia is the door of Africa, and is destined to develope the agricultural and commercial resources of that continent, besides being the means of regenerating her benighted millions.”

The foregoing remarks have related entirely to the advantages of the proposed measure. It is possible some scruples may be entertained in regard to its constitutionality. This, the committee think, cannot be reasonably doubted. The Government has already adopted this mode of providing a powerful steam navy, at the same time giving incidental but important encouragement to great commercial interests. In this instance, the effectual suppression of the slave trade and the withdrawal of the African squadron by the substitution of a number of mighty steamers regularly plying to that coast, afford a motive and a justification which do not exist in regard to any one of the lines already established.

It was the opinion of Mr. Jefferson that the United States had power to establish colonies for the free blacks on the coast of Africa, and he desired its exercise. Chief Justice Marshall and Mr Madison concurred in this opinion. And it is to be observed that the first purchase in the colony of Liberia was made by the Government of the United States. The opinions of the leading jurists of our day do not appear to differ from those of the great founders of the Constitution, who believed not only that indirect aid to the cause of colonization may be given in accordance with that instrument, but that the Government has power to establish the colonies themselves. The proposition of the committee does not, by any means, go to this extent. It goes no further than recently adopted and still existing operations of the Government, while it is believed to rest upon far higher and better grounds of support.

Nor does it involve any merely sectional considerations. The committee have, therefore, refrained from expressing any views which might be considered favorable to the peculiar interests either of the North or of the South. The question of slavery, now the cause of so deep an excitement, is not, to any extent, either directly or indirectly involved. The Government of the United States, it is admitted on all hands, has no power to interfere with that subject within the several States. Neither does the proposition at all interfere with the question of emancipation. This is wholly beyond the jurisdiction of the Federal Government, and belongs exclusively to the people of the several States, and the individual slaveholders themselves. But the removal of the free blacks to the coast of Africa is a measure in which all sections, and all interests, are believed to be equally concerned.

From the foregoing considerations, the committee believe it to be wise and politic to accept the proposition of the memorialists, with some modifications which meet with their approval.

Instead of four ships, it is proposed to make the line consist of three, which shall make monthly trips to Liberia, touching on their return at certain points in Spain, Portugal, France, and England, thus: one ship will leave New York every three months, touching at Savannah for freight and mails; one will leave Baltimore every three months, touching at Norfolk and Charleston for passengers, freight, and mails; and one will leave New Orleans every three months, with liberty to touch at any of the West India islands. They will proceed directly to Liberia, with liberty to touch at any of the islands or ports of the coast of Africa; thence to Gibraltar, carrying the Mediterranean mails; thence to Cadiz, or some other port of Spain, to be designated by the Government; thence to Lisbon; thence to Brest, or some other port of France, to be designated as above; and thence to London—bringing mails from all those points to the United States.

The measure proposed by the committee contains the following stipulations and provisions, to wit:

Each ship to be of not less than 4,000 tons burden, and the cost of each not to exceed $900,000. The Government to advance two-thirds of the cost of construction, from time to time, as the building progresses—the advance to be made in five per cent. stocks payable at the end of 30 years—such advances to be repaid by the contractors in equal annual instalments, beginning and ending with the service. The said ships to be built in accordance with plans to be submitted to and approved by the Secretary of the Navy, and under the superintendence of an officer to be appointed by the Secretary of the Navy, and to be so constructed as to be convertible, at the least possible expense, into war steamers of the first class. The ships to be kept up by alterations, repairs, or additions, to be approved by the Secretary of the Navy, so as to be at all times fully equal to the exigencies of the service, and the faithful performance of the contract.

Each ship to be commanded by an officer of the Navy, who, with four passed midshipmen to serve as watch officers, shall be accommodated in a manner suitable to their rank, without charge to the Government. The Secretary of the Navy at all times to have the right to place on board of each ship two guns of heavy calibre, and the men necessary to serve them, to be accommodated and provided for by the contractors.

The Secretary of the Navy to exercise at all times such control over said ships as may not be inconsistent with these terms, and to have the right to take them, or either of them, in case of war, for the exclusive use and service of the United States, on paying the value thereof; such value, not exceeding the cost, to be ascertained by appraisers mutually chosen by the Secretary and the contractors. The Secretary also to have power to direct, at the expense of the Government, such changes in the machinery and the internal arrangements of the said ships, or any of them, as he, at any time, may deem advisable.

