tion resulting from our present system. The plan
proposed for the organization of the seamen furnishes a judicious
substitute for the law of September, 1850, abolishing corporal
punishment, and satisfactorily sustains the policy of that act under
conditions well adapted to maintain the authority of command and the
order and security of our ships. It is believed that any change which
proposes permanently to dispense with this mode of punishment should be
preceded by a system of enlistment which shall supply the Navy with
seamen of the most meritorious class, whose good deportment and pride
of character may preclude all occasion for a resort to penalties of a
harsh or degrading nature. The safety of a ship and her crew is often
dependent upon immediate obedience to a command, and the authority to
enforce it must be equally ready. The arrest of a refractory seaman
in such moments not only deprives the ship of indispensable aid, but
imposes a necessity for double service on others, whose fidelity to
their duties may be relied upon in such an emergency. The exposure to
this increased and arduous labor since the passage of the act of 1850
has already had, to a most observable and injurious extent, the effect
of preventing the enlistment of the best seamen in the Navy. The plan
now suggested is designed to promote a condition of service in which
this objection will no longer exist. The details of this plan may be
established in great part, if not altogether, by the Executive under the
authority of existing laws, but I have thought it proper, in accordance
with the suggestion of the Secretary of the Navy, to submit it to your
approval.

The establishment of a corps of apprentices for the Navy, or boys to
be enlisted until they become of age, and to be employed under such
regulations as the Navy Department may devise, as proposed in the
report, I cordially approve and commend to your consideration; and
I also concur in the suggestion that this system for the early training
of seamen may be most usefully ingrafted upon the service of our merchant
marine.

The other proposition of the report to which I have referred--the
reorganization of the Naval Academy--I recommend to your attention as a
project worthy of your encouragement and support. The valuable services
already rendered by this institution entitle it to the continuance of
your fostering care.

Your attention is respectfully called to the report of the
Postmaster-Gener