Daily national Republican. (Washington City [D.C.]) 1870-1872, 1872-03-20


Rear Admiral Ioglencld, Of the British
navy, is now making an examination Of the
coast defeuces of the United States, and
whilst paying little attention to those details
which most generally attract the curiosity Of
foreign officers, has shown a marked desire
10 thoroughly inform himself rs TO the guns
mounted In our coast fortincations, and the
penetrating effects on iron Of their heaviest
shot. He has also taken accurate notes OF
our facilities for building and repairing
modern vessels.
While we by no means imagine a foreign
war likely to arise il would be folly TO con-
ceai from ourselves that IL Is a possibility
for US both with England and Spain. The
general sentiment In the North In 1860 at
tachcd rldlcule to the idea Of civil war, and
the occurrences In Baltimore, and even the
arst battle Of Bull Run, were looked upon as
mere rlotous demonstrations Of an Alabama
cabal at Montgomery, to be speedily sup
pressed. Yet TO suppress them required four
years Of bloody strife, thousands Of lives and
millions upon millions of money. Have we
not learned from this lesson the necessity Of
being prepared for possible evcnts2
the supposlion that England should provoke
q war
1. We have no facilities for building, and
cannot build modern iron nclad war vessels In
any reasonable time, either on our Eastern
or Western waters. England, on the con-
trary, has ship yards that can turn out IRON
clads by the score, with their batteries COM
plete In ninety days from the time the order
for building Is given.
3. We have In existence no modern IRON
clad men.ot.war. To bc sure we have some
light draft monitors, but to repair these for
service will cost three millions OF dollars,
and require year and halls time, and
when so repaired they are not equal TO the
smaller class Of English vessels In engines,
sea qualities, armor, speed or battery.
But England has a class OF lron-clad gun
boats, with heavy batteries, four and half
inches Of plating, drawing fifteen feet Of
water, expressly designed for ascending the
Mississippi river, aud together with thc.o arc
about eighty light draft vessels for attacking
forts.
Her main irou-clad feet Ia composed Of
nfty-four heavy vessels; any one Of which at
n
afty-four vessels carry two hundred and
twenty guns, from a seven.lnch rife to gun
carrying a six hundred pound stecl-headed
shot. These ships would resist the effects at
short range Of our hftecn-inch coast defence
guns.
3. We have no ordinance and no facilities for
making heavy guns. Only few days since,
before the Senate investigating committee,
testimony was given by high officers OF the
United States army "that VIC had no heavy
ordnance to arm our Notifications, aud that
We had not a gun that could pierce eight
inches Of iron at distance OF one thousand
yards; whilst the English twelve-inch rife
guns pierce iron Of ten and a quarter inches
thickness ut distance Of mile. There arc
| no sea-coast guns Of the calibre required for
the fortlhcatlons on hand" at Is
Of the highest Importance that We should
have heavy rined guns" Thus far our army.
Now, what does the navy say1 In the Navy
Report of the past year, 1871, page 4s, we
read: I'VE cannot at present make rined
guns In this country. No person will take a
contract for them unless he Is paid for the
nice machinery he will have TO put up" Page
Sb' 'Our present eondilon Is virtual aOan-
donmcnt OF effort" Even the
smaller States of Europe are greatly in ad-
vance ol us In experimental practice" 4"
1--WE will be left behind in the race OF supre-
macy In advance
We have lost our ships, our ship yards
mechanics, seamen, officers; We have no ord
nance, We have no marine engine works, We
cannot create these things In time OF war,
in the presence Of an active enemy. Power
Ices on the ocean, our ports under the guns