act of the President; but he, like his predecessors, waited till Congress had authorized him to open with them international relations.

Sir, there is but one judgment and one course of precedent from the beginning to the end of American history. Monroe concurred in it. The messages of John Quincy Adams are replete with it. General Jackson, in the case of Texas, recognized it. Mr. Clay asserted it. Mr. Webster asserted it. What other authorities are worthy of notice after we have named these? That, sir, is all I have to say on the subject.

Now, sir, one other word. I have said that, in asking to be excused from farther service on the Committee on Foreign Affairs, I act from no feeling of personal pique. I make that request from a sense of public duty, in view of the relations that the chairman of the committee necessarily bears to the House of Representatives. It is possible, sir, for the House to differ on many occasions, not only with the chairman, but with the committee. They are bound to take the instructions of the House; they are bound to conform to such instructions; they are bound by the judgment of the House, and they must act in conformity with it.

But the position of chairman of a committee means that he stands there as the representative of the political views of the majority of the House of Representatives. He is to the House what a member of the cabinet is to the President. An absolute conformity on all essential principles between the chairman of a committee and the House on a subject respecting which the committee is raised, is essential to a due discharge of his duties, just as a similar relation between a cabinet officer and the President is essential to the due conduct of executive affairs. I am not the representative of the House upon this question. The vote of this morning places a great gulf between me and the House of Representatives. I cheerfully admit that I may be wrong and they may be right, but the criterion of my conduct must be my own judgment, and I can not separate myself from the history of America to conform to the vote of the House of Representatives.

And, sir, I go a step farther; not only is it impossible that I should continue to represent the House in that responsible situation without misrepresenting myself, but, insignificant as I may be personally, I am unwilling, when this matter crosses the ocean, as it will cross it, I can not consent to seem to submit, or to ac

quiesce in, or have part or lot with this grave surrender of the power of the people; for, Mr. Speaker, whatever the insignificance. of the person who moves this question, his connection with this vote elevates him to its importance; and I will tell you there is more than one crowned head in Europe that now looks anxiously to the conduct of this House upon this very question, and a shout will go up from one end of despotic Europe to the other when it is known that the House of Representatives has confessed that its resolves are vain breath before the dictation of the President, and that the President is the United States, as Louis Napoleon is France.

Insignificant though I be, I am not humble enough to allow my name to be associated with that humiliating abdication.

With all kindness to the gentlemen who have so kindly expressed themselves here to-day-a kindness which overwhelms me sensibly, a kindness frequently expressed heretofore in private, but never before so publicly-I beg they will not let that kindly feeling enter into consideration on this vote, but will do as I ask them-simply relieve me from acting longer in this responsible position where I so gravely misrepresent the House which has honored me.

ADMINISTRATION OF THE NAVY DEPART MENT.-MONITORS AND ARMORED SHIPS.

On the 3d and 6th of February the House resumed the consideration of the Naval Appropriation Bills. Mr. Davis had on previous occasions expressed his dissatisfaction with the management of the Navy Department, not only in regard to its conduct toward and disposition of officers, but particularly respecting the expenditures for monitors and iron-clad ships. On this occasion he expressed his views at length on those points in the following speeches :

The House resolved itself into the Committee of the Whole on the State of the Union (Mr. Washburne, of Illinois, in the chair), and resumed the consideration of the bill (House of Rep., No. 676) making appropriations for the naval service for the year ending June 30, 1866, the pending question being the amendment submitted by Mr. Davis, of Maryland, to add to the bill the following:

Provided, That no money appropriated for the naval service shall be expended otherwise than in accordance with the following provision, so far as it is applicable; that is to say, that the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint a Board of Admiralty, which shall consist of the vice-admiral and one rear admiral, one commodore, one captain, one commander, and one lieutenant commander, over which the Secretary of the Navy or the officer highest in rank present shall preside; and when the subject under consideration shall appertain to the duties of any bureau in the Navy Department, the chief of such bureau shall be a member of the Board, and entitled to sit and vote on the consideration of the subject. SEC. And be it further enacted, That the Board shall deliberate in common and advise the Secretary on any matters submitted by him relating to naval organization, naval legislation, the construction, equipment, and armaments of vessels, navy yards, and other naval establishments, and the direction, employment, and disposition of the naval forces in time of war. All such opinions shall be recorded.

