clothing. We ask ourselves the question, what is the use for all this?

It turns out that the average amount of expenditures for clothing the navy for a year is $276,000. So that here is a supply on hand of money and clothing for four years and a half. The last appropriation that was made was in 1875. All the time since that date this-all that has not been wastedhas been on hand in that bureau. Now, what has been the consequence? The answer is, waste and extravagance. There has been a loss on sales of condemned clothing in the last ten years of $272,000. And there has been a loss by the reduction in the price of clothing on hand which had to be reduced in order to adjust it to the prices ruling in a falling market, of $438,000. In other words, this Government has lost in this bureau from these two causes in ten years $710,000, and this does not account for the losses on clothing now on shipboard. And the losses do not stop here. We found, on investigation, that we had 6,069 pea-jackets on hand which originally cost about $15 apiece, the present price being $11.50. We have 6,217 monkey-jackets on hand valued now at $9.50 apiece. We called for a list of the different articles on hand and the sales of each during the last fiscal year, and found that the number of pea-jackets taken by the sailors in 1885 amounted to ninety-six. If these pea-jackets could last so long and not rot and the sales should continue at the rate of ninety-six per annum, the Chief of the Bureau of Clothing might go to sleep and sleep as long as Rip Van Winkle, yes, as long as old Epimenedes, his prototype, that is, fifty-seven years, and wake up and find, after his nap was finished, that he still had a year's supply of pea-jackets on hand.

But the truth is that these pea-jackets have become so worthless that the sailors refuse to take them. When the Secretary orders, as he will, a sale to clear out the worthless goods on hand the Government will pocket another loss of more than $100,000. We have on hand five and one-half years' supply of monkey-jackets, four and one-half years' supply of blue cloth trousers, three and one-half years' supply of satinet, twelve years' supply of canvas duck, four and onehalf years' supply of caps, twenty years' supply of mattress covers, twenty years' supply of boots.

1

Again I read, further on:

We next come to the Bureau of Equipment and Recruiting. The business of this bureau, as its name implies, is to provide sails, anchors, chains, ropes, and everything that goes to equip a ship. When we look into this bureau we find some things which are very astonishing, but they are things for which the present distinguished chief of the bureau is in no sense responsible. For instance, we find that there is on hand now in the Bureau of Equipment and Recruiting "canvas enough to fit out the whole British navy; canvas enough to give two suits of sails and a foretopsail to the whole British navy." That is the expression of Commodore Schley. Altogether, according to the calculation which I have made upon his figures, we have enough to serve our present navy for thirteen years.

Then we find extravagance in other things. For instance, there are these spectacle-irons, used in rigging sails. We have on hand of these spectacle-irons or clews 75,099 pounds. It is estimated that these are worth $18,744. Upon the estimate of a thousand to a ton and sixty to two suits of sails we have enough on hand to last us for over fifty years. These were bought a long time ago, in 1871 and 1872.

Mr. Speaker, it is well known that old and condemned property, property that has ceased to be valuable to the Government, brings very little at public sale. Now Secretary Whitney, in order to get rid of what was utterly valueless to the Government, has had a thorough overhauling of the navy-yards made, an inventory taken, and sales have followed. During the year ending June 30 last these sales realized $313,204.16. Here is the table.

List of Condemned Property Sold by the Navy Department
during the Year 1887-88.

Now, sir, I have said enough on this point. There can be but one verdict from the public. First, that must be that the administration of naval affairs from 1866 to 1876 was absolutely indefensible. Secondly, that a Democratic House has, since 1875-76, saved to the country enough money to build a great navy.

34

CHAPTER XII.

OUR FOREIGN RELATIONS.

HON. PERRY BELMONT,

Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, National
House of Representatives.

HERE has always been, and should be, less partisan

THE

our

ship in the treatment of our foreign. relations than in the discussion of any other branch of the public service. Still, in looking back over the achievements of American diplomacy it will be found that the record of the Democratic party is one with which the country has reason to be satisfied.

The underlying principle of our diplomatic policy was proclaimed by Thomas Jefferson in his inaugural address in the well-known declaration:

"Peace, commerce and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none."

This terse and epigrammatic statement was a condensation of the policy laid down by Washington in his farewell address in which he said:

"The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is, in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible. So far as we have already formed engagements, let them be ful