Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1881-04-25

With jealous care; and II sometimes our law.
g1vers have not adequately provided TOR its wei
! sent their constituencies. 1 know not how
widely the opinion prevails that the condition
OF our navy leaves much to be desired, aspect
! ally when compared with the navies OF some OF
| the other greas powers. IL we look only to the
| number and tonnage OF the ships their struc-
ture ana armament, the inferiortty is unques-
Before accepting this as the true standard O,
comparison, however, two considerations should
| be borne In mind:
First Naval architecture Is In a transition
| state. The Introduction OF steam as motor
the experience during our war in the use OF
armor for defense, and the now character OF
/ scented to the naval constructor variety OF
important problems not yet satisfactorily
solved: Several governments have been busy
] with them. England. naturally taking the lead,
has built many ships OF great power with very
complicated machinery. each one supposed to
De an improvement upon all the preceding.
principle and believed by the high officer whose
name they bear to be very effective. sweden is
known on the sea by class Of small ships,
| exceedingly swift and armed with single
| oned naval power. may fairly boast Of float
Ing fortresses. But none of these warlike con-
test OF battle. In this particular, naval science
| has had little benefit from actual experience
! since tie close OF our war. The primary less IN
| st Hampton Roads is yet studied.
The second consideration to which l ave
adverted is the remote probability that we sh Ill
soop, certainly before the end OF the century.
De involved IN war With either domestic or
foreign enemies. The generation which tasted
the bitterness OF our late conflict must all pass
away before cur cOuntrymen will again appeal
| to tie last argument in any domestic contro-
VefSy. The men OF that epoch look on war as
| miserable remedy for political maladies. With
| foreign nations long-continued peace may be
hoped for as the logical result OF our traditional
| policy-friendly relations with all, entangung
| alliances With none.
| May we not, therefore, wisely decline to en-
ter into competition with the European powers,
| to which war Is an ever-present menace In
| costly naval experiments, likely to grow obso-
| lete and even decay before we shall have occa-
sion for tnemo IT. Their experiments whether
| eht of all Why should We, like them, keep
lieets and squadronS In commission any more
| than vast armies, always marshaled and ready
| TO move at the tap OF the drum? We have
training ships and cruisers, and, II more be re-
! quired, there are navy yards, and materials
ana machinery, and skilled labor, and intelli-
| gent constructors AS long as the country ad-
| heres to the plan OF building its own Ships OF
selling but never buying, The navy will be
found equal to any emergency. AT what juno
ocean as at the outbreak OF the rebellion? Yet
| In what recorded war were operations on that
element so vast, Or the successes so many and
brilliant? The nautical history OF that conflict
is certainly bright page In the history Of war
| fare by sea.
Not ships, then, but they who navigate them
constitute the naval service; men selected in
youth with the greatest care from every part
OF the countr! alike, educated by the govern
ment In all the learning that can benefit or
adorn their profession, disciplined in minutest
phat1cally, picked men. With some opportun.
lily OF Knowing whereof affirm. hesitate not
TO declare them equal to any other naval ser
vice In the world whether considered In a
bCdy or compared man with man.
In most pursuits mems labors are manifest:
they publish themselves. But the pursuits OF the
naval officer are so remote. SO far away from
popular observation, that the extent and vari.
ETY. OF his labors are not appreciated and he
himself Is, probably lost sight OF until some
conspicuous con cue achievement brings him into no
tlce. Yet few lives are busier. On the list OF
the Navy Register are rear-admirals who
curing their long career, have been unemployed
less than three years each. all told. Besides the
denying men pass their toilