Experiments upon several kinds of such as are exploded by impact have been in progress since an early period of the war. These torpedoes can be rendered harmless by the enemy in most cases by setting adrift floating bodies to explode them, as is said to have been done on the Mississippi River, and as they cannot be put in place so long as all the channels are required for use by our own boats no great degree of importance is attached to them. They may serve, however, to gain time by making the enemy more cautious; and most of our seacoast defenses have already received, or will as soon as practicable receive, a certain supply of them.
To the Hon. the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Sir: I herewith transmit for the consideration and action of the House of Representatives a communication from the Secretary of the Navy covering "an estimate of an additional appropriation required for the service of the Navy Department from April 1 to November 30, 1862."
I recommend that an appropriation be made of the sum and for the purpose specified.
To the Senate and House of Representatives of the Confederate States.
The operation of the various laws now in force for raising armies has exhibited the necessity for reform. The frequent changes and amendments which have been made have rendered the system so complicated as to make it often quite difficult to determine what the law really is, and to what extent prior enactments are modified by more recent legislation. There is also embarrassment from conflict between State and Confederate legislation. I am happy to assure you of the entire harmony of purpose and cordiality of feeling which have continued to exist between myself and the Executives of the several States; and it is to this cause that our success in keeping adequate forces in the field is to be attributed. These reasons would suffice for inviting your earnest attention to the necessity of some simple and general sys-
