New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1858-05-26
q so,. o, ,ess OF pc IScaI orthodoxy. usa.r n,

a SOY. Of .ess OF pc Itcal orthodoxy Usasr Nj,
political pressure, quito large aeet Of them ~,
built ard at The tine OF the breaksg on. 0: tss Va,
with Great Britain. we had not lees than hanSrsa
ali seventy If than. When, however, they cim,
to be employed during that war N the actual ravS
defense of the coast they proved Of very little prs
ticsl value. The greatest Of their exploits evsn n
the smooth waters Of Long leland Sound and Chs
spease Bay, was the excha,ge Of few shots Wit
Biiiish frieates and sleeps Of war from most ~
spectiul distance. In the course VI the war, TIE
greater part were sunk (as often BY their own gun
as by those of the enemy, burnt or run on shors.
Those that escaped were left quietly 70 rcs sad,
few years after the pesce the whole fleet had ais.
appeared.
Such was our experience IN the gun boat bun.
ness; but the British, too, have had theirs, and 4
Is the Kew, improved, enlarged ard much moss
costly screw ste am gun boats OF the lats BoasA
experiment which il is now proposed tbs. No
should emulate Iris Briti.h experiment grew gu.
of the late war with Russia. TIE British dnral
sent to the Baltic TO take the fortress Of CrOnstAdt
presently found that their immense costly Aee!s Of
heavy ships would not answer for that operation.
II was suggested that fOtila Of gun boats might
serve the purpose better. Such fOtlls was forth.
with built, con prising eighty beats, at cost Of Too
millions of dollars. The peace With Russia, for.l.
naey perhaps for tue credit Of those who lad 'ag.
aesied this costly experiment. saved the boats from
be necessity of pitting themselves against Ctoi-
stadt Tie question with the British Admirably
now il, what shall DO done with tbese
boats There are no. waatOg zsdsas
advocates of their sdaptability to the general
purposes Of naval warfare and maritime police; bit
the great body Of the British naval officers seem 10
regard them-much as our gun bosts were regarded
in our nayy-as not to be trusted either for sslns
or fighting, ard quite SIS dangerous to their oSa
crews as to anybody else. This siew would seem
to be the one taken By the Admiralty. AT ell
events, as to the greater part Of this costly ieot
they appear to have adopted Jefferson's idea Of
keeping them en- lsnd urder sheds, to be launched
for the defense of the island against invasion. should
Naroleon Ill or anybody else undertake that enter
prise 1t would seem, however, as if no very great
reliance placed upon them, even for that purpose.
At least, it was recently stated 10 Parliament that
the greater part Of them are housed at such dis
tspce from the ehore that French fleet might
cross the channel and French army land on the
COST long before they could be got into the water
so a. to be in a position TO act against the To-
yaders, and Parliament was recently called upon
to appropriate some $500, 600 toward paying the
expense of putting them into this out.of.the way
position. II is true that several Of these bosh
have been sent 10 China, and one or two ara
employed, we believe, on the coast Of Cubs; but
though some effort was made to show, BY reading
letters from the officers on board one Of them that
they got rOuLd the Cape of Good Hope without
any absolute danger of sinking, yet it was admitted
that there was no intention Of running the risk Of
bringing them back. Sir J. Elphnstone, however,
did not attach much weight to these letter.. A
mans ship was like his wife; and if he were put
on board the greatest tub in the world, he would
| give good report of her. From what he Nd
bead of those sun-boats that had gone out 10
| Chira, he could infer that from the moment they
came within the influence of anything like stroog
winds, they were scarcely ever dry; that they rolled
| shout in fearful and dangerous manner from side
| to s;de AID that when they got to China, they
were scarcely ever out Of the hands Of the carpen'
ter. On the whole, it may be as well not to run
too hastily into this gun-boat operation.