Have just finished and sent my report to the printer. It is
long and has been a wearisome and laborious business. To weigh conflicting
claims and opinions, to make needed suggestions of reform and improvement,
without exciting hostility or committing error, to do justice to merit, to
avoid the commission or omission of acts which provoke controversy, to
speak of one's own acts without egotism and yet without want of manly
self-respect, to condense much in little space, to narrate briefly the deeds of
our naval men, to encourage and stimulate them in well-doing, with a multitude
of detail, make the preparing of an annual report in a time like this very
laborious. The reports of the Chiefs of Bureaus and of naval officers are to be
scanned with care; the various briefs and suggestions submitted have to be
canvassed and weighed, and the views, whether adopted or rejected, to be
criticized. To get this off my hands is a great relief. What censures and
complaints and criticisms, just and unjust, may follow for the next few days
and weeks do not trouble me. I am only now glad that the labor is off my hands,
and I dismiss it from my mind. If its suggestions and recommendations shall
elicit investigation, inquiry, or action, I, conscious of right intentions,
shall try to be prepared in the premises.
There are some singular movements in regard to our relations
with Japan and certain transactions connected with that people that cause me
annoyance. Some two years ago, or more, our Minister or Commissioner to Japan
notified the State Department or the Secretary of State that the Japanese
government wanted two or three of our vessels, and had placed in his hands, or
would place in the hands of such persons as he, the Minister, might select,
$600,000 for the purpose. Mr. Pruyn, the Minister, accepted the trust and
appointed his brother-in-law, Lansing, and Thurlow Weed to execute it. Mr.
Seward addressed a note to me on the subject, submitting the letter. I advised
that the government in no way should become involved in the affair, and gave
offense to Weed, who, not friendly before, has intrigued against me ever since.
My advice would have been the same, had any other person than Weed been named.
Without regarding my suggestions, the work went on. One of the vessels is
finished. I know not whether more than one has been commenced. A difference has
grown up between Japan and the European powers, and, under the direction of Mr.
Pruyn, our Minister, we have joined in the fight, become involved in an English
and French war with Japan, although the Japanese have no quarrel with us. Now
comes an inquiry to me from persons sent here by Weed, to know if the Navy
Department will not examine, approve, and take this vessel, which has been
built and been paid for. I am not pleased with the management or proposed
arrangement. This whole proceeding on the American side had appeared to me a
fraud and swindle to enrich Weed & Co. It is wicked to prostitute the
government to such a private purpose, and to impose upon the Japanese, who have
trusted us. I am opposed to having the Navy Department mixed up in any manner
with this scheme, and have let the President know what I think of it and Seward
also. Weed does not approach me on the subject. He has not been able to use the
Navy Department as he wishes, and, like John P. Hale, is at enmity with me
because I will not consent to be used in swindling operations. New York party
politics are always more or less personal. Party organizations are considered
convincing contrivances to be used by leading managers for their benefit.
SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the
Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 2: April 1, 1864 — December 31, 1866,
p. 187-9