EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 11, 1884_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_
The condition of our seacoast defenses and their armament has been
brought to the attention of Congress in my annual messages, and I now
submit a special estimate of the Chief of Ordnance, United States
Army, transmitted by the Secretary of War, for a permanent annual
appropriation of $1,500,000 to provide the necessary armament for
our fortifications.
This estimate is founded upon the report of the Gun Foundry Board
recently transmitted, to which I have heretofore invited the early
attention of Congress.
In presenting this estimate I do not think it necessary to enumerate the
considerations which make it of the highest importance that there should
be no unnecessary delay in entering upon the work, which must be
commensurate with the public interests to be guarded, and which will
take much time.