Staunton vindicator and general advertiser. (Staunton, Augusta County, Va.) 1858-1860, 1858-05-29
OUR NAVY NOV AND IN 1916.

The Washington hates is discussing the
present condition Of bur Navy as compared
with lts'conditon if 1916. Thirty e6ec-
tlre ships Of all classs, it SAYS, compose the
present navy Of the United States; these
are all IN commissioJ and upon them alone
are We to rely for pbtection against insult.
Is not this a deploraale state Of things, it
enquiries, when it i considered that we
have commercial marine. exceeding in
tonnage and enterprise that Of any other
nation on the globe? The States adds,
that:
"Forty-too yearsago VIC found serenity
four vessels, all in good and effective con-
dltlon, necessary togive protection to our
commerce 2, which WIS only eight huadred
thousand tons; whik now We find that with
commerce Of nearly fce millions Of tons,
we have but thirty lhtps-of-uar in commits
sion to protect it; which number could on
~ be increased from our present naval re-
sources to the nupber Of fifty, and even
then at great expense and delay. What
excuse can there b for such neglect to our
navy? Other natbns have nurtured their
navies and kept pale with their other ma
terial developments but we seem to have
neglected it until tits really farce.
The whole efectSe force of the British
navy in 1858 is 84l vessels.
Leaving out the esscls engaged in char
Dor service we find the British navy to
consist of sevcn Kindred and thirty foe
uesscls Of all classes. while the United
States navy consists II thirty in commission,
and probably Jyiy effective vessels of all
classes, although the. commercial marine
tonnage Of tie United States exceeds that
of Great Britain.
''In viewof these facts, it is no wonder
that Palmerton left as a legacy to Lord
Derby the admiralty orders to search we'll
all United States merchantmen even sus-
pected Of being engaged in the slave-tr trade.
If they do give offence in executing these
orders, an apology will make the umende
honorable, as tLey know the President has
no means to exat more. But, thank God,
this artful diplonatist has missed his mark
for once. The Premier is, to.a great cx-
tent, the Government Of England but
neither the President nor Congress is the
Government of his country. The people
can be heard hele, and gu some subj ects
their voice is lie thunder, AMI this is one
of them; its tones are becoming 50 clear.
and distinct, that Cabinets, and even Con-
gress, if it RESPECTS its brief authority, must
listen.
There could not have been more pro-
pitious moment for us, in the last fifty
years, to adjust this principle of .'free trade
and sailors rights than the present, and
a more unpppitious one for England. We
are free from any ''cntangling alliance"
and have al the helm an old and tried states
man, who baffled Pam himself, while in
London, and for which the Premier has,
perhaps, never forgiven him. As a coad-
tutor is the venerable Secretary of State,
who gained his first prominent diplomat,
fame in battling, when in France, against
England on this very point.
England has her cares just now en-
crossed with India. China, and France
while her commercial classes are 50 dcpen
denkupon US, that, 10 wage war with u:
on principle which is 81 manifestly ou1
just due, would cost her revolution a
home more dreadful than any foreign inya
Sion