The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1861-06-24


SPLENDID OrFER OF COMMODORE WANDER
BILr--AN IMpAovIsED NAVY FOR The EMEH
erNcY.-By reference to our Washington teie
graphic dispatches, it will be seen that Com
modore Vanderbilt has made princely offer
to the government Of his magnificent steamship,
called after himself. He proposes to let the
Secretary of the Navy have her at the valua-
ton of any two Of the Commodores of the De-
partment and ex-Commodore Stocktons or If
that liberal offer Is refused, then he asks the gov
eminent to take her az "a present." for, know
ing the capabilities Of the ship for speed and
strength and purposes OF war, he is anxious
that the country should have the services of the
Vanderbilt at any price, or without price. She
is the strongest steamship ever built in this
port, and has the most powerful engines. She
registers $3.50 TONS the largesti in capacity next
to the Adriatic, which is 4l45. There is no
British ship-ofwar that walks the seas which
she cannot outsail and destroy, with one large
rifle gun of long range on her deck. She can
Keep just so far away rs to be safe while she
deals destruction to the foe. She has just
carried out to Fort Pickens the largest cargo
of munitions of war, together with ON entire
regiment Of men, ever taken from any port
The Commodore also offers the Ocean Queen,
of 2,sO2 tons; the Ariel, 1900 tons the Daniel
Webster, 1885 TONS and his new iron steam
ship Champion, built in 1859, burthen 1920
tons, all on the same terms.
Now, we think the government ought not to
n in o1o ~, az sofsc cf
fer. 1t is the very thing it needs. 1t is
true that forty gunboats have been contracted
for, with six OF eight sloops- ofwar, and the
Baltic, Atlantic and other merchant steamers
have been purchased by the Navy Department
for the purpose of being converted into war
vessels, as we recently suggested. But it will
take some time to build the gunboats and
sloops- Of war, and conflict with England may
be precipitated upon us long before they are
ready,
The van Of the British feet has already
reached our coast, and the other ships are now
on the way. BY Our telegraphic intelligence
from st Johns we further learn that the
steamship Great Eastern was to leave for Que,
bee with troops on this very day, and the Gold
Ell Fleece, another large steamer, was to leave
Dublin on the Fourth of July, with troops for
America. Notifications, also, are being erected
in Canada. All these preparations are signif-
cant, and If our government does not prepare vi
gorously now to meet the contingency, next o.
tober may find the coast as unprotected as was
Washington in the middle Of April last, and our
merchant marine and many Of our ports would
be at the mercy of the would-be "ruler Of the
waves" who would thus be in position to die
tate terms or offer us insults. Naval prepara-
tons are not like armies which in this country
can be raised on the spur of the moment, as the
world has just seen. A navy requires long
time to build. There Is nothing left us, there
fore, but to improvise a navy, and most I'M
portant step in that direction would be to
promptly accept the offer Of Commodore Van
derbilt. All o.her merchant steamers, strong
enough to carry rl6ed cannon, not yet pur-
chased or chartered, should also be obtained
at orce and added to the navy. BY being thus
prepared, the danger of attack will be COM
paratively small, and our government will not
be liable to be forced into any terms which
may be dishonorable to the country or con-
hictjng with its best interests.
FAMILY QUARREL. AMcNG HE LoB-
BYMEN, AND ALBANY VENAIITY--Our ALBANY
letter which yUo nuh1;sh otsonboro Soa