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. \VmTINCS OF SA;\,I HOUSTON, 1856
-emy for four years; and we must look for bright "middies" when they come out from there, after graduating, to take charge of our frigates and men of war. Is it not a beautiful commentary upon their chances? Yes. These are the men who are to build up the Navy, give it efficiency, and remove the "dry-rot." Sir, this is one that I would call a hard case-:-one of the hardest cases in that line of business in the Navy. [Laughter.] But it is entitled to some distinction because it is without a parallel. But, sir, my friend from Delaware has said that Captain Du Pont has done a great many things, and, amongst others, that he absolutely wrote a book for which he received great commen- dation; but, sir, that book has given him no very great credit, according to the fact which I shall proceed to state. Du Pont was a member of a board appointed by Secretary Kennedy in the fall of 1852 to prepare a code of rules and regulations for the government of the Navy, approved and issued in March, 1853, a few days before the change of Administration. The pres- ent Secretary, entertaining doubts upon the subject, submitted the case for the opinion of the Attorney General, who pronounced it "null and void," the board having exceeded its jurisdiction. This printed code, forming a volume of two hundred and fifty pages, and costing many thousand dollars, became a dead loss in consequence of this board having no definite knowledge of matters more legitimately within their province than framing and executing laws to promote the "efficiency of the Navy." You see what a latitudinarian this fellow Du Pont is. [Laugh- ter.] There is no telling what he will not have his fingers in; if you give him an inch, he will take an ell. This printed code cost perhaps 20,000 dollars to publish; it became a dead loss in consequence of the board having no defi- nite knowledge of the matters legitimately within the provisions while they were framing and executing laws to promote it. Now, sir, that is the book reputation which Du Pont obtained. It is between him and the Attorney General; and to tell you the truth, I am somewhat in the situation of the woman when there was a fight between her husband and the bear. She said "I will stand off; I might get scratched if I interfere; I shall not say a word." [Laughter.] But, sir, I have a great many other things to which I would direct the attention of the Senate; for as I do not speak often, I want to say a good deal when I do speak. I will now read a copy of a letter from the Navy Department to Commodore Hull,
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