The contractors are further required to stipulate to carry, on each and every voyage they may make, so many emigrants, being free persons of color, and not exceeding 2,500 for each voyage, as the American Colonization Society may send; the said society paying in advance $10 for each emigrant over twelve years of age, and $5 for each one under that age; these sums to include the transportation of baggage, and the daily supply of sailors’ rations.

The contractors also to convey, free from cost, such necessary agents as the Government or the Colonization Society may require, upon each one of said ships.

Two of said ships to be finished and ready for sea within two and a half years, and the other within three years, after the execution of the contract.

The Government to pay forty thousand dollars for each and every trip; and to exact ample security for the faithful performance of the contract, besides taking a lien on the ships for the repayment of the sums advanced. The contract to continue 15 years from the completion of all the ships.

To assist in forming a correct judgment as to the fairness of this compensation, the committee present an estimate of the probable cost of running the said ships.

The cost of the ships at $900,000 will be $2,700,000. Upon this amount, interest should be calculated at 6 per cent.; for, although the contractors will pay the Government but five per cent. on the portion advanced, the balance supplied by the contractors, must be estimated at the rates in New York and New Orleans, which are above six per cent. Six per cent. will be a fair average for the whole.

The depreciation of this kind of property is estimated variously, sometimes as high as ten per cent. per annum on the total cost; but as these ships will be substantially built for war purposes, it may be estimated at a lower rate.

Besides this, an allowance must be made for repairs. New boilers will be required every six years, and the substitution of these for the old ones not only causes loss of time, but also injury to the ships involving much expense.

The rate of insurance for this species of property is high. The committee are informed, that the steamships Ohio and Georgia pay 8½ per cent.

Add the expense of running the ships, viz., fuel, wages of the crew, provisions, stores, dock charges, harbor dues, agents, pilotage, light-house dues, &c., which cannot be estimated at less than $50,000 per voyage, considering that the distance to Liberia, and thence home, via Madeira, Gibraltar, Cadiz, Lisbon, Brest, and London, is about 12,000 miles; and that each voyage, with the necessary delays in the various ports, will occupy about three months.

Statement of expenses.
Interest on $2,700,000, at 6 per cent. $162,000
Depreciation and repairs, 10 per cent. 270,000
Insurance 7 per cent. 189,000
Cost of running the ships, $50,000 per voyage, 12 voyages per annum, 600,000
Total annual expense— $1,221,000
Profits.
Estimating 1500 passengers for each voyage, and 12 voyages per annum, we have 18,000 passengers. These, $10 for adults and $5 for children, may average a profit of $3 each, making $54,000
Government pay 480,000
534,000
Balance of expense over Government pay and profit of emigrants $687,000

Thus it will be seen that the contractors will have, of their probable expenses, more than two-thirds of a million, or $57,250 each voyage, to be made by commerce and passengers, independent of the Government pay and the profit from the Colonization Society. It is quite evident that any further profit, beyond the ordinary rate of interest at 6 per cent., will be contingent upon the success of the enterprise in stimulating commerce with the United States at the points regularly touched by these steamers. The contractors have confidence in this, and the committee do not doubt that their confidence will be rewarded to a reasonable extent.

It will be observed, that as the Colonization Society now pay for the transportation of emigrants to Liberia, in sailing vessels, no less than $30 per head, the proposed arrangement will make the actual cost eventually less than this, even adding the amount to be paid by the United States for this service, to the amount to be paid by the said society, without estimating the receipt from mails, which will probably be large.

At the commencement of operations, when it is estimated that the first two ships will carry out 1000 or 1500 emigrants for each voyage, the cost will be little more than it is at present, while the passage will be quicker, pleasanter, and healthier, offering great inducements to emigrants, and placing them upon the shores of Liberia in a sound and efficient condition.

As the capacity of the colony to receive a large number of emigrants increases, the ratio of expense will be diminished; and it cannot be doubted, that eventually, as the number of emigrants will increase, the cost of transportation will relatively diminish.

