Friday, January 24.
Naval Establishment.
The blank in the section for providing a dock yard, was filled with one hundred thousand dollars.
Mr. Rhea moved so to amend the bill as to fix the dock yard in the navy-yard at Washington City; but this motion was negatived by a large majority.
On motion of Mr. Cheves, the words "central and," were struck out, so as to leave the site of the dock yard to be determined by the Executive.
The committee having gone through the bill, rose and reported it to the House with the amendments. The House took up the bill, and on the question of filling up the blank for repairing the vessels on hand with "four hundred and eighty thousand dollars," it was carried—yeas 90, nays 23.
The question was next put upon agreeing to the report of the committee to strike out the second section of the bill, which contemplated the building of new frigates; when
Mr. Williams rose and spoke at considerable length. He said the time was very inauspicious for commencing an undertaking of such magnitude as the building a navy, which could be of no use in the approaching contest. He doubted the policy of engaging in the business at all; for navies, he said, had deceived the hopes of every country which had relied upon them; that we could never expect to be able to meet Great Britain on the ocean; that we had fought through the Revolution without a navy; for in that contest, a single privateer had done more than the few ships of war which were in possession of the old Congress; that except we are able to build and equip a navy equal to meet the British at sea, we were better without one, as our ships would probably fall a prey to their superior force; that his greatest objection against a navy was, that it must be kept up in time of peace as well as in war; that when the gentlemen spoke of a navy as cheaper than an army, they could not mean to say that if we had a navy the army could be dispensed with—they could not, for instance, take possession of Canada by a navy; that the building of a navy would burden the people with oppressive taxes; that such an establishment would serve only to increase Executive patronage; that with respect to commerce, the people were willing to give it all the protection in their power, but they could not provide a navy for that purpose.