268 COMMITTEE ON 



should be extended to any portion of our citizens, these have 

 claims which cannot be overlooked. It is to this view of the sub- 

 ject that. the Committee on Naval Affairs have directed their most 

 anxious attention. 



The commerce of the Pacific may be greatly extended in all its 

 departments. Of the rapidity of its growth there is abundant evi- 

 dence in the records of the departments of our government, and 

 the theatre for its enlargement is most ample ; but it requires aid 

 and encouragement. 



No part of our commerce is so much exposed to hazard and 

 peril. That portion of the globe is less known, and the ocean 

 more filled with dangers than any other that our seamen visit. 

 There are hundreds of islands, reefs, and shoals, unmarked upon 

 any chart, and unknown to common navigators. Their location, 

 situation, facilities for commerce, are yet to be explored and ex- 

 hibited to the world. Many of those islands are inhabited by 

 savages, who render access to them dangerous, and whom it is the 

 duty of the government to conciliate. The loss of property and 

 life in that region has been immense. The committee refer to 

 the accompanying documents to illustrate some of the facts upon 

 these points ; and they do not hesitate to believe that an examina- 

 tion of them will satisfy the senate of the policy and necessity of 

 the measure which they propose. 



But the committee have also been influenced by other consid- 

 erations, connected with the duty which the government and the 

 nation owe to its own character, and the common cause of all 

 civilized nations the extension of useful knowledge of the globe 

 which we inhabit. Every other nation, which possesses either a 

 commercial or military marine, has made contributions to this 

 knowledge, which have benefited the rest -of mankind, and given to 

 themselves the most enviable of all kinds of national glory ; and, 

 by unanimous consent, those who are engaged in it are freed from 

 the perils of war; and receive, even from the hands of enemies, 



