The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1880-02-04
OUR RIDICULOUS NAVY.

The project of Lesseps tn construct a shit
canal through the Isthmua vi Panama to h.
owned and controlled by foreign capitalize,
naturally gave riae to considerable uneasi
mesa IN this country, and the suspicion tina
the company If which Iesseps is The heat
was backed Ivy the government OF France. am
possibly Of England. created quite ripple y
! excitement. and brought M the Monroe doe
trlne fui discussion.
There can be no question about the feeling
In thia country on that subject the utter
anees of Mr.. Monroe In his celebrated mes
aage Of 1929. In which he declared that hence,
forth no interference on the part Of foteigI
nations with affairs an the American conti
nenta would he tolerated. are endorsed and
echoed by the people Of all sections of the
Union, Europe must keep her hands off al
both Ut the Western continents and he content
to manage the weighty affairs that engage
her attention in the Last. The Ilnited States
stands alanf from all complications an that
aide of the water. and she will unuuasttnn-
ably resent any attempt on the nart of
| Europe to control In any way the govern
ments lying TO the south of us. In the Ian
gnage Of the message itself.
We owe Il. therefore to candor and to the
amlcahle relations esising heween The United
| States aud those powers tn denlare that we shall
| ennaidar any ATTEMPT on their part to extend
| their system to any portion OF this hemisphere
| aa dangerous ta our pc .ra and safety, With tho
| existtng colonies or dependencies If auv Ell
| ropean power wa have not lnerfared and shall
not interfere; But with the govarnme!its who
| have declared their Independence aud maiu-
tainan VI. and whnse Independence we have on
Rr. nj consideration mud on fret principles
aeh nawledged we could not View any interuo-
| sttirn Tor the purpose Of npprpaaing them or
controlling In any other manner heir destiny
~ any European power IN any other light than
aa the manifestation Of an unfriendy disposi
! ttnn towards the United States.
| The unqulet feeling which grew out of tho
rumors Ia regard tn the bassaps canal
scheme will he neasurahly allayed by the
official declaration on the part uf the French
government that 1t Ia I'm no way Responsible
for the lesseps Company, that II does not pro-
pose setting up a prutecturate on this CONT
nent, and regards the whole matter as a pure
~ private enterprise,
IheeKcitement occasioned by the mere H,,s-
pinion Of a purpose of interference by France.
and perhapa England. only shows how super
sensitive the people Of the United States are
on the subject, and how certainly they would
move against any power or combination of
powers that attempted TO disregard the Mon
roe doctrine.
Several questions arise. however. suppose
there had been a hostile Intention. what
would we have done about IT. How should
we have repealed the powers that defied usp
What condition s this country In to cope with
tho powerful tlents that ca,uld and would be
ant ~ l,,,y i,,f
IL is unpleasant to reflect that our navy Ia
not only insignificant. but "a coutraated with
the navies of other tirst-class powers actually
oontelnptihe. Since the war. though vast
auml of money have been sluandered by cor
rupt and Incompetent administrations not
attge really powerful war vessel has boon
added to our navy The last report Of tho
Secretary of the Navy shows the active force
to be twenty eight cruising ships. one steam
boat and five sailing vessels Ono Of
tho cruising ships, the Gettysburg. Is
pretty well dilapdatetl. aud will be sold or
broken Mp. There are nineteen other vessels
that tho Secretary thinks can be repaired and
made serviceabe. also. thirteen monitors
now ready for service. and two torpedo boats
by repairing all the old hulAs OF steam and
sailing ships and several monitors, he esti-
mates that the lighting force of the navy
could be brought up to ifty-seven cruising
ships. twenty monitors and two torpedo
boats. OF the ships built during the war ten
were constructed go rapidly and out OF such
worthless timber that they arc now useless.
and will be sold
Not one Of all the ships mentioned could
ern European iron clad war steamers, and the
small power Of Italy has one ship that very
probably would be q match for score of
them put together. tt Is very clear, there
fore, that II we propose to maintain the Mon
roe doctrine we must be looking about for
the means OF making our brave words mean
something more than hluster. We ought to
have the finest navy on the globe and we have
the worst There Ia n cheerful side however,
to this gloomy picture for when we do make
up our minds to construct navy that will
be worthy OF the name, we will have the adj |
vantage of all the experience of other ma
tons arc tan apply oil the results achieved
by science In the construction of vessels
1t Is by no means irr&robabis that before
many years tho huge sea monsters that are
now such objects of terror will be rendered
harmless by improvements la guns or In the
perfection Of torpedo boats. At present 1t
would seem the part of wisdom for this gov
eminent to improve her coast and harbor for |
tttications by the addition OF the largest sized I
guns, and by arranging complete system OF
torpedoes for defensive purposes This ac- |
com plished, we incline to the opinion that a I
arge number OF exceedingly swift wooden
ships armed with a few guns. each Of heaviest |
3alibre, would be a. very effective navy
They would rely upon their speed to elude
he heavy and slow-going ironclads and
monster steel plated war ships of European
governments. and could inillct enormous dam
we. To Offset the heavy and powerful ships
4 our enemy we shall have to rely upon tor
edoes and torpedo boats, In the construction
I wsaich this great Yankee nation ought
asily TO surpas5 the world. A number OF