Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1854-04-11

aa.i,as al ti,s adSrfnfaenI that our aaat'a!::Y lava 'haa"
"a hold i~T,yia!5io, II hEs tIppa"od because so !aIs d ~.
.sart naval foron 10 the Pacific. Our squadron ;ilerc CON
.io,ad al Two vessels. With ths we hid to protect our
Tiohts endangered In the region Of the Sandwich ISLANDS,
md TO discharge all our dulles OF every Kind, protective Gnu
nolico. on the coast OF California.
poT Tsrer still, during the pIeeen, session of Congress, news
arrived here that The steamer San Francisco was IN g'ea'
distress, and likely TO perish, without speedy assistance
thousands of anxious eyes turned To The navy, ana uiou.
sands of %throbbing hearts implored its interposiiion. "nal
vas the shock which was produced when the answer came
hack, chilling and crushing In its effects that the navy had
no vessels for the service. And now we owe 10 Englsh coal.
irsv a work OF humanity which should have sraccd our own
navy. But let me proceed TO another species oil argument
Ia all discussions something must be conceded as a start
inc noint. II will scarcely be denied that we must nave 4
navy, and that we have never, In years pact, had 100 large
a one. If l may assume this, every thing which | ask VIII
follow. .,,
periods OF our history, for the purpose of contrasting lis
strength, aud the need which existed for it, at those periods
and al the present.
The proper purpose OF a navy is 10 defend our coast. and
10 protect our commerce, and its strength should be proper
toned to the need. Taking with US these data, lei US pro
coed with the proposed examination.
So early as 1899 We had upwards OF thirty vessels, and q
law had passed Congress to au:horise the construction OF
six more. With their completion. our strength in vessels
wouId have been but little less then than now. Then we
had about FIVE millions Of inhabitants, ami now about wen.
five millions. A corresponding disproporlion would ap-
near upon a comparison of our commerce and tonnage at The
Two periods. But l will select a later period in our history
for a more extended and a moro exact comparison with the
present.
In 1911, JuuSt CpsnuIi WIN d lHCu SECiS'u'J '" wv w.
w regresentei il TO be too feeble for our necessities, and
urped is increase with that rare ability which characterized
ali his efforts. | may say, Without any dispI'agement 10
Others, that, in my judgment, an abler man never IN me
country's history, filled that place. Surely no ADLER virgin
ian ever did. In 1872, he reiterated his recommendations
bu, lett The department Without seeing them carried out
He was transferred to the higher position OF Secretary oil
State, but did not lose his anxious desire for the prosperity
IN! increase Of the navy; and II was while hs was out on ON
excursion with The President of the United States, his slc-
crssor IN the Navy Department, and other genllemenr Wit
Messing some experiments on board the then new steamer
Princeton, that the sad accident happened which deprived
the country Of many honored and useful citizens besides
himself, and which, il il had taken him alone, would have
been q calamity ever 10 be deplored by all who admire great
ness OF intellect and purity OF principle, dedicated Win SIN
gleness of purpose 10 the country's best service.
From The time that Judge Upshur made his last report 'ilI
the report of the Secretary OF the Navy MIR. Henshawl 10
1919, but little change took place In The number and charLc'
Ter OF our vessels oil. war. The Princeton was complnted'
and brought into service, and some smaller vessels, viz one
fhgale, two ~sloops.of war, and ono brig. But these conssi-
tuIed, doubtless, no part of the increase which he wns ur.
cling, bcaa"-" they had most probably been commenced be-
fore he came into tho department.
On The other hand, The Washington, a ninety gun sh'p'
had in tho mean time been brokcn up the lrigate Hudsou
had been surrendered as unfit for rep iir; the sloop Concord
was lost in the Mozambique channe; the schooner Grampus
was lost off Charleston, and the splendid steamship Missouri
had been burned in the harbor OF Gibraltar.
It was a year Of dlsastersi and, go far from being strengta.
ened. the navy, 10 regard 10 the number OF vessels and guns,
was actually diminished. From lS43 to 1874 II made little,
if any. advance.