The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1876-01-20
The Incidents Of Approaching War.

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The Incidents of Approaching War.
Grant is gathering the strongest and
most effective vessels of the navy at Port
Royal. This harbor, which is the best
on the Southern Atlantic coast, is favor
ably situated for place of rendezvous
for naval vessels in the event of war
with Spain.u -r go. .-.;a
That there is expectation of war, orde-
termination to bring war about, is eyinced
by many circumstances. The gathering
of the iron-clad feet at Port Royal and
the orderinghomef from foreign stations of
the most formidable ships of the navy are
indications. The fitting out of the mon
itors, and their removal from League
Island, where they were not only rusting
butwere liable to be frozen up at the crit
ical moment, to the warmer waters of Port
Royal, are other significant facts. Still
another indication is the recommends
ton by Commodore Howell, the chief of
the Navy Bureau Of Yards and Docks,
that expensive repair and. machine shops
be put up at the. same place. Unless
there was prospect of war there could
be no possible need orexcuse for erecting
such buildings there. Repairs, so far as
required to keep the; vessels of thert navy
up 10 the, ordinary requirements ofpeace,
can be better made, and made at much
less expense, at the workshops in the
North already established, 4 a..
Add to these significant facts the COM
bination formed among Secor Robeson's
friends to buy lands at Port Royal and in
its yicinty-a Ring which has already
been on hand to purchase desirably situ-
ated lands along that harbor, and has Sc
cured considerable, tracts at low prices.
Unless it was known to these spectators
that Grant and Secor Robeson meant
business, they would not go. to South
Carolina to invest their money, in. lands
which do not promise to increase in value
rapidly or greatly, except in the event of
war and the sudden change Of Port Roy
!, al from quiet anchorage into the busy
seat ,of warlike preparations, with the
hustle and activity Of a port where great
fleets gather to obtain supplies, be .reft-
ted and repaired, and otherwise put m
trim for active, operations. The. .specuia-
tom, in lands at Port ReyalIand Beaufort
evidently work on hint from headquar-
ters. The Mexican Land Ring at Wash
'ing;on are encouraged from the same
sources to expect the huge profits for
which they, have long been waiting, and
which Grants designs for acquiring. q
large slice; of northwestern Mexico will
by their realization surely give them.
These facts all point in only one direcc-
ton, and that Isl toward &af.i add to
them the menace to Spain Of Grants
message, his third term ambitions, the
opportunities for hostile measures afford
ed by the Rio Grande raids; and the
heavy claims against Mexico .adjudicated
by the Mexican Claims Commission, and
we accumulate a weighty load of indica-
tions of war and pretexts for war with
one or both countries ~ ~ .'.'i' ';'.'
,n If We went into a war with Spain on
the Cuban matter, what would be. our
chances of success? We think that
however much we might suffer at first by
reason of our incompetent naval admin
istration, our success would ibe great and
even certain in the. end. Though our
ships would probably at the outstart en-
counter hulniliating disasters, yet before
six months were over we should have
retrieved all these; and demonstrated our
superiority on. the sea over the !Spaniard,
in spite of his Krupp rifed guns and the
solid armor on his iron clads. In the
war of the rebellion it took us but ninety
days to produce the Monitor, q vessel
destined to .rerolutionize the nayies of
the world. So also in another. war
our practical ingenuity would speedily
conquer the difficulties in the way. ''''
I. For land forces wecghould not be at q
loss. The. host of the unemployed is so
great that volunteers would be plenty,
and the taste for military life which the
rebellion engendered would come to our
aid OF the North and South equally. AL
ready, old volunteer officers are getting
ready to make applications for commits
sions in the expected wars against Spain
and Mexico. a'''' r-'''.'..'
,,,Grant therefore sees his way clear to-
ward using, as the prime machinery of
his third-term movement, the ,warlike
spirit of the people, their ambition for
tie further extension of their territory,
and their eagerness to take advantage of
an opportunity for giving life and actiyi-
ty to trade, which has; for three years
been SO ,stagnant. More than all, he
knows that if he soon. forces on one or
both of these wars he will have no dan
gerous competitors for the Republican
nomination for another four years in the
White House.-Nea0 York Sun. +.