Recommendation of the Supervising Architect, to extend the limit of cost of public buildings at Brooklyn, N. Y., and Hannibal, Mo. FEBRUARY 11, 1885.-Referred to the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds and ordered to be printed. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, Washington, D. C., February 10, 1885. SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith copy of a recommendation by the Supervising Architect that the limit of cost of the public building at Brooklyn, N. Y., be extended to $1,500,000, in which I concur. Very respectfully, H. MCCULLOCH, Secretary. The PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE OF THE SENATE. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, OFFICE OF THE SUPERVISING ARCHITECT, February 10, 1885. SIR: I have the honor to call your attention to the fact that the limit of cost fixed for the public building and site for the post-office, &c., at Brooklyn, N. Y., is insufficient to construct a first-class fire-proof building that will afford the accommodations required for the proper transaction of the public business, and that will be at all suitable to the size and population of the city. The limit fixed is $800,000, of which amount about $409,000 has been expended for the site, leaving a balance of $391,000 for the building.. I respectfully recommend that the limit of cost of the building alone be increased to $1,500,000, and that an appropriation of not less than $500,000 be made for the prosecution of work during the approaching building season. Very respectfully, Hon. SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY. M. E. BELL, Supervising Architect. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, Washington, D. C., February 10, 1885. SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith a copy of a recommendation by the Supervising Architect that the limit of cost of the public building at Hannibal, Mo., be extended from $75,000 to $93,000, in which I concur. SIR: I have the honor to recommend that the limit of cost of the public building at Hannibal, Mo., be extended from $75,000 to $93,000, in order that the building can be made fire-proof, and that an appropria tion of the amount, $18,000, be made for this purpose. Very respectfully, The Hon. SECRETARY OF 1HE TREASURY. M. E. BELL, Supervising Architect. In answer to Senate resolution of the 4th instant, the steps taken by him to establish an advanced course of instruction of naval officers at Coasters" Harbor Island, Rhode Island. FEBRUARY 12, 1885.-Referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs and ordered to be printed. NAVY DEPARTMENT, Washington, February 11, 1885. SIR: I have to acknowledge the receipt of a copy of a resolution adopted by the Senate on the 4th day of February, as follows: Resolved, That the Secretary of the Navy is hereby directed to report to the Senate what, if any, steps have been taken to establish an advanced course of instruction of naval officers at Coasters' Harbor Island, Rhode Island, and the reasons which have controlled the action of the Department. The subject of an advanced course of instruction of naval officers was, May 3, 1884, committed by this Department to a Board consisting of Commodore S. B. Luce, Commander W. T. Sampson, and Lieut. Commander C. F. Goodrich, who on the 13th of June, 1884, made a report recommending the establishment of such a course of instruction in the science and art of military and naval warfare and in international law and history. The method recommended is carefully outlined in the report, a copy of which is annexed to this communication. As it was deemed advisable that the course of study should be made to supplement the present instruction of naval officers in torpedoes at Newport, R. I., and that the place should be selected where the Department is already in possession of the necessary grounds and buildings, the Board recommended the establishment of the college of instruction at Newport. In pursuance of the previous determination of the Department, and in accordance with the foregoing report, directions were given that preparation should be made for the course of instruction to be conducted at Coasters' Harbor Island, in Newport, by General Order No. 325, issued October 6, 1884, a copy of which is herewith transmitted. The reasons which have controlled the action of the Department are to be found in the recognized necessity for an advanced course of military and naval education in the United States. There are now existing three schools for the purpose in the Army and one in the Navy. The latter is at the Torpedo Station at Newport, where a class of officers is assembled for a few months in each year for instruction in the art of manufacturing and using torpedoes and torpedo explosives. The constant changes in the methods of conducting naval warfare imposed by the introduction of armored ships, swift cruisers, rams, sea going torpedoboats, and high power guns, together with the more rigid methods of treating the various subjects belonging to naval science, render imperative the establishment of a school where our officers may be enabled to keep abreast of the improvements going on in every navy in the world. The Torpedo School only partially fulfills the imperative requirements. The college is intended to complete the curriculum by adding to an extent never heretofore undertaken the study of naval warfare and international law and their cognate branches. The great surplus of officers in the Navy makes it especially appropriate to require that at all times some of them not needed for actual duty shall be engaged in courses of professional study calculated to improve and qualify them for better service in the future. In instituting this school of instruction at Coasters' Harbor Island, the Department, acting within the scope of its powers, has simply util ized public grounds and buildings, under its own immediate control, for a wise and beneficial purpose, and has detailed naval officers who can readily be spared to constitute the president and faculty of the college. Very little expense will be incurred in carrying out the Department's plan, while the benefits to be realized by the Navy and the country will be of great importance. The subject is commended to the notice and favor of Congress. Very respectfully, W. E. CHANDLER, The PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE OF THE SENATE. REPORT OF BOARD ON A POST-GRADUATE COURSE. UNITED STATES TRAINING SQUADRON, UNITED STATES FLAG-SHIP NEW HAMPSHIRE (First rate), Hon. WILLIAM E. CHANDLER, Secretary of the Navy, Washington, D. C.: SIR: The Board appointed by the Department under date of May 3, to "report upon the whole subject of a post-graduate course, or school of application, to be established by the Department for officers of the Navy, giving in detail the reasons for establishing such school, the scope and extent of the proposed course of instruction, and an opinion as to the best location therefor," have the honor to submit the following preliminary report: If the recommendations contained herein meet with the approval of the Department, the Board is ready to develop the plan in greater detail." FIRST.-THE REASONS FOR ESTABLISHING SUCH A SCHOOL. The variety and extent of knowledge now required of a naval officer demands a longer period than was formerly considered necessary to cover a complete course of technical education. Of this knowledge certain branches are acquired and assimilated with greater ease by minds more matured than those of the average undergraduates of the Naval Academy. It is found that numbers of young officers, after a little experience at sea, take up, of their own accord, those studies for which they have developed a taste; it may be ordnance, astronomy, electricity, steam, history, international law, or the languages. |