cated by the signatures of the officers of the Chamber, be transmitted to the Hon. WILLIAM M. EVARTS, and that he be requested to present the same to the Senate of the United States.

This resolution was unanimously adopted.

On motion of Mr. SCHULTZ, the President was authorized to appoint a Special Committee of Three, to proceed to Washington and urge upon Congress the adoption of the recommendations contained in the report.

The President appointed as the Special Committee Messrs.

CORNELIUS N. BLISS,

ORLANDO B. POTTER,

JOHN H. INMAN.

REPORTS OF SPECIAL COMMITTEES.

Mr. AMBROSE SNOW, Chairman of the Special Committee appointed at the last regular meeting of the Chamber to develop information upon the efficiency of ordnance for national defence, submitted the following report:

To the Chamber of Commerce:

The Special Committee appointed "to develop all possible information upon the efficiency of ordnance, upon which we must rely for the defence of our country's interests," after careful consideration of the subject, respectfully report:

That the profound peace with which the country has been blessed for the past twenty years, while it has enabled the people and the Government of the land to pay off indebtedness incurred during our domestic troubles, and to develop and increase the resources of the nation, has likewise withdrawn from due prominence the importance of being prepared for public defence, should war with a foreign nation unfortunately occur.

Briefly stated, in the opinion of your Committee, the present position of affairs is as follows:

First. That the acquisition at vast cost of naval ships, heavy ordnance, projectiles, iron and steel armor, has been made by foreign Governments far in excess of anything that has been accomplished in that direction by the United States; so that it is, doubtless, within the power of a third, or even fourth rate foreign Navy, to play havoc with our commerce, devastate our coasts, and place all our seaports either under tribute, or compel them to suffer the horrors of bombardment. In the case of war with Great Britain, the Welland Canal places our northern lakes, with the cities and property on their shores, under the guns of the Navy which that power could

place there by this water route. In such an event our motto would have to be transposed, and literally be "Millions for tribute, but not one cent for defence."

Action upon this important matter has been delayed, not from want of attention on the part of Government, nor from lack of warning from statesmen on the floor of Congress.

Able Committees have been appointed from the Army and Navy, and from the Legislative body, but the enormous expenditure required, and the doubt still prevalent in view of the great number of failures of steel ordnance, whether a return to the RODMAN system, both in material and method, will not yet be compelled, has caused hesitancy as to the plan to be adopted. But wise caution in waiting for the best system to be adopted may be carried to an unwise extent-experimental work like that still pushed abroad should go on here with all possible energy.

Your Committee believe it to be the permanent interest of the nation to have provision made to a limited extent for ordnance shops, under the direct administration of Government officers; but also, that the Government should pursue such a liberal policy toward private establishments, for the production of arms and armament, as will encourage their growth and multiplication, and ensure their readiness and ability, on short notice, and at all times, to respond to any call of the Government; and they believe that had such a policy been followed in the past, we should not now be under the necessity of confronting the delay of five years, before guns and armor can be constructed from our own resources, equal to any now in use by the various foreign nations.

Your Committee has not assumed, that the Chamber expect them to give their judgment as experts, upon the various theories as to the kind of ordnance and armor regarded as indispensable; but proposes to apply business common sense to the various plans of harbor and coast defence, which have been submitted, official and otherwise, affecting the immense interests centered in the City and Harbor of New-York; and to report what in their judgment should be the wish expressed by the Chamber of Commerce of New-York, as the most conspicuous representative of those vast interests, to the Congress of the United States.

Your Committee has taken as probable the most useful sources of information, the exhaustive reports of Committees recently appointed under Congressional authority to investigate the general subject of coast and harbor defences of the United States, viz. :

First. That of the Senate Committee, of which General LOGAN was Chairman.

Second. The report made February, 1886, to the Senate of the United States by the select Committee on Ordnance and War Ships, of that body, of which General HAWLEY, of Connecticut, was Chairman.

Third. The report of the House Commission on Ordnance and

Gunnery, made March, 1886, to the House of Representatives, of which Mr. RANDALL was Chairman.

Fourth. That of the Board, appointed by the President, to report on Fortifications, or other defences, made January 23d, 1886, of which Mr. ENDICOTT, the Secretary of War, was Chairman. Your Committee have found a paper contributed to the journal of the Military Service Institution, by Captain E. GRIFFIN, of the Corps of Engineers, U. S. A., to be a comprehensive summary in the main of the reports referred to, especially of the latter.

Your Committee, desiring to avail themselves of the experience and advice of those who, in the event of hostilities at an early day, would probably be responsible for whatever defence might then be pos sible against attack, decided to invite General SCHOFIELD and Admiral LUCE to meet them at the rooms of the Chamber for conference on the subject, which your Committee were appointed to consider. Admiral LUCE could not accept, on account of his departure from the City for an extended absence. General SCHOfield responded with the communication which is appended to this report, as is also a copy of a speech recently made by him in this City, giving many important suggestions. It is to be regretted that so able an officer, charged with so great responsibilities, should have felt restrained, either by professional delicacy or official reserve, from a more specific expression regarding the means of defence that might be made available at an early day; as the Committee consider that the practical value of present action lies in deciding upon just those steps, which will make at least a part of the approved means of defence available within a short time.

They consider that their duty as members of the Chamber lies in urging upon Congress the immediate provision of those parts of the proposed system of defence which can be made available within a year, and the commencement of preparations for the manufacture of the high power steel guns, which will require from three to five years for their completion.

