REMARKS BY THE COMMITTEE.

From the United States case not showing the complements of the several cruisers for which the claims are made, the committee have had great difficulty in arriving at any satisfactory conclusion with regard to the claims for pay and provisions; but from the tonnage of the ships giren in the Nary Register, and from returns before them and from other sources, the committee have ascertained the proportionate complements to the tonnage of about one-half of the ships: they consider therefore they cannot greatly err in estimating the total complements at 7,600, and the average time employed per man at about 313 days, according to the Abstract. With this data the committee directed Mr. Babington, the accountant placed at their disposal by their [106] lordships, to *calculate the rate at which the pay has been taken, his attention having been previously directed to the various estimates, rates, and changes of pay, &c., contained in the reports of the Secretary of Navy to Congress, &c., and in the several Navy Registers; if the assumed data is not very erroneous, (and the total complements we have taken agrees very satisfactorily with the claims for clothing,) it would seem that Mr. Babington's conclusions may be correct that the calculations for pay have been taken on the present rather than on the scale of pay in existence at the time. Or it is possible that the varying ratio between gold and paper, which disturbed all mercantile accounts at the time, may have equally influenced those of the United States Government, and that the actual pay was adjusted to the average price of gold. The committee suggests this solution, as nothing could be further from their wish than to intimate their belief in any intentional overcharge on the part of the United States officials, and they greatly regret that the claims had not been so put forward as to have rendered all assumptions or surmises on their part wholly unnecessary.

GENERAL REMARKS.

The committee have been unable to institute any comparison between the expenses of British men-of-war with those of the United States, as the arrangements of supplies under the several Bureaus differs so essentially from our own. We have nothing analogous to the Bureau of Navigation, or that of Equipment and Recruiting, besides which, in the latter coal is included— making any comparison with our store accounts still more difficult.

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*APPENDIX No. 10.

Table compiled by the committee showing the number of days during which the United State cruisers sent in pursuit of the Alabama, Florida, &c., are stated to have been employed acording to the respective United States authorities, and upon which the several Baregas have based their claims.

1 Owing to the serious differences between the dates given in the Abstract and in the Fourti Auditor's account, according to the latter the average would only be about 305 days.

This table has been extracted from the Abstract and other documents set ont between pp. 116 and 147 of vol. 7 of the appendixes to the United States Case. The second column shows the number of days on which the claim is made in the Abstract, but these numbers differ materially, in many cases, with those given by the several bureaus, while no two bureaus correspond in this particular; for instance, the Abstract gives for the Dacotal 28 days, but the claim under steam-engineering is for 842 days, and for the Fourth Auditor only 8 days.

The Kearsarge, in the abstract is stated to have been employed 629 days, while for steam-engineering the claim is for 885 days.

The Tioga, by the Abstract, 649 days; Fourth Auditor, 750 days.

Connecticut, by the Abstract, 299 days; steam-engineering, 900 days; Fourth Anditor, 134 days.

Niagara, by the Abstract, 479 days; steam-engineering, 659 days; Fourth Auditor, 428 days; and so on.

[108]

*APPENDIX No. 11.

ADMIRALTY, S. W.,
March 2, 1872.

In accordance with the directions of the committee, I have investigated that portion of the claim raised by the United States Government which relates to the pay of the officers and men borne in the ships "sent to cruise in search of the Alabama," &c., and-assuming the complements of those ships as furnished me by the committee to be substan tially correct (in all 7,600)—I find that the sum claimed for that service is in excess of the correct amount by $405,108,' about £31,021, more than £10 for each man.

The greater part of this excess may be accounted for by the assumption that the wages of the seamen and marines have been calculated at the increased rates of pay, &c., which were instituted for the former, in 1866-67,2 for the latter in 1865-'66,3 averaging respectively $300 and $257 (including bounty) per man yearly, instead of at those which were in force during the war, at $235 and $188 per man.*

The subjoined table shows the mode in which these conclusions have been arrived at.

REDMOND BABINGTON,

Clerk, Department of Accountant-General of the Nary

Total number of officers, seamen, and marines estimated for the year 1863-64 in the United States Navy,

Proportionate number of officers, &c., making up 7,600, the total of the assumed conplements of the ships employed in pursuit, &c., &c.

