Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1841-12-25

them and which must ultimately force to resistance
at the precise time when are least 10 make
| it successfully.
TO Covsr,men,s which are necessarily more EN-.
borassed in their councils and slower in their actoh
| than those which not bonnd 10 observe tne oe
scry forms Of Tree government, nave pecu''a, -. :,
est TO guard their soil from ihvason Inc halu'. :,
our institutions presents very strong aPpeuI
point A war between the United States ana any .'n :,
r;deroble maritime Power would not be conouc'eu u
this day rs il would have been even twenty year,
| II would be a war Of iDcursions, aiming d. 'e ~
The first blow would be struck al us ii noc,
;,s,;,u,;ons No nation, il is presumed, wouia cal
=, No s,ccessful over us for length of time, III a
contest of arms upon our own SOIL; ano no 80 Id
,vould attempt it. A more promising eA a.. h
no soupht in arrayng what are supposed " oe W.
10 elements of our social system against one ano,'
~ on,y en- disposed and free TO land upon any par. VI
49, ;, a. Inch might promise success 10 MS ehVeiP'''e'
could be armed with fouriold power oi ah"o u"ee
Gc tho ultimate result Of such incursionS we nave no
reason be afraid; but, even IN lne oess ,S
non our own soil would be the more expensive, the
o,e embarrassing and the horrible IN it's effects,
h con,penr us al the same time to oppose an enemy
in The field and guard against attempts to subvert our
social systems. ,, r
many of osr waters security, to certain extent,
against invasion by sea-. So long as maritime wars
were conducted in vessels Of large size and great
draught we had little to apprehend from them except
at few points, and those were susceptible OF adequate
relied on. The application of steam power to vessels
of war; and the improve ments which have recently
been made in artillery, are destined to change tne
whole system Of maritime war. STEAMBOATS, oil hgh'
draught and which may Rsrasily transported across
the ocean in vessels of larger class may invade us al
almost any point of our extended coast may penetrate
the interior through shallow rivers, and thus ex'
pose half country to hostile attacks he ceier
with which these movements could be made, the faci-
lity with which such vessels could escape, and the
.,.,l, ,oh thayc n
attack wonld enable an enemy with Comparatively
nconsiderable force haras whole seaboard, and
10 carry all the horrors oa into the sccurest retreats
of our people The effect OF these ncursons would he
terrible everywhere, but in the Southern portion OF our
country they might, and prohapy wouc' oe o'sasuouS
in the extreme.
II is obvious that war thus conducted must be sue
cessful to very great extent, in spite Ni all the de-
fences on land which could contrve Nothing less
than the conversion Of half our country INTO military
garrison could protect against it, Such Is the eS-
posed condition of our county, such is the character
of our institutions and such the position OF our peo-
pie that population Of twice our pre.ent NUMBER un-
der the best possible military organization, would avail
US but little. Whilst the combined towers OF the
world could not subdue us, secondary naval
Power could avoid our land deeDces set our armies at
defiance, and prosecute against US war intoierabiy
harrassng and disastrous .
The single question, then, which We have TO decide,
in reference to this subject IS, where and by whom
shall those battles De lougHt,
come necessary defence of property, our inst!tu
tons our honor and our lves3 Shall we meet the
enemy upon the ocean, with men trained and discl.
Mined for the contest suffer him TO land upon our
Shores trusting TO scattered and harrassed people 10
eypel him from their farms and their hresides? This
question admits of but answer But It worse IMAM
de 10 suppose that all those high interests 10 which
have alluded can be adequately protected by our pre-
sent naval force Four thousand miles OF exposed sea
and lake coast foreign commerce scattered through
the most distant and domestic trade exposed alike
upon The ocean and upon interior waters, are in
effect surrendered the enemy, when they are en-
trusted to the protection OF some twenty ships IN COM
mission.
If these views be not altogether deceptive, the policy
of increasing our navy, without further delay, IS OBJ.
vous ffoc far it shall be increased the wisdom OF
CONGRESS will decide Looking TO il as the chief, if
not The only adequate defcacc Of country against
those wars of ncursons from which much evil is TO
be apprehended respectfully suggest that we cannot
safely stop short Of half the naval force OF the strong
es, maritime power in tho world Our policy is peace,
and do not propose TO war Of aggression
in any case except far may be necessary as mea.
sure of defence. II is not probable that any nation
could deach from other service more than onefourth OF
lis whole naval force to rllack upon our own coast;
so that after deduclng such part OF our own force as
we could not employ ., all, anu such part as we should
be compelled 10 employ elsewhere might reason
ably hope to rcpel from our shores any maritime power
with only half force III ships With less than tins,
our fleets would serve only 10 swell the triumphs and
feed the cupdlty Of enemy. II is better TO have
none at all than 10 have less than enough am aware
TINT this rreut increase of naval power cannot be Ell
fec,ed in any short time. propose il only as the OBJ.
iect al which our policy ought to aim, and towards the
attainment ofwhch your measures ought to be steadily
directed An annual appropriation, as liberal as the
means of the Treasury wil allow, will in few year:
accomplish all that is desirable.
OF what description o vessels our navy ought 10 be
composed, is question Of great Importance, and one
which we are compelled 10 decide with reference tc
The practice ofo,her countries Doubtless very large
part of ought to consit Of steamships Experience
has shown that these sels may be rendered perfect
y safe at sea, and they may be 50 constructed a:
10 adapt them, in other: respects TO purposes oil war
OF their great usefulness the world has had striking
proof the recent OPERATIONS OF the British squadron
on the coas. If Syria-troops were transported dis
lance % wo thousand miles over the ocean, and were
enuared in battle in Asia Minor the sixteenth day
after leaving England This and other facilities al
forded by this class Of vessels great and etec
tive that the admiral declared that hs success was ow
ing TO the efficiency OF his steamers. We may wei
profit By the lesson thus taught US. respectfully sug
rest however, that it would not be wise in us to en-
gage very extensively ia the construction of steam
ships of war Of the largest class at this time lmita
n ting the example OF England, our wsest policy woult
be aid the private enterprise oil our citizens IN con
strnc,nr packet ships 10 ply between this country ant
foreign ports These should, Of course, be SO con
structed as to fit them for purposes, and should b
held subec, to the demand of the Government, npor
equitable conditions There will, in all probability, b.
enough Of such vessels TO all the purposes fo
which steamships of the largest class would be required
and they would he furnished at comparatively SINAI
cost 10 the Government. improvements are daily
made not only in steam machinery but IN the proPel
ling power applied 10 steam vessels. Experiments arr
now in progress which promise important results j:
these respects, and it would probably be udclous no
10 expend large sums in the construction OF steam
ships for distant cruises until these results shall b
made known But the same reasoning does not appl.
vessels of SMALLER Glass; destined tor The de
fence of our own coast and hurbors These ought not
under any circumstances, to be delayed. They wou
be particularly useful the lakes and in the Gulf
Mexico On the lakes they might he advantageous.
employed under proper regulations in the revenue
service. They would be peculiarly adapted 10 TIM
Gulf of Mexico, in consequence Of the Gains and cur
rents which prevail there and Of their greater facility
in making harbor in tho violent iempesis which nr'
common in that latitude. There is, in truth, but TIN
single harbor of Pensacola in which ship of large
draught can find shelter, although there are many
which afford sufficient depth of wafer for steam vessel