most sacred and inviolable. The patrimony of a poor man lies in the strength and dexterity of his hands; and to hinder him from employing this strength and dexterity in the manner he thinks proper, without injury to his neighbour, is a plain violation of his most sacred rights." The French oblige every fishing-boat that goes to sea, to take a proportionate number of men on board, and compel all these men to register their for sea names. This serves as a sort of nursery men; and the government can at any time call upon them, when they want sailors. This plan, though sufficiently oppressive and tyrannical, is at any rate better than the indiscriminate impressment allowed by the British. I have heard several officers of the United States' navy give it as their opinion, that in the event of their having a much larger number of ships than at present, there would be some difficulty in finding sailors to man them. The government has accordingly in contemplation to create a sort of naval militia, in which every seaman will be obliged to enrol himself, and which, in the event of any sudden emergency, will be required to furnish a certain number of men. To render such a regulation as little oppressive as possible, it is proposed to organize a corps, in which every seaman who enrols himself will be entitled to a certain pension or certain privileges during his life, in consideration of which he may, in case of need, be obliged to serve in the national fleet, before the naval militia is called upon. Something of the sort will probably be done, for the government will find it very difficult to compete with the merchants; and the people of the United States are too equitable and too high spirited ever to submit to that system of impressment which prevails in England. Another circumstance that makes the Navy of the United States a favourite with the seamen, is, that sailors are only enlisted for two years. They may indeed be detained three, if the good of the service require it, but after this time they have a right to go where they please. In the British Navy, the difficulty of getting seamen is greatly owing, to their being obliged to enlist for an unlimited period. A sailor will often not object to a service that may last three years, but will not, without force, enlist for life. While on service, greater liberty of going on shore is granted to the American seamen, than to the British. Sailors, like all other men, get tired of being kept on board a ship, and picture to themselves. the pleasure of being on shore in much too vivid colours; but let them once go, and when they have spent any little money they may have, they are glad to return again to the ship, as to a home. But if a sailor have a little money and be prevented from going ashore, it is ten to one but he will desert. This the captains of Merchant vessels find so true, that as soon as they enter a port they give leave to as many hands as they can possibly spare to quit the ship, knowing that they will return as soon as the novelty is over, and especially as soon as their money is spent; for without money, a sailor on shore finds himself very much out of his element. From being well aware of this feeling in seamen, the officers of the United States Navy, when the ship is lying near the land, always give permission to as many seamen to leave the ship as can be spared. The men take it in turn; and many who have nothing to spend, will, if in a strange country, rather remain on board, after the first time. At all the sea-port towns, there are a great many small taverns frequented by sailors, and kept by persons who are therefore called "Sailor Landlords." When a seaman enlists in the navy he receives three months' pay in advance, upon one of these sailor-landlords becoming security for his appearance. The money is of course spent in a few days, after which the landlord says: "Come Jack! you have nothing to spend now, I wont trust you, therefore you must go aboard." Accord ingly he takes him to the ship or tender, and the security is cancelled. The Secretary of the Navy is a member of the cabinet, and holds his office at the will of the President with a salary of 6000 dollars per annum. The Board of Commissioners for the Navy was established by act of Congress Feb. 7, 1815. It consists of three naval Captains in rank not below that of a post Captain.* The Board is by law attached to the office of the Secretary of the Navy, and under his superintendence discharges all the duties of that office relative to the equipment of vessels, &c. The Commissioners appoint their own secretary, and their records are at all times subject to the inspection of the President of the United States, and the Secretary of the Navy. The salary of each Commissioner is 3,500 dollars per annum. * Up to the present time there has been no officer in the United States' Navy of higher rank than Post Captain. When commanding a squadron, the senior Captain has the rank and title of Commodore. It is intended however to make a few Admirals, and they will then form the Board of Commissioners. |