The New York Herald

The Mails—The United States Steam Navy.
The fact that the reactionary and legitimist parties in France are desirous of a quarrel with England, and a union with Russia and Austria, induces the inquiry, whether England can sustain herself against this formidable alliance. A full comparison between the navies of France and England will surprise some of our readers, who have been in the habit of believing in the immense power of the latter.
The following statement of ships in the French and English navies, taken from the English navy list, and from the Journal of Marine, in France, and other official documents, was laid before the House of Lords on the 19th July last, by the Earl of Talbot. (Hansard's Parliamentary Debates, 3d series, vol. 107, page 89.)
[Table of ships: Line of Battle Ships, Frigates, Corvettes, Brigs, Steam Navy, etc. - detailed numbers for French and English navies.]
The main reliance of England seems to be upon the fleets of steamships which she has afloat, carrying the mails in different parts of the world, which ships have been built under the supervision of the admiralty, and are capable in all respects of being converted into ships of war, and of carrying ordnance of the heaviest description. They are completely under the control of the government, and can be taken at any time for the public service. It is calculated, no doubt correctly, that the crews will, for the most part, stick by the ships, happen what may. Thus, efficient war steamers, in great numbers, are always ready, which cost the government comparatively little, do not excite the jealousy of other maritime powers, and which, moreover, serve to stimulate and open up new sources of commerce.
This system was commenced in 1839, when a contract was entered into with Mr. Cunard and his associates, for the conveyance of the mails, via Halifax to Boston, in five steamers of the first class, for £55,000, or about $275,000 per annum. In 1846, the government enlarged the contract with Mr. Cunard and his associates, by adding four ships, to run from Liverpool to New York, and increased the compensation to £145,000, or about $725,000 per annum. In the year 1840, a contract was made by the Admiralty with the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, at £240,000 sterling, or 1,200,000 per annum, for fourteen steamers, to carry the mails from Southampton to the West Indies, the ports of Mexico on the Gulf, and to New Orleans, Mobile, Savannah and Charleston. These ships are of the largest class, and are to conform, in all respects concerning adaptation to the purposes of war, to the conditions prescribed in the Cunard contract. Another contract has recently been entered into for two steamships, to run between Bermuda and New York.
These three lines employ twenty-five steamers of the largest and most efficient description. In addition to the above, contract was made, first of January, 1845, with the Peninsula and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, for a line of similar steamers, seven in number, from England to the East Indies and China, at £160,000 sterling, or $800,000 per annum. This line passes from Southampton, via Gibraltar and Malta, to Alexandria, in Egypt; thence the route continues overland to Suez, at the head of the Red Sea, whence the steamers again start, touching at Aden, Bombay, and at Point de Galle, in the island of Ceylon: from whence they proceed to Singapore and Hong Kong. There is a branch line, connecting with this, from Point de Galle to Calcutta, touching at Madras. A contract was made, first of July, 1846, for a Pacific line of British steamers, four in number, running from Valparaiso to Panama, touching at intermediate ports. This line connects, overland, from Panama to Chagres, with the West India line. Besides these, there were, in 1848, twelve more lines of government steamers running between Great Britain and the continent of Europe, making a grand aggregate at that time, of 111 ocean steam ships, fitted for war purposes and controlled by the government.
This number has been since augmented. Parliament has extended the mail steamship system to Australia, as well as other parts of the British dominions. This formidable array of war steamers, under the guise of mail packets, must be added to the above figures, and placed on the English side of the account. The French government, before the revolution in 1848, had resolved to adopt a similar mode of raising a steam navy, and took some steps towards the accomplishment of that object, and there is no doubt that the republic will, in due time, act rigorously upon that resolution.
Our own government has lately adopted this system, to a limited extent, but still, our ocean steam navy is altogether insignificant, in comparison with that of France or England: and looking at the vast extent of our coasts, we must pronounce it to be entirely inadequate to the wants of the country. The report of Mr. Secretary Bancroft, made to the Senate, 30th March, 1846, shows that at that period we had but three war steamers in commission, with twenty-three guns in all. In addition, there were three in ordinary, to mount four guns each, and a steam tug or two. It is true, there has since been ordered an addition of four war steamers, and contracts have been entered into by the government, under the authority of Congress, for seventeen steamships to carry the mails from New York to Liverpool, New York to Bremen, New York to Chagres, and from Panama to San Francisco. This system should be extended wherever there would not be an undue interference with private enterprise, and especially where new markets for our commerce could be opened up. A larger steam navy than we have now got must be created forthwith—it is indispensable, and this is the most economical way to secure an adequate force. It is, of course, well enough to have a goodly number of ships in commission; but we cannot have a very large fleet of war steamers cruising about, doing nothing. We must, like other nations, try to make a portion of the expenditure required for these naval armaments subservient to the purposes of commerce, and other great objects of national importance.