The Portland daily press., 1863-01-12
The Portland Daily Press has the largest
regular circulation Of any daily paper in
the city.



When the Merrimac cut down ana sank the
wooden frigate Congress with her submerged
iron prov, while the solid shot of the latter
fell as harmless upon the iron back of the for
mer as hailstones upon slated roof, the al
most total uselessness of "wooden walls" for
national defense, became apparent, and that
single days work satisfied England that her
long cherished boast-"Britannia rules the
wave"-could safely be INDUCED no longer.
In this, calamity number-one, was settled the
fact that the nation putting its trustin wood
en- navy will hereafter lean upon all unsafe
staff for support.
When the little Monitor, with her plated
iron deck almost on level with the water,
and little else visible than small turret and a
slightly elevated smoke stack, steamed past
Fortress Monroe, and, sailing up in the very
face OF the monster whose heavy tramp had
caused the nation to shudder she ground
up frigates like egg shells, by her oit-repeated
and well-directed shots caused the terror of
the sea to haul off in cripped condition, then
1t became apparent that the whole system OF
naval architecture was to undergo revolution.
Those few shots at the Merrimac caused not
only that rebel craft to tremble and draw
back, but they gave a severe shock to both
British and French naval power, and caused a
suspension Of operations in many a dockyard
on the other side Of the Atlantic. England
then began to talk of the necessity of Monitors
and iroa clads; and fears, thought by many to
be well grounded, were entertained that with
the superior advantages which profound peace
afforded to England, she would cover the
ocean with these formidable vessels, so that at
her pleasure she could pick quarrel with us !;
and with her thousand British built Monitors,
enter all our rivers and harbors, aud spread
general alarm and ruin along our coast.
But the very recent calamity number
t,co has removed all such fears and settled
another great practical fact. The laundering
of the Monitor proves the untitness of such
vessels for sea service. While they may be Of
incalculable value in defending our harbors
and the mouths of our rivers against anything
that foreign nations can float across the At
lantic, they will never. probably, be regarded
with favor for carrying on naval warfare at
ASh6 uioeAhSS houA PoAe. WIN SSsiSSi5
make large investments in such vessels except
for home use,-to protect her own coast from
the invader; so that, in calculating the chances
of troubling our commercial towns in the event
Of war, she would be obliged to consider the
risks of pushing her sea-going vessels, with
high exposed broadsides, to the terrible force
of fifteen inch solid shot hurled at them from
rapidly moving moat upon the water surface,
so mall that it would afford a target very DIFF
fcult to be touched by her floating sharp-shoot-
ers, and target too, that if struck, would be
more likely to escape injury than the perpen-
dicular walls of her own ships. We mark it
down as a settled fact, that the recent calami-
ty to the Monitor settles principle quite as
important in its practical results to us, as did
the collision between that peculiar craft and