The committee do not recommend the acceptance of the proposition of the memorialists, that they shall be permitted to import the produce of Liberia into this country free of duty; on the contrary, it is believed to be better, for obvious reasons, to enter into no such stipulations, but to confine the remuneration, whatever it may be, to a direct payment of money.

In the above estimates, the committee have endeavored, as far as possible, to arrive at just conclusions; while at the same time, in view of the great public objects to be attained by the establishment of the proposed line of steamships, they have not deemed it inconsistent with the just liberality of the Government, that those who have had the sagacity to conceive, and who have the ability faithfully to carry out this noble project, should have at least a contingent opportunity of deriving a handsome profit from their enterprise. Considering the hazards involved in it, the committee believe their estimates to be fair and just to both parties.

The committee report a bill accordingly, to which they ask the favorable consideration of the House.

Reported from the Committee by

FRED. P. STANTON,
Chairman.

Washington, Aug. 1, 1850.

APPENDIX,
ADDED BY THE AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY.

From the Executive Committee of the American Colonization Society, to the friends of Colonization throughout the U. States.

The foregoing Report, emanating from the Committee on Naval Affairs of the House of Representatives, U. S., we commend to your earnest attention.

The subjects embraced therein are worthy the most zealous co-operation of all who value the institutions of our country, and who are willing to establish on the coast of Africa the only means which, under the blessing of God, may bring light out of gloom, order out of disorder, mind out of instinct, civilization out of barbarism, and heaven-born truth out of Pagan superstition and cruelty.

This able and comprehensive Report has been read by us with much pleasure, and we cannot doubt will be highly instrumental in calling out the assistance of legislators, both National and State.

The cautious and wise manner in which our Society is to derive the most unexpected and ample assistance, fills us with admiration, and inspires us with hopes in its entire success.

Without arrogating to ourselves the pretension of adding to said Report, we only avail ourselves of the occasion of its circulation, to give a few extracts from the opinions and sentiments of some of our wisest statesmen and purest patriots.

M. ST. CLAIR CLARKE,
from Ex. Com. Col. Society.

Washington City, August, 1850.

Letter from Hon. Elisha Whittlesey, one of the Vice Presidents of the American Colonization Society.

Treasury Department,
Comptroller’s Office, July 20th, 1850.

Matthew St. Clair Clarke, Esq.,
Member of the Ex. Com. Col. Society, Washington.

My dear sir: Judge Joseph Bryan and his associates have petitioned Congress for some aid and assistance to establish and maintain a line of steamers to the western coast of Africa, and you express “a desire to have a few remarks from me on the probable benefit resulting therefrom to our great and good Society, for which we have so long labored.”

You very properly restricted me to a few remarks, and those to the subject of Colonization.

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom the memorial was referred in the House of Representatives, will, without doubt, establish in their report the importance of the measure, as connected with the increase of our steam navy, so essential to our defence in time of war, and to our commerce with Africa. This commerce will be great, beyond the most extravagant calculation that has been made.

My attention was first drawn to the subject of African colonization at the annual meeting of the Society in 1823, when listening to the remarks of the Hon. Robert Goodloe Harper, and others. From that time to the present, my belief has been, and now is, that an “all-wise Providence” will accomplish, through the institution of slavery in this country, the civilization and Christianization of Africa, by the agency of this Society and its kindred associations. The Republic of Liberia invites those who wish to give freedom to the human beings they hold in bondage to do so, without any excitement, commotion, or opposition. An acceptance of the invitation violates no right, alarms no fear, wounds no feeling, awakens no jealousy. One party is relieved from a heavy responsibility, and the other enjoys, in the land of their fathers, civil and religious freedom. Every intelligent emigrant from this country is a missionary to, and an instructor of, his brethren. Africa will be Christianized when parts of Asia will be in heathen darkness.

The plan ranks with the most important of those of the interesting age in which we live; and, if patronized by Congress, will richly bless two continents. There has been no colony so prosperous, or that has achieved so much within the same space of time, as the colony of Liberia; and it is a remarkable fact, that during a period of thirty years, since the first expedition was fitted out to Africa, not a life has been lost by shipwreck.

