Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1854-02-24

I
| harmony with his northern fellow citizens--he
could see no reason why they should seek to IN
iure the south by unavailing efforts 10 carry out
some fanstical ideas of philanthropy SAID
that though they might not agree with him IN inc
reasons he had given. yet as To The results Mt
which he bad arrived on this question he was nap
py 10 say there was not the slightest difference
OF opinion among the southern Wing senator's.
The London Times takes occasion 10 comment
on the fact, brougl TO light by the shipwreek OF
the San Francisco, that we had not a single gov
ernlnent vessel in any of our ports which could
be dispatched to her assistance. Its American
correspondent remarks in plain language that tho
whole United States Navy, if il could ever be
got TO sea at all. could be demolished in twenty
Minutes by French or English squadron, and
that If war was to break out, any maritime power
could in three weeks time sail TO any American
hassor and burn its buildings to the ground.
The Times does not take advantage of this OPP
porinnity 10 beraie us for onr foolish manage
ment, or 10 aepreeiate our naval strength; but on
the contrary casts a glance backwards to the
time when the same state of things exi sted in En-
gland II SAYS, mo reasonable man would think
any more lightly of the maritime power of the
American Union from the cirenmsta noes here dis
closed. Twenty years ago, our own ports were
spoken Of in almost the same terms. What is 1t,
then. that contributes 50 eifectun1ly to American
reputation, and even carries il through exposures
which would otherwise prove destructive Sim
ply the universal conviction TINT all the elements
Of strength are in reality there in abundance.
And what gives this conviction Simply the
knowledge that all the seas of the globe are cover
ed with American shipping. aud that though tho
national arseuals may not contain the materials
for frgatc, the yards rivers and harbors of the
country could turn out in twelve months, even
in as many weeks snch an armada rs never yet
crossed thc ocean. Only the day before yester-
dav, we published detailed enumeration OF the
number of steamships which have been launched
at the port of New York alone, up to the first day
of the present year, and these figures actually
showed total of 66, with an aggregate tonnage of
lO6,00O-or in other words, 66 steamers, aYeiag'
ing upwards of 600 tons each. There can never
be u question about the true naval power of
State Ike this
The Times then goes on to show that England
has all our clements of strength without our de-
fciency. and therefore is ready to meet the cris'
is of general war which now seems 80 Imminent.
The British navy was never raised 10 such apitch
of excellence before ''Our line of battle ships,
saws the Times. ''wero but sloops in former days
compared with what they are at present, our ar
senals contain the means of doubling with fneili-
ty the fleets now at sea; our Nary List requires
nothing but a revision adapted 10 the period,whi!e
il we have not yet organized a supply of senmen,
we know, at any rate, that these Indispensable
hands exist in abundance. If to these clements
of strength we add the reinforcements derived
from our mercantile marine, shall discover
such power rs none but II dementod despot would
gratuiteusy provoke The case is 50 plain as to
excuse whit would otherwise be unbocoming and
even impntic gaseonade, The Russian Navy
could be demolished by our merchant squadrons.
In this respect the Car can be infallibly .crum-
Piled up" according to prediction. Though uu-
apPInhehabe In the reccsses OF his barbarous en-
pre- his ships can be swept from the sea by our
cruisers, nor will there be single mile of his
coast which viii not be at our mercy The Uni
ted States might do much IN the end, but their
strength is rs yet latent Ours has fortunately
been called forth in time, nor was there ever II
year in the British annals in which our maritime
power was more truly formidable than it is in this
gear 1854"