326 Onthe Light-House System of the United States. 
That the present mode of repairing illuminating apparatus, oil 
s, &c., is not economical, efficient, or reliable. esw'rh 
That the removal and replacing of light vesssls, the extin- 
guishment or lighting of lights, removal or placing of buoys, &c., 
or in any manner changing lights and other aids to navigation, 
without giving ample notices, are subjects of grave complaints. 
That there is no good reason why the light vessels on the 
coasts of the United States (if properly constructed and moored) 
should not remain at their moorings under as unfavorable circum- 
stances as those on the coasts of England and Ireland. 
That whenever light vessels are reported to have parted ‘heir 
moorings, the circumstances attending them should be carefully 
investigated by competent and disinterested persons, and the re- 
sult made known. " . 
hat the erection of light-house towers of a uniform height, 
withont regard to the elevation of the land upon which they are | 
placed, is contrary to the first principles of light-house engineer- 
ing, involving, in situations of great natural elevations above the 
level of the sea, unnecessary expense, and on low coasts the in- 
efficiency of the light for want of sufficient range. 
That due regard has not been had to the wants of commerce 
selecting sites for lights along the coasts of the United States. 
hat for want of a proper system in this branch of the public 
service, the densely populated coasts have a superabundance 0 
lights, to the injury of navigation, while on the sparsely settled 
coasts, bounding the great outlet to the millions of commerce 
from the valley of the Mississippi and its tributaries for hundreds 
of miles, there is not a single light. 
That light-house construction, illumination, inspection, and su- 
perintendence, involve a large amount of special and general pro- 
fessional knowledge of a high character, and therefore should 
only be intrusted to the most competent professional persons. _ 
‘That competent engineers have not been employed, except in 
a few instances, to plan and superintend the coustruction and fit- 
ting up of the light-houses of the United States. 
_ ‘That the large amounts required annually to repair and keep 
in good order the towers, buildings, vessels, and illuminating ap- 
paratus of the lights in the United States, is attributable to the 
manner in which the work was executed, and to the inferiority 
of the materials employed. = 
_ That large sums are now required to preserve foundations of 
light-towers, sea-walls, &c., which might have been saved by t 
adoption, by competent engineers, of proper plans and founda- 
tions for them. 
That no systematical and economical plan of construction has 
been employed in the light-house establishment. 