If this Congress shall co-operate in this great national interest, it will stand immortalized on the page of history.

Most sincerely yours,

ELISHA WHITTLESEY.

Letter from the Hon. R. J. Walker, one of the Vice Presidents of the American Colonization Society.

Washington City, July 23, 1850.

Dear Sir: I have received your letter of last week, on behalf of the Executive Committee of the American Colonization Society, addressed to me as a Vice President of that Society, requesting my views as to Mr. Bryan’s memorial for the transportation, by steam vessels, of our free blacks to Liberia.

I have had no time to examine the details of the plan, but as regards the main question, I most fully concur in the policy of a removal of our free blacks to Liberia, through the instrumentality of steamships, and with the aid of the Government of the United States. The plan presented seems to me free from all constitutional objections. It seems, also, to be perfectly practicable, and its successful execution would confer incalculable blessings upon our country. Indeed, I have ever regarded colonization and abolition as antagonist measures, and that the success of the first would overthrow the latter, and thus rescue our beloved country from the danger of disunion.

Very truly your friend,

R. J. WALKER.

M. St. Clair Clarke,
Ch. Ex. Com. of Am. Col. Soc.

Extract of a letter from Gov. Wright, of Indiana.

Indianapolis, Indiana, July 3d, 1850.

To the Executive Committee of the Col. Society—

Gentlemen: Your circular, containing a copy of Mr. Bryan’s memorial, came to hand a few days ago, and I have no hesitation in saying that Mr. B’s plan, or any other good plan, of forming a line, or lines, of transport to draw off our free people of color, will meet with general favor in our State.

And some movement of the kind is much needed; for the youth of the free States are growing up ignorant of the merits of colonization, and very sceptical as to its final success. This has been produced by the labors of men in the North who have never investigated the subject, and who have poured contempt on all your attempts to colonize—they have been too successful in indoctrinating the youth of the North. A want of faith in the enterprise, or confidence in its final success, will soon paralyze all your efforts in the North; for in a few years the unbelief of our young men will become confirmed, and when they grasp the reins of government, which they will do in the course of time, African colonization will be discarded by the North.

The best remedy that can be devised for the above ignorance and scepticism, among Northern men, will be a bold and decided movement on the part of the General Government, which will look directly toward the separation of the colored race from the white race, and the erection of the colored people into an independent commonwealth.

This movement will confound the opponents of colonization in the North; it will send a thrill of confidence through the hearts of all our friends; it will compel the people to think and talk on the subject of a national colonization enterprise, and it will compel each newspaper in the land to speak out on the subject. Discussion is all we want, for then we can make thousands of friends; in short, we can indoctrinate the nation with our opinions, “and opinion rules the world.”

As to Mr. B’s plan, we are willing that he and his friends shall have the monopoly of the African trade for a time; but that monopoly should be so guarded as to make it a source of wealth to Liberia, and not a drain on the wealth of that Republic, or be calculated to retard her progress. The East India Company has been a stupendous leech on British India, from which it has drawn untold millions, and under whose management India must become impoverished, and made dependent on England.

The interest of colonization requires that we foster Liberia, and not impoverish her. If Mr. B. is to be remunerated for his trouble, and doubtless he should be paid, and well paid, let the American people pay him, and not Africa. So plan the scheme that it will be the interest of the free man of color to go to Africa, and this can be best accomplished by making Liberia a wealthy commercial nation.

It would be well to blend the Colonization Society and Mr. B’s company into one association, if possible, and procure liberal provisions from the General Government, granting large powers for forming settlements and trading stations on the coast of Africa; but having no power to hold real estate in Africa, except a few acres at proper points on the coast for factories, around which colonies might be established, which, growing into states, would in due time take their place among the states of the Liberian confederacy....

I know of no enterprise of this age that we, as Americans, should be so willing to take hold of as one man, with nerve and energy, as that of the settlement of Liberia.

As one citizen of this nation, I would be willing to make all my contributions, and devote the last dollar of my means, to the colonization of the black man of this country to Liberia.

I have the honor to be,

Yours, most respectfully,

JOS. A. WRIGHT.

Rev. William McLain,
Sec. Am. Col. Soc., Washington City.

