cause, the responsibility, and, if the facts warranted, the remedy due.
This course necessarily recommended itself from the outset to the
Executive, for only in the light of a dispassionately ascertained
certainty could it determine the nature and measure of its full duty
in the matter.

The usual procedure was followed, as in all cases of casualty or
disaster to national vessels of any maritime state. A naval court of
inquiry was at once organized, composed of officers well qualified by
rank and practical experience to discharge the onerous duty imposed
upon them. Aided by a strong force of wreckers and divers, the court
proceeded to make a thorough investigation on the spot, employing every
available means for the impartial and exact determination of the causes
of the explosion. Its operations have been conducted with the utmost
deliberation and judgment, and, while independently pursued, no
attainable source of information was neglected, and the fullest
opportunity was allowed for a simultaneous investigation by the Spanish
authorities.

The finding of the court of inquiry was reached, after twenty-three days
of continuous labor, on the 21st of March instant, and, having been
approved on the 22d by the commander in chief of the United States naval
force on the North Atlantic station, was transmitted to the Executive.

It is herewith laid before the Congress, together with the voluminous
testimony taken before the court.

Its purport is, in brief, as follows:

When the _Maine_ arrived at Havana, she was conducted by the regular