The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1875-10-24
Cannon and ships.

1t is a popularity of the age that none
of the Powers in the world that may fairly
be considered rival Powers are at peace,
although there is NO war. They are not face
embattled heets " sweep through the deep
while the raging cannons roar, {" but they
are wagiug tremendous conflicts in their
respective machine shops, in the navy
yards and the gun foundries. 1t is q blood
less war, certainly, and q war that exer-
of peace; but the burden upon the people
who have to pay for it all in taxes will
perhaps eventually convince several pa-
tions that moderately long open wars are
better than this constant conflict. In this
struggle of the machine shop the victory
goes from one side to another, and again
Like the swans down feather
That stands upon the full swell Of.the tide
First they built simple armor plated skipe,
and all the old guns suddenly became as
useless as 40 many Quakers. Then guns
were cast that would send shot through the
iron-plated ships as easily as through sar-
dine boxes, and the fleets lately triumph
ant were for war purposes worthless lum
Der. Then there was another turn at ships
with heavier armor, and again another
turn at guns with greater power and so
from side to side the conflict has gone on
for over fifteen years, and all that is fin
ally determined is this-if there is capa
city anywhere to contrive for ships less
vulnerable armor than has been known
before there is capacity somewhere else to
construct gun that will pierce that armor.
Exactly where is all this to stop, and ia
there any limit in this vast warlike rivalry
of uDproductive art and industry that alb
serbs already large share of every ma
tional incomef For some time it has been
thought that the great English iron clads
like the Devastation were in this direction
| the last word of naval architecture !; but
Herr Krupp has made some guns that in
ten shot swrecked the targets made like Sec
tions of the Devastation's armor, and some
others that pierce an iron plating eight
inches thicker than her armor and by the
new system of Simultaneous discharges by
| means of electricity, il becomes as easy to
deliver the ten shOts within given radius as
to deliver one shot. England must, there-
| fore, yield this great fight of the foundries
! or try again-and che will probably try
! again. There is probably point beyond
which 1t 10 Impossible to go in the weight Of
armor which any ship can be made to float !;
but, as far as harbor defence goes, there is
| no limit to the weight Of cannon that the
earth will sustain. There is here, there
fore, point in favor of the land batteries,
for the only limit is in the dimensions of
cannon that humanity can handle, and
| they may increase the guns in this respect
till the artillerists shall seem like ants be-
side them. All this may eventually pro
| duce in nations wars like those legal pro-
cesses that are called "snap Judgments"
There will be snap wars. The Franco
German war of 1870 was, in fact, snap
war. For years the two nations were arm
ing against one another. 1t was evident
that war must come some day. In 1879
Bismarck saw that Germany was ready
and Franco was not, and he seized the
first pretext that came to precipitate the
struggle in that favorable juncture. This
idea will become policy. AS soon as a
nation in which new cannon has been
made discovers that this cannon will de
stroy it's enemy's ships, it will not give
that enemy chance to build new ships,
but will seize some pretext to force immedi
ately the war that seems q n inevitable fact of
the future. Nations will perhaps come
eventually, as a result of this, to spend
more money in diplomacy and less in can
non, and there may be fewer wars.