Opinions of Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, and Chief Justice Marshall, and others, on the colonization of Africa.

The following extracts from an Address to the Legislators and People of Virginia, published in the thirty-third Annual Report of the American Colonization Society, Jan. 15, 1850, shows the progress of the question in Virginia:

The Governor of the Commonwealth having in his late message recommended the American Colonization Society to the particular attention of the Legislature, and the subject having been referred to a select committee, whose report is daily anticipated, it seems a fitting time to remind the Legislators and citizens of Virginia of some fuels touching the origin and history of an institution which is attracting the regards and challenging the admiration of the civilized world. It must endear this institution to Virginians, and strengthen their confidence in its wisdom, to be reminded that it comes commended to the present generation by the authority of our most patriotic and sagacious statesmen, and the deliberate successive acts of our Legislature.

It claims for its authors Thos. Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, Edmund Pendleton and George Wythe, high in the first rank of their country’s orators and jurists—the Mansfield and the Hale of Virginia—George Mason, perhaps the wisest statesman to whom Virginia has given birth, and Thomas Ludwell Lee, who was deemed by the Legislature of 1776 their fit associate. These gentlemen were appointed, by the first Legislature after the Declaration of Independence, to revise the laws of this State. This committee proposed a comprehensive plan of colonization. The emancipation feature in this plan was probably the reason of its failure. The seed of the Colonization Society had nevertheless been sown, which springing up after the lapse of a few years, and pruned of its excrescences, began to grow and bear fruit. Its first fruit was the plan of Dr. Thornton, (a Virginian,) in 1787, to colonize the free colored people upon the coast of Africa. This being the suggestion of a private individual had no visible results. A few years afterward the Colony of Sierra Leone, consisting of slaves who had taken refuge in the British army during the Revolutionary war, was established.

On the 31st December, 1800, the House of Delegates of Virginia passed almost unanimously the following resolution:

“Resolved, That the Governor be requested to correspond with the President of the United States on the subject of purchasing lands without the limits of this State, whither persons obnoxious to the laws, or dangerous to the peace of Society, may be removed.”

In compliance with this resolution, Mr. Monroe addressed a letter to Mr. Jefferson, dated Richmond, 15th June, 1801, in which he says: “We perceive an existing evil which commenced under our colonial system, with which we are not properly chargeable, and we acknowledge the extreme difficulty of remedying it. At this point the mind rests with suspense, and surveys with anxiety obstacles which become more serous as we approach them. To lead to a sound decision, and make the result a happy one, it is necessary that the field of practicable expedients be opened on the widest possible scale; under this view of the subject, I shall beg leave to be advised whether a tract of land in the western territory of the United States can be procured for this purpose, in what quarter, and on what terms? You perceive that I invite your attention to a subject of great importance, one which in a peculiar degree involves the future peace and tranquility and happiness of the good people of this commonwealth.”

On the 8th of November, 1801, Mr. Jefferson replied in a long letter, in the course of which he goes on to discuss the practicability and expediency of procuring territory on our western or southern frontier, and concludes with asking, would we be willing to have such a colony in contact with us? It is impossible, he adds, not to look forward to distant times, when our rapid multiplication will expand beyond those limits, and cover the whole northern if not the whole southern continent with a people speaking the same language and governed with the same laws. Nor can we contemplate with satisfaction either blot or mixture on that surface.

He then gives the preference to the West Indies, and among these islands to St. Domingo, in consideration of their being already inhabited by a people of their own race and color, and having a climate congenial with their constitution, and being insulated from other descriptions of men. Africa, he concludes, would offer a last and undoubted resort, if all others more desirable should fail us.

On the 16th June, 1802, the House of Delegates of Virginia passed the following resolutions, which were agreed to by the Senate on the 23d:

“Resolved, That the Governor be requested to correspond with the President of the United States for the purpose of obtaining a place without the limits of the same, to which free negroes or mulattoes, and such negroes or mulattoes may be emancipated, may be sent or choose to remove as a place of asylum, and that it is not the wish of the Legislature to obtain the sovereignty of such place.”