SEC.

And be it further enacted, That no vessel of war shall be built or materially altered, nor any guns of new construction ordered or adopted, nor any engine for any vessel of war adopted or ordered, nor any permanent structure for naval service executed, until the plans, estimates, proposals, and contracts for the same shall have been submitted to the Board, and its opinion and advice thereon communicated in writing to the Secretary; nor shall any patented invention be bought or adopted for the naval service without first the opinion of the Board thereon having been taken; and all experiments decided to test inventions, and naval plans and struc

tures, shall be conducted under the inspection of the Board, or members thereof named by the Secretary, and submitted to the Board for its opinion thereon.

SEC. And be it further enacted, That all invitations for plans or proposals for any of the works above mentioned shall be prepared by the Board, subject to the approval of the Secretary; and all bids or offers, or proposals for the same, shall be opened in the presence of the Board, and the award made by it, subject to the approval of the Secretary.

The

SEC. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary may add to the Board, from time to time, other officers of the navy eligible to the position of chief of bureau, not exceeding three at any time, for consultation on any of the above subjects. Board may take the opinion of eminent practical engineers, mechanics, machinists, and architects, in their respective branches of art or industry, when in their opinion the public service will be promoted by it, and pay them such reasonable compensation as the Secretary may approve.

Mr. Davis, of Maryland, said:

MR. CHAIRMAN,-I should have been glad, but for the importance of this subject, to have allowed the vote to be taken upon the amendment which I have offered without making any observations on it; but the condition of the navy, and its great importance in the adjustment of accounts which we will have to adjust with other nations so soon as the rebellion shall be suppressed, make it a matter of vital moment that we should not be deluded by any apparent strength, that we should not allow weakness to be covered up under great numbers, whether of vessels or of guns, nor allow ourselves to be persuaded by articles adroitly inserted in newspapers in various portions of the country, into the belief that we are a naval power of the first magnitude, till that illusion is dispelled by some day of disastrous memory. For these reasons I desire to offer a few observations in support of the amend ment which I have proposed.

This amendment is not introduced upon my own judgment, is not one hastily drawn and brought before the House to provoke a discussion, but it was introduced after great deliberation—not deliberation in my own mind, but deliberation in connection with the first officers of the navy of the United States, the men who must bear our flag, navigate our ships, fight our guns, and maintain the honor of our country with the means we place at their disposal. They are the men who tremble at the present condition of the navy.

The honorable gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Spalding], on the Naval Committee, was prompt and anxious to thrust aside, un

considered, this amendment when it was introduced the other day, because it was under consideration before the Naval Committee. But it is proper to say that the bill was referred to the Naval Committee at the last session-not late in the session three session-three months before its close. And if they have not considered it, it is because they do not wish a vote upon it, or do not consider it worthy of consideration. I have more than once applied to one or two gentlemen upon that committee to take the bill up and consider it, and report it, even if they reported unfavorably upon it, so that the country might have an opportunity of having the judgment of this House and the vote of this House upon that

measure.

Perhaps the House will understand why that report is made now, when it can be no longer delayed. At an earlier stage, as an independent measure, there would have been a chance of having a consideration of the bill. When I saw that there was a purpose that there should be no consideration of it, I moved it as an amendment to the Appropriation Bill. The Naval Committee were not then ready to express their judgment upon it. Now that it is here, and the House must act upon it, they have suddenly made up their opinions-upon what consideration it is for them to say -and throw the weight of their judgment against it when it is before the House. Sir, their judgment will, of course, not have the weight and consideration of a committee, but that they have deliberated for nearly a year without deciding on it looks as though their opinion were given now for the purpose of accomplishing what they did not accomplish by smothering the bill.

There are, I agree, grave objections to incorporating important. measures in the appropriation bills. But, before this amendment was moved, the House, by an almost unanimous vote, had greatly changed the organization of the navy by increasing largely the number of cadets allowed at the Naval Academy. And the objection urged to incorporating this amendment upon the Appropriation Bill struck me as very remarkable, when an amendment of that kind had already been adopted within half an hour before I made my motion, on the motion of the honorable gentleman now in the chair [Mr. Washburne, of Illinois], amended and enlarged upon the motion of the chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means [Mr. Stevens]; so that there are circumstances in which grave and important measures may with propriety be put into an