Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1857-03-06
From The London Times Of Jan %

this country. 1t is very true that in one re,n.ct
may DO considered rather as teachers than learna"
younger State than ourselves, and if their policv ="
to the present time has not aimed 50 directly A. W.
establishment of powerful navy they have alive
bestowed extraordinary pains on the construction ana
equipment of individual vessels. Comparatv"iu
speaking they have few ships, but their d.sire ~.
always been to make every ship model Of its ss
cheney and strength. They entitled, in fact u.
the credit of having carried ships of every rate
utmost limits of their respective capacites-of ban
ing made frgates equal to ships of the line, and co,
vetes equal to frigates At this very moment tOa
they are launching new class of steam vessels VIII
batteries Of prodigous power SO that in their m. Ga
though much smaller than our own, We mav.nnI'
for the latest invention in the science of naval .rnI
lecture the arts of destruction.
On the 1st day of December last the Secretarr :.
the American Navy made his annual report TO III.
President of the United States on tie state and n
poets of that department, explaining in lucid A.
ciptIon the duties discharged by the several snn.S
rons adoat the actual condition of the service and
the changes of ,provemens which it was thouob,
proper to recommend From this document we cnl
lect much valuable intelligence but its most striknr
feature, perhaps is contained in the general vic
which it exhibits when regarded as a whole AsH
under the influence Of some irresistible law of thrp
the Americans steadily treading in our own foot
steps, and advancing gradually TO the formation Of
larger regular marine. The keynote of the repor
in almost every section is 81 extension" The trad
tional policy of throwing the utmost skill and main.
into the construction of single ships is not forgotten
bur by the side OF this principle appears that of ey
panding the whole naval force. Hitherto there has
been Only one American squadron in the Pacifc,-it
is now recommended that there should be two
Measures are suggested for insdring the supply Of
seamen, and American especially for the
national service additional officers are spoken Of
and the forests on the coasts OF the contnen,
are to be searched for ship timber. The spirit in
w aich these and other recommendations are made !.
explained in one of the paragraphs OF the report so
clearly as 10 leave no room for misconception 9Th.
arguments and considerations" says the Secretly,
"ior a steady and gradual enlargement of our navv
have lost none of their force. Our extended coast
our multiplied commerce, the maintenance of Our
rank among the great Poacers of the earth, all speak
loudly in favor of this policy" We believe the i'm.
pulse here indicated TO be both natural and inevitable
in the growth OF great nation and sincerely do We
rejoice the reflection that the power to be thus
developed must necessarily, by the laws of political
gravitaon, be carried to the side of liberty and pro-
gTess.
The latest novelty in the American service con.
sists in the introduction of guns of peculiar FORM
intended to throw shells of enormous weight. The
explanations of the Secretary on this point ex
tremely interesting AS long ago 1850 the cannon
of the aAw model were spoken of yielding the mQr
imuna of power to be obtained out of given weight
of metal, and during the years 1852 1853, and 1854
hitting tests. At length, when the construction Of
six frigates had been ordered by Congress, it
solved 10 tit them with this new species of armament
and one specimen, the Merrimac, has visited our
shores AS the guns very heavy, the number
composing the battery will not be great, but some
idea may be formed of their power when say that
the largest of the three calbers specified will carry
a projectile 1876 ID weight, or, in other words will
throw more metal than four thirty two FOUNDERS
These projectiles to take The form of shells as
being the destructive, but 1t is expressly stated
that solid shot could be used in case of attack upon
the stone walls of Notifications, although" adds
the Secretary, recent developments in the late Eu.
ropean will hardly encourage such assaults to
be often undertaken"
Steam power in those vessels is only employed as
an auxiliary, ii being reserved as indispensable
condition that their capacities sailing vessels should
be kept unmpared, but greater rate of speed than
usual has nevertheless been obtained. The two lead
ing principles of the new models appear TO be, first
the distribution of great weight of metal-eqda
! to that Ct heavy forty gun frgate-among ten or
twelve guns only and next, the preservation of the
most valuable qualities of sailing vessel in con.
junction with considerable power of steam for oc.
casions requiring it, Although it is remarked in the
report, that the introduction of these magnificent
vessels constitutes in the history of the Uni
ted States Navy"
1t is rather curious to observe, that while the Ame
leans thus taking stride ahead of all other
tions in the composition Of their ornaments, they
are acknowledging imperfections in the study Of
gunnery, for the Secretary alludes 10 the Portsmouth
glnnery- ship-the Excellent-as a feature of our
service deserving imitation in theirs, remarking at
the time, that hitherto they have relied for Their
training upon practice at His views of this sub
ject full of interest He observes that, generally
speaking an American finds himself instinetivey al
home with firearms. 1t is much the same, indeed,
among ourselves and tt wilder features of Trans,
atlantic life, involving IN many instances resort
to the gun as indispensable instrument, would Of
course give stimulus to the national partaltIes-
" Americans says the report, " are adopts in the
OF the rifle and the musket from their boyhOod
and when thrown into the field, no matter how sud
denly, they skilful, and their aim is as fatal as
that OF the trained soldier"
This is simply incident of that individuality Of
character which renders American so much Of
nan and SO little of machine but the Secretary
adds, with evident reason, that 6" the case is very
different with regard 10 the management of cannon
weighing thousands of pounds upon disturbed sea-
AS an improvement, therefore, upon the system 10
u>e he recommends that special consideration and
encouragement should be extended to an attempt al
ready made, In the absence Of legislation on The sub
ect, toward the establishment of gunnery practice
snip, and expresses his own opinion that vast in
prOVement wou follow If no man of war went TO
sea without an officer designated especially as the
ordnance officer of the ship"
Such the principal features of the report be,
: lore u.s. denoting renewed advance in the trad.
uohdl pains OF the American Navy, and at the SAINT
time an extension of the National policy in the orea'
g ton of an enlarged marine. That such movemeD
was unavoidable entirely persuaded. 70 grea
rising nation could possibly abdicate its functions
!, a member of the mighty Common eath of States
!, 1t is of the very escence of civilization that States
as well should be brought into multiplied re-
=. lations with each other, and these relations nse'
sary presume The maintenance of such an attitude
, as shall secure respect. Non-nterventicn, in is
s general and comprehensive sense, is impossible
5 theory in matters of international as it would be
e those of domestic police.
Odenses will come, and offenders must be restrained
A hraaoh Of nnhlic Ia I'd or Dar;I A.