In December, 1804, Mr. Jefferson addressed a letter to Governor Page of Virginia, in which he says, the island of St. Domingo, our nearest and most convenient resource, is too unsettled to be looked to for any permanent arrangements. He then suggests whether the inhabitants of our late purchase beyond the Mississippi, and the National Legislature, would consent that a portion of that country should be set apart for the persons contemplated. And not yet seeming to despair of Africa, he adds, my last information as to Sierra Leone is that the company was proposing to deliver up their colony to the Government. Should this take place it might furnish an opportunity for an incorporation of ours into it. This led to the following resolution of the House of Delegates on the 3d of December, 1804:

“Resolved, That the Senators of this State in the Congress of the United States be instructed, and the Representatives be requested, to exert their best efforts for the purpose of obtaining from the General Government a competent portion of territory in the country of Louisiana, to be appropriated to the residence of such people of color as have been or may be emancipated in Virginia, or may hereafter become dangerous to the public safety. Provided, That no contract or arrangement respecting such territory shall be obligatory on this Commonwealth, until ratified by the Legislature.”

This resolution was sent by Governor Page to the Representatives of Virginia.

Our difficulties with France and England now supervened, and arrested at this point these interesting proceedings. But there was at least one eminent politician whose mind was not diverted from the contemplation of this subject by the approaching war with England. In January, 1811, Mr. Jefferson said, “I have long ago made up my mind upon this subject, and have no hesitation in saying I have ever thought it the most desirable measure for gradually drawing off this part of our population. Going from a country possessing all the useful arts, they might be the means of transporting them among the inhabitants of Africa, and would thus carry back to the country of their origin the seed of civilization, which might render their sojourning here a blessing in the end to that country. Nothing is more to be wished than that the United States would themselves undertake to make such an establishment on the coast of Africa. Exclusive of motives of humanity, the commercial advantages to be derived from it might defray all its expenses.”

A treaty of peace having been concluded with Great Britain in 1815, the public mind reverted with increased interest to the scheme of colonization.

In the mean time Dr. Finley, Bishop Meade, Frank Key, &c., had been anxiously pondering the subject of African colonization. These, with other persons of like minds, assembled in the city of Washington on the 21st of December of the same year, and recommended the formation of the American Colonization Society.

Mr. Clay was chairman of the meeting, and stirring addresses were made by him, and by Messrs. Caldwell and Randolph, of Roanoke. A committee was appointed to present a memorial to Congress, asking their co-operation; John Randolph was on that committee. The society held its first meeting on the 17th of January, 1817, and elected its officers. Hon. Bushrod Washington was made president, and among the thirteen vice-presidents were Clay, Crawford, Jackson, and John Taylor, of Virginia. The committee of the society prepared a memorial to Congress, which was referred to a committee of the House of Representatives, who made an able report, concluding with resolutions recommending negotiations with the great states of Europe for the abolition of the slave trade, and an application to Great Britain to receive into the colony of Sierra Leone such of the free people of color of the United States as should be carried thither. And should this proposition not be accepted, then to obtain from Great Britain a stipulation, guaranteeing a permanent neutrality to any colony established under the auspices of the United States upon the coast of Africa.

On the 3d of March, 1819, Congress passed an act, authorizing the President of the United States to make such arrangements as he might deem expedient, for the safe keeping and removal out of the United States of such persons of color as might be brought into any of the States under the act abolishing the slave trade, and to appoint agents upon the coast of Africa for receiving such persons. Agents were accordingly appointed by the Government, who, acting in co-operation with the agents of the society, purchased territory, and established the colony. This purchase was made in 1822, by an agent of the society, and Captain Stockton, of the navy, on the part of the Government of the United States. From that moment the course of the colony has been steadily onward, “through evil and through good report,” until it has taken its place among the independent nations of the earth, under the denomination of the “Republic of Liberia.”

