National Republican., 1873-12-12
orR NIHAL PREPARATIoN

In the lull which now Prcccueo '"'
storm, or which may bc followed by salts
factory and, let us hope, lasting peace be-
tween tho United States and Spain. we
have time md sufficient reason TO inrcsu-
gate the changes which have been wrought
in the condition of our "little navy" The
preparations which have been made to
avert the disaster Of naval war without a
naval force Mt the command OF the Govern
ment have been so effective as TO demand
the as,onishcd approval both of Congress
and the people. When the news of the
Virgini,s affair was first received, the i'm.
pulse of the country showed itself In de.
termination that the insult TO our flag
should he avenged. To this impulse the
head of the Navy Department responded
with patriotic and most energetic, us well
as npid action. The wild demands that
gunboal should he sent TO Havana "to blow
the island out Of water were needed only
as the extnvagant outhurst Of the people,
who, without thought regarding nccdful
precautions, mshly asked that impossibili.
ties be performed. The principal yards on
which the Department depends for re-
pairs are those at Norfolk and New York
and Boston. The war vessels laying in or
dinary or out of commission at those points
were Immediately placed in the hands of
workmcn for repair. Secretary Robeson
proceeded with the unusual and hold,
though irstiih,blc, method of meeting the
emergency to demand from the bureaus of
construction, repairs and provision all the
moneys which Congress had provided to
conduc, the operations of the navy for the
entire year to be used Immediately. lie
reminded his suborlinatcs of the over
shadowing importance Of the necessity for
energetic action, and seems to have infused
into them some of his own enthusiasm. He
was satisfied only with personal observation
of the mpnncr in which his orders were cX-
ecuted. For the purpose of this personal
observation he proceeded to New York,
Philadelphia and Boston, and at those points
inspected the progress of the nccdful re-
pairs. lie found at Boston the Franklin
aad Bro pklyn dismantlcd and in ordinary,
but perfect in timbcrs, only requiring equip.
nlcnt and crew. At New York he found
the Color do. the vessel which. in the
Corcnn troubles rs the flagship Of Admiral
Rogers, lts bore our flag in the presence
of an armed enemy, in similar condition,
and the orders issued for her repair were SO
rapidly executed that from comparatively
worthless hulk she was transformed into
aworthy vessel. and is now atloat in Cuban
waters, having upon her decks a formdabl,
armament, and manned by seven hundrct
American scamen. At New York he ais,
found the Florida. Tennessee and othc
vessels, which. underline magic inspiration O
his indomitablc will, are either ready now o
will be so in time to meet the demands tina
may be made upon them for active service
At Philadelphia the Canandaigua was pu
in the process Of repair. and Is now on he
way to Havana, where she will serve tn
country as the ship to which the Virginiu
hopac, Manhattan. Saugus, Miantonoma
and seven others are either In service no,
or are so nearly ready as to enable the Gov
ernmcnt to avail itself of their use whc
hostili,ies begin, il they are unfortunatel!
needed for such a purpose. The European
feet Is now under way to our shores, ant
more than one half oft will be in such clos
communication with Washington before tn
middle Of the coming week as to lender ii
services available in any emergency. Re
cruiting stations have been established Il
Eric. Pa. Cleveland, Ohio; Chicago, Ill.
...in
less authorize the needed increase of tn,
naval force to ls, 500 men. and they will b,
readily recruited at these stations.
While We have not attempted 10 Civ,
anything more than an imperfect sketch o
tho prominent features Of the preparations
which have been directed by the Sccretar,
in person. we have given enough, in on
opinion. 10 show that he has been no les
active than the necessity Of the case re
quircd. The task has not been m idle ono
The requirements of his ordinary dutic
have In the meantime been faithfully met
and his time has been Sully occupied wit
the increase Of business in the Department
consequent upon the meeting Of Congress
When we look buck upon the fact thu
three weeks ago we virtually had usclc'
navy at our command. il Is difficult to rea
ixe that IN such short space of time such
wonderful change could have been eflcctct
and when we realize il we cannot fail
accord to the energetic officer who has q
complishcd it the greatest praise. He mH
well point with pride to the result of Ii
l,hnra