_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the
7th instant, requesting me to lay before it "the proceedings which have
been had under the act entitled 'An act for the gradual increase of the
Navy of the United States,' specifying the number of ships which have
been put on the stocks, and of what class, and the quantity and kind of
materials which have been procured in compliance with the provisions of
said act; and also the sums of money which have been paid out of the
fund created by the said act, and for what objects; and likewise the
contracts which have been entered into in execution of said act on which
moneys may not yet have been advanced," I transmit a report from the
Acting Secretary of the Navy, together with a communication from the
Board of Navy Commissioners, which, with the documents accompanying it,
comprehends all the information required by the House of
Representatives.