Ways and Means, and was especially active and prominent in the development of the new navy, working with the greatest energy in this direction as chairman of the Naval committee during the forty-ninth, fiftieth and fifty-second Congresses, and as a prominent member of that committee in the fifty-first Congress. His vital interest in naval progress and his thorough acquaintance with the naval needs of the country, led to his selection as secretary of the navy by President Cleveland in 1893. He served in this position until the end of the Cleveland administration. Under his control of the department, the navy made marked progress, and a large number of war vessels were built, including the battleships Massachusetts, Indiana, Oregon, Maine and Texas; the armored cruisers Brooklyn and New York, and a considerable number of smaller cruisers, gunboats, etc. Having done more than any other man toward providing the United States with an effective navy, Colonel Herbert retired from official life in 1897 and has since been engaged in the practice of the law, residing at Washington, District of Columbia. He is a member of the National Geographic Society of that city. In 1888 he published in the Democratic campaign book a paper entitled, "History of the Efforts to Increase the United States Navy." He was also the editor of, and the largest contributor to, "Why the Solid South — or Reconstruction and its Results" (1890).
While secretary of the navy, he was authorized by congress to investigate and ascertain the actual cost of manufacturing ship's armor and what would be a fair price for the United States to pay for it. First getting all the information he could from the two firms which then had contracts with the government for the construction of armor, the Bethlehem Company and the Carnegie Company, he then went to Europe and investigated the manufacture of armor in England and France. He got a bid in England for the construction of an armor plant, conferred with the minister of marine of France, and obtained from him an estimate made under his direction for the cost of a plant; and after thorough investigation made an elaborate report which recommended a reduction of about $300 per ton in the price of steel armor for naval vessels. The companies which had contracts, at first scouted the idea that they could make armor at the price indicated in the report; while congress for a time insisted that according to the facts and figures given by Secretary Herbert the price he had indicated as right was too high. Disagreement
