No. 17

PETITION

OF

JOHN W. GRIFFITHS AND WM. NORRIS,

Praying the adoption of a new rule for ascertaining the tonnage of vessels.

JANUARY 30, 1854.-Referred to the Committee on Commerce.
FEBRUARY 2, 1854.-Ordered to be printed.

To the honorable the Senate and House of Representatives in Congress assembled:

The undersigned, your petitioners, pray that your honorable bodies may in their united wisdom deem it for the best interests of this commercial republic to foster such improvements in maritime pursuits as shall be made to appear beyond the possibility of a doubt.

Whereas, in the progress of their legitimate business, the undersigned, having long witnessed the deleterious influence of the existing rule for the admeasurement of vessels in the United States, and knowing the extent of prejudice against any change not demonstrated by the most undeniable results, have determined to show to the commercial world a vessel over which the tonnage rule has had no warping influence in determining her principal dimensions, and consequently in defining her form. This vessel to which reference is made is not only actually com⚫menced, but is fast approaching completion, and may be recognized by the name of one of her projectors, viz: "Wm. Norris." By the application of the present rule for determining tonnage, she is made to measure 1,461 tons, and by another rule, known as carpenters' tonnage, she would measure about 1,267 tons, while her actual weight or displacement, when ready for sea, will hardly exceed 1,000 tons; as a consequence, your petitioners must, of necessity, in all commercial transactions in which reference is made to the vessel's tonnage, pay the expenses of a much larger vessel than they possess, thus rendering it impossible to improve the model, and at the same time compete with their neighbors in the legitimate pursuits of commerce. Your petitioners therefore pray, that the actual capacity of the steamer "Wm. Norris" may be taken as the measure of her tonnage, and that the most correct mode be adopted for determining the same, which is by actual displacement, showing the number of cubic feet of water displaced, thirty-five of which equals one ton of 2,240 pounds. It will appear manifest upon reflection to your honorable bodies, that while the half, or indeed any other proportion of the breadth be taken for the depth, so long will vessels be built narrower and deeper than they should be. It must, in the judgment of your petitioners, be also equally apparent, that the

shape of vessels must be consequent upon their principal dimensions, to a very great extent; as a consequence, the tonnage rule, rather than the ship builder, determines the shape of American vessels.

England, prior to the year 1836, had the same tonnage rule the United States now has, but her statesmen, discerning its manifest errors, abolished it, and established in its stead the determination of the internal capacity; a manifest improvement in the sea qualities of English vessels has been the consequence, and has also shown that still greater improvements may be made by the passage of an international tonnage law, by the most important commercial countries; and the undersigned have no hesitation in giving it as their opinion that the English law, amended as your petitioners propose, would meet with general, if not universal, acceptance, both in the old and new world.

The history of the past has shown that the mechanical and commercial genius of the United States has nothing to fear when the terms are equal. American ship builders have sustained themselves for years with fearful odds against them, as is but too plainly manifest in the tonnage rules, and it but remains for your honorable bodies to place American genius on equal terms with those of other commercial countries, to make the seaboard of the United States the world's ship yard.

That so glorious a commercial era may dawn upon our country, and that the steamer "Wm. Norris" may share in the advantages growing out of a correct admeasurement, will continue to be the prayer of your petitioners.

JOHN W. GRIFFITHS,
WILLIAM NORRIS.

1st Session.

No. 18.

RESOLUTIONS

OF

THE LEGISLATURE OF MARYLAND,

In favor of some arrangement with the Peruvian government, by which the monopoly in the sale of guano may be removed.

FEBRUARY 6, 1854.-Ordered to be printed.

STATE OF MARYLAND, EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT.-ANNAPOLIS, FEBRUARY 2, 1854.

SIR: I have the honor of transmitting the following resolutions just passed by the general assembly of Maryland, in compliance with one of those resolutions.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

Hon. THOMAS G. PRATT.

J. W. LIGON.

Resolved by the General Assembly of Maryland, That our senators and representatives in Congress of the United States be earnestly and respectfully requested to urge upon the general government the necessity and propriety of making, as soon as possible, some arrangement, by treaty or otherwise, with the Peruvian government, by which present monopoly in the sale of guano in this State and other States of the Union may be removed, and the agricultural interests of our country thereby be greatly promoted.

the

Resolved, That the governor of this State be requested to transmit a copy of the foregoing resolution to the senators and representatives in Congress from this State.

1st Session.

No. 19.

DOCUMENT

CONTAINING

STATISTICAL INFORMATION

IN RELATION

To the line of mail steamers proposed to be established by Christian Hausen, between Brooklyn, New York, and certain ports in Europe.

FEBRUARY 9, 1854.-Referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs and ordered to be printed.

No. 1.

Tables of routes from New York, via Glueckstadt and Rotterdam, to different cities on the continent of Europe, and Asia; also, time occupied, and expenses.