2 See Report of Secretary of United States Navy, 1st session 32th Congress, dated De cember 4, 1865, p. 201.

3 See Report of Secretary of United States Navy, 2d session 38th Congress, December 5, 1864, p. 1195.

See report of Secretary of United States Navy, 3d session 37th Congress, Decess ber 1, 1862, pp. 704 and 904.

Estimated annual rate for each officer or man for the year 1863-'64.

Total amount payable for the above number of officers, &c., for 305 days, the mean time served by each man as per claim rendered by "Fourth Auditor".

$2,408, 041

Amount claimed for this period on account of pay

Claimed in excess...

If, as suggested'above, the pay of the seamen and marines has been calculated at the average rates of $300 and $257 respectively, instead of at those of $235 and $188, nearly the whole of this excess can be explained. 5,958 seamen, &c., for 305 days each, at, $65 (difference between $235 and $300) per annum.

748 marines for 305 days, each at $69 (difference between $188 and $257) per annum..

2,813, 149

405, 108

Excess which cannot be explained....

$323, 609

43, 128

366, 737

38, 371

[109]

* APPENDIX No. 12.

List of prizes captured by the United States cruiser De Soto, between January 29, 1863, and June 16, 1864, when she is stated to have been cruising in search of the Alabama, in the neighborhood of the Havana, showing when and where the captures were made, and where the Alabama actually was on the respective dates when made.

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*POSTSCRIPT TO REPORT.

APRIL 5, 1872.

UNITED STATES CRUISERS, NIAGARA AND SACRAMENTO.

Since their report was printed, your committee have had access to part 3 of the diplomatic correspondence, 1864-'65, published by order of the United States House of Representatives, and they find therein a series of letters between Mr. Seward, the United States Secretary of State, and Messrs. Dayton and Pike, the United States ministers at Paris and the Hague, as well as letters from Mr. Welles, the Secretary of the United States Navy, to Mr. Seward and to the commander of the Niagara, Commodore Craven, which appear to them to prove clearly that the Niagara was not sent to Europe in 1864 in pursuit of the Alabama and Florida, but for the purpose of watching two vessels building at St. Nazaire in France, termed in the correspondence "Clipper ships well adapted for warlike purposes," and also to keep a lookout on certain iron-clad rams building at Bordeaux. From the first mention of the Sacramento in this correspondence she was engaged in the same duty, and for a portion of the time also the Iroquois, but with these two vessels the committee has not at present to deal.

The correspondence alluded to above will be found, as already stated, in the third part of Diplomatic Correspondence, pages 113, 121, 127, 141, 145, 151, 156, 164, 170, 172, 318, 323, wherein it is shown that the Niagara sailed from New York early in June, 1864, (only a few days before the Alabama was sunk,) and arrived at Antwerp about the end of the month, and by a letter from Mr. Pike, United States minister at the Hague, dated the 20th July, 1864, to Mr. Seward, he informs him that the Niagara and Sacramento are at Antwerp, and adds: “Commodore Craven, of the Niagara, informs me he is without orders." From this it is evident that when the Niagara left New York she was not under orders to go in pursuit of either of the confederate cruisers, but was employed on the duties indicated in paragraph 20 of our report. Your committee especially call attention to the letter from Mr. Pike, to be found at pp. 120 and 121, and to that part of it which refers to the iron-clads in France; also to a subsequent letter (evidently emanating from information gained from another letter from Mr. Pike to Mr. Seward, dated 22d September, 1864, p. 323, relative to the vessels constructing in France) from Mr. Welles, Secretary of the United States Navy, to Commodore Craven, commanding the Niagara, (p. 164,) in which he is ordered not to hesitate to seize the two clipper ships building at St. Nazaire, "should they be allowed to leave port under such circumstances as to warrant the belief that they are to make war against the United States," and instructing him to put himself in communication with the United States minister in Paris, and to be guided by any suggestions from him, &c.

To avoid tedious quotations, your committee will confine itself to again recommending this correspondence to the particular attention of