Your Committee believe, that with liberal appropriations, the system of torpedo defence can, within twelve months, be made vastly more effective than at present; and, if appropriations are made immediately for the number of rifled mortars contemplated in the plans of the Fortification Board, that they, also, can be provided and mounted, in mortar pits commanding the channel, within twelve months from the time the appropriation is made available. They appreciate the importance of high power guns of large calibre, yet recognize the fact, that even the limited number of such guns proposed, together with the armored forts, which are indispensable to the proper use and protection of such guns, cannot possibly be constructed within from four to six years. Therefore it is all the more essential that the torpedo and mortar systems before urged be perfected and made available at the earliest possible moment. If these be supplemented by a squadron of steam rams of a simple, yet very effective construction, our citizens might rest

confident of being placed at an early day in a position of comparative safety, and of relief from the disgraceful necessity of paying tribute, or suffering the disasters of bombardment, without the honorable and patriotic satisfaction of having made some attempt at defence, even if the Secretary of War should, as in the time of the "Trent" trouble, telegraph that "New-York must look out for herself." (Memoranda containing valuable suggestions regarding steam rams are appended to this report.)

Your Committee is advised that as many of these 12-inch rifled mortars as would be required for the defence of New-York may be supplied within one year, if made of the same material as was used in fabrication of the RODMAN and DAHLGREN guns, which have heretofore proved so reliable in service; and inasmuch as we find that the guns referred to have been fired hundreds of rounds under heavier pressures than the 12-inch rifled mortar has ever been or can be subjected to, and after carefully examining the testimony of experts, taken by the different boards and committees, we conclude that this material will be amply strong for the construction of these mortars, without any reinforcement whatever.

If it be suggested that there is an indelicacy in the Chamber presuming to instruct Congress, your Committee reply, that it is a duty of constituencies every where to express to Congress their wants, and the manner in which they believe it is desirable and practicable those wants should be met. Congress as a mass is not composed of experts, but of citizens like ourselves, under the responsibility of applying saving common sense to the decision as to which of the plans submitted by those especially instructed on the special subjects should be adopted as promising the best results to those who are to bear the expense of the trial, and suffer the loss in case of failure.

Your Committee believe, therefore, that the Chamber of Commerce is fully justified in urging upon Congress the immediate. provision of those portions of the plans of defence, about which there is a practical agreement in the accumulated testimony of the Boards and Committees.

Your Committee believe, that a true understanding by the people of the interior States and cities of the risk involved in leaving the great cities on the coast defenceless against foreign attack, would cause their attitude of passive indifference to the necessity of coast defence to be changed to one of active demand for such protection. The billions of treasure and movable wealth acccumulated in the great cities on the seacoast, and especially at NewYork, are not the sole property of the immediate residents of these cities. In case of foreign attack no discrimination would be made as to the owner of the property. Probably an amount more than equal to that belonging to the residents of our own City is held here in trust and on deposit, the property of non-residents, largely those residing in the interior of our own country. Your Committee believe that this view should be impressed in all proper ways upon the citizens of other States, and upon their representatives in Congress. If these fellow citizens are indifferent to their share in the

national disgrace certain to result sooner or later, if the recent policy of non-action is to be continued, then their sensibilities can only be reached by their being made to realize their share in the resulting pecuniary losses, which will be neither few nor small.

While the terms of the resolution under which this Committee was appointed, if strictly interpreted, would confine them solely to the consideration of guns alone, yet they feel the latter cannot be profitably considered apart from other and necessarily associated means of defence; and your Committee, therefore, venture to say that, in their belief, a most valuable means of defence, if combined with those recommended by the Fortification Board, would be found in the provision of a small squadrom of shot-proof steam rams, not necessarily to carry any armament at all. These, manned by volunteers, would make any of the deep water channels or pockets from which this City and Harbor could be shelled by iron clads, a most unattractive point for anchorage. In connection with this subject, it is perhaps due that your Committee should state, that it has been brought to public attention, that by its ungenerous treatment and, apparently, needless delays and exactions in dealing with inventors and manufacturers, the Ordnance Department has become, as openly charged, a costly obstruction, and an ineffective assistance to the progress that ought to, or might have been made by this country and its people, inventors and manufacturers, in the science of ord

nance.

Your Committee, not adopting this suggestion as their own, are yet impressed by the fact, that neither England, France, Germany nor Italy has a Bureau similar or kindred to our own Ordnance Department, nor has it by those nations been found necessary or desirable.

It is often assumed that the various foreign governments have been making very great improvements in guns and projectiles, while we have been standing still. That we have been standing still as a Government is true, but the improvements, which are established as such beyond question, and have been adopted by the various foreign governments, are those of American invention and design. Previous to the Civil War, the greatest improvements in the history of ordnance were those made by General RODMAN, and it is a grave question, whether the military world has yet outgrown them. His improvements extended also to the manufacture of gunpowder, and led to the introduction of the present slow burning powder, which has come to be indispensable in the use of high powered guns; and, at this day, a better quality of this slow burning powder is produced in this country than anywhere else. If it shall ever be established as a matter of general recognition, that the built up steel gun is an essential success, not only for high power for a few rounds, but for safe and enduring service, it must still be recog nized that it is but a borrowing of the principle of the TREADWELL and PARROTT guns, both American inventions. The KRUPP guns could not be used, except for the incorporation in their construction of the BROADWELL ring, or gas-check, an American invention; and the breech mechanism, now known as the interrupted