To return from this digression to Virginia. An auxiliary society was formed in Richmond in November, 1823, at the head of which was placed the Hon. John Marshall, (clarum et venerabile nomen,) who continued to preside over its deliberations, and to guide it by his wise counsels, to the day of his lamented death. He was succeeded by the Hon. John Tyler, late President of the United States. The Richmond society, by its able reports, its energetic agencies, and its stirring appeals, was instrumental in diffusing information and procuring contributions, which rendered very valuable aid in a time of need to the Parent Society at Washington. It also obtained from the Legislature, in 1825 and 1828, donations in clothing and implements of agriculture, which supplied very opportunely pressing wants of the infant colony in Africa. The Colonization Society, at this period, had a task of great delicacy to perform. The questions growing out of the admission of Missouri into the Union had fearfully agitated the whole country, and threatened to overwhelm this benevolent enterprise in ruin; but by following the chart of her original principles with the strictest fidelity, and steering between the rock of indifferentism on the one hand, and the whirlpool of abolitionism on the other, she was enabled, with the blessing of Heaven, to weather the storm. At this critical juncture were heard above the roaring of the tempest of fanaticism the voices of her gallant commanders, Madison and Marshall, cheering her onward in her noble mission.

Mr. Madison, in a letter dated Jan. 16, 1832, said, “the Society had always my best wishes, although with hopes of success less sanguine than those entertained by others found to be better judges, and I feel the greatest pleasure at the progress already made by the Society, and the encouragement to encounter remaining difficulties afforded by the greater and earlier difficulties already overcome. I cherish the hope that the time will come when the dreadful calamity which has so long afflicted our country, and filled so many with despair, will be gradually removed, and by means consistent with justice, peace, and the general satisfaction; thus giving to our country the full enjoyment of the blessings of liberty, and to the world the full benefit of its great example.”

Judge Marshall, in the same year, said, the removal of our colored population is a common object, by no means confined to the slave States, although they are more immediately interested in it. The whole Union, he adds, would be strengthened by it, and relieved from a danger whose extent can be scarcely estimated. Here we have the authority of the “father of the Constitution,” and its greatest expounder, both of whom thought the object contemplated by the Colonization Society so important that it demanded the interposition of the General Government, and both regarded the public lands as a proper resource of effecting it.

General Brodnax, in the session of 1832 and 1833, reported a bill devising ways and means for deporting free negroes, and such as may become free in Virginia, to Liberia. The bill proposed an appropriation of $35,000 for the present year, and $90,000 for the next, to be applied to this purpose. It passed the House of Delegates, but was lost in the Senate. Notwithstanding this discouragement, the subject was again moved, and on the 4th of March, 1833, an act passed the Legislature, appropriating $18,000, and constituting the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and 1st and 2d Auditors, a board of commissioners for carrying its provisions into effect. This act, as was predicted at the time, was rendered utterly inefficient by the restrictions with which it was encumbered.

In 1837, the Board of Managers of the Virginia Society, seconded by petitions from several auxiliary societies, presented a memorial to the Legislature, asking for an act of incorporation, and an amendment of the act of 1833, so as to make its provisions available; and on the 13th of February, of the same year, the report of the select committee, declaring these petitions reasonable, was agreed to by the House of Delegates, and a bill ordered. For want of time, or some other cause not known, this bill did not become a law. And now, in 1850, Mr. Dorman has reported a bill to the same end, founded upon the recommendation in the message of Governor Floyd.

Such is believed to be a just account of the history of the idea of colonizing our people of color, from its first conception until its full development in the American Colonization Society. It is not within the scope of this address to write the history of that Society—its unparalleled success is not now questioned by any unprejudiced man. Mr. Gurley, who was commissioned by the General Government to visit Liberia and investigate its condition, is just returned, and is now preparing an elaborate report, illustrating the commercial and other interests of that young Republic; his testimony to its present prosperity and the greatness of its future prospects is most decisive and encouraging. Neither is it a part of my plan to cite the authority or acts of the several State Legislatures, fourteen of which have given the Society their approbation; and one, Maryland, has made it a part of her permanent policy, by establishing and cherishing with annual appropriations the colony of Maryland in Liberia. Nor will I now insist upon the benefits, social, political, and moral, that are conferred by this Society upon the white race in America, and upon the black race upon both continents. Let it suffice to say that we have in our midst, in the persons of our free colored people, an evil of enormous magnitude. That this evil has increased, is increasing, and ought to be diminished, every body admits. When Mr. Jefferson proposed his plan of colonization, there were only about 10,000 free negroes in Virginia—now the number is estimated at 60,000, and is increasing.