Annual Report of the Secretary

Mr. President, and Members of the Institute.

I have the honor to make the following Report in regard to matters connected with the Naval Institute for the preceding year, speaking at the same time for the Executive Committee, as well as for myself, as Secretary.

The total membership of the Institute, as compared with that at the same time last year, is as follows:

From this it will be seen that the increase in total membership is twenty-five. Eighty-one new members joined; two became life members (the authors of the Prize Essays of 1880 and 1881); eight members and an honorary member died; twenty-three members resigned, and twenty-eight were dropped from the rolls; one honorary and three associate members were elected. I have not counted among the members, as may be seen, the twenty-eight whose names have been dropped from the rolls, as directed in Section 8, Art. IV, of the Constitution. Many of these members are serving on foreign stations where it is difficult to obtain drafts for small amounts of money, and the Executive Committee has, therefore, exercised its discretion in retaining upon the roll of members those who have signified an intention to pay their dues upon return home, but no copies of the Proceedings are sent to any one who is one year in arrears. In this connection I may add that it would prevent the loss of copies of the Proceedings, not easily replaced, and greatly lessen the labor of the Secretary, if members would notify him of a change in address. During the two years that I have been Secretary, while the addresses of the great majority of the members have been changed, many of them twice, I have received barely a score of notifications to that effect!

In the competition for the prize of 1881, upon the subject, The Type of (1) Cruiser (2) Armored Vessel best suited to the Present Needs of the United States, two of the judges—Commodore W. N. Jeffers and Chief Constructor John Lenthall—concurred in preferring the essay written by Lieut. E. W. Very, while the other judge— Chief Engineer J. W. King—designated that written by Lieut. S. Schroeder as most worthy. In accordance with the decision of the majority, the prize was awarded to the former. Both essays, with the decisions of the judges, have been printed in the Proceedings.

The subject selected for the Prize Essays of 1882 was, Our Merchant Marine: the Causes of its Decline, and the Means to be taken for its Revival. The increase in-the interest taken in this competition is, perhaps, in no way more clearly shown than by the increase in the number of competitors. In 1880 there were eight; in 1881, ~ four; and this year there are eleven. These essays have been sent to the judges chosen—Hon. Hamilton Fish, ex-Secretary of State, Mr. John D. Jones, President of the Atlantic Mutual Insurance Company, and Mr. A. A. Low, formerly President of the New York Chamber of Commerce.

During the year four numbers of the Proceedings have been published, comprising No. 14, the last number of Vol. VI, and Nos. 15, 16 and 17, or three parts of Vol. VII; material for No. 18, the last part of Vol. VII, is in hand and will shortly be sent to the printer. As papers are frequently presented of too technical a character, and involving too close an attention to details to be followed when read before an audience, it may become necessary to depart in a measure from the present custom, and to insert papers in the Proceedings which have been read by title only. It has been found impossible to reproduce the discussions upon papers, in exactly the form which they took, as there is no stenographer in Annapolis, and as the Executive Committee has not felt justified in having a reporter from Baltimore or Washington in attendance at the meetings.

The Institute lost the unusually large number of nine of its members by death during the year. Among them was the Treasurer, Chief Engineer James P. Sprague, who died on the 15th of September. He was elected Treasurer in 1879, again in 1880 and in 1881. He had thus served continuously for over two years and a half, and the Institute is greatly indebted to him for valuable and faithful services rendered by him cheerfully in spite of failing health. A record of his and of the other deceased members’ naval services will be published in a forthcoming number.

The number of exchanges has been increased, and the Proceedings are now sent to all the prominent foreign and domestic professional periodicals, and to many scientific societies at home and abroad. I take great pleasure in announcing that the Hon. Secretary of the Navy has subscribed to fifty copies of each issue,* one-half of which he permits to be sent to exchanges. Numbers of copies of separate articles have been sold, notably the paper by Lieut. Commander Chadwick, entitled “ Aids to Navigation,” of which the Light-House Board took five hundred copies. This, and the fact that a number of subscriptions from non-members has been received, are gratifying evidences that the interest in the Proceedings is not confined exclusively to the members of the Institute.

In conclusion I would say that it has been the constant aim of the Executive Committee to extend the influence and to advance the interests of the Institute to the best of their ability, and they desire, through me, to return thanks to the many who, by their hearty cooperation and invaluable participation, have aided them in their endeavors.

Respectfully,

CHARLES BELKNAP,

Lieutenant, and Secretary.

Annapolis, Md., Jan. 12, 1882.

U. S. Naval Institute,

Annapolis, Md., Oct. 17, 1881.

Rear Admiral C. P. R. Rodgers, U. S. N.,

Superintendent Naval Academy.

Sir:

I have the honor to submit to your approval the following plan for the benefit of the Naval Institute, and ask if, in your opinion, favorable action by the Navy Department may be hoped for.

Contrary to the practice of the principal European governments, our Navy Department maintains no professional journal for the advancement of naval officers and for the publication of general orders and other official matter. France has the Révue Maritime; Italy, the Rivista Marittima; Austria, the Mittheilungen a. d. Gebiete d. Seewesen; Spain, the Revista General de la Marina : in each case the journal is printed under government direction. England allows the Royal United Service Institution £600, or £3000, yearly to aid in the publication of its Journal.

The Proceedings of the U. S. Naval Institute are sent to the above and also to many other professional journals, and to many scientific societies at home as well as abroad, and by them regarded as a government publication, or, at least, as published with government aid. The annual prize, given by the Institute, for the best essay is also looked upon abroad as an act of the government. I need not point out to you the fallacy of this view—that really the Proceedings of the Institute depend for their issue upon the uncertain amounts collected from an ever varying number of members. In order that they may in a measure become official and, at the same time, have their existence based upon a solid foundation, the Navy Department might subscribe for one hundred copies of each issue of the Proceedings, amounting to $300 yearly; these numbers would be sent to the above-mentioned exchanges, to libraries, and to the government offices in Washington, as might be directed by the Navy Department. In return, a portion of each number would be devoted to the publication of transfers of officers, movements of vessels, general orders, etc.; matter communicated officially by the Hon. Secretary of the Navy to the service.

Trusting that this plan, which would tend to aid the end for which the Institute was organized—the advancement of professional and scientific knowledge in the Navy—will meet with your approval,

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

CHARLES BELKNAP,

Lieut, and Secretary.

[Copy.]

Navy Department,

Washington, Dec. 1, 1881.

Sir:

Your letter of the 19th ultimo, enclosing a communication from Lieutenant Charles Belknap, in relation to the U. S. Naval Institute, has been received.

The Department will subscribe for fifty copies of the Proceedings of the Institute, at the rate of three dollars per annum, per copy, to be paid for by quarterly-approved bills, at the end of each quarter, or annually, at the end of the year.

Very respectfully,

(Signed) WILLIAM H. HUNT,

Secretary of the Navy.

Captain E. M. Ramsay, U. S. N.,

Superintendent Naval Academy.

Received Dec. 2, 1881, and this copy forwarded for the information of Lieut. Chas. Belknap, Secretary Naval Institute.

F. M. RAMSAY,

Captain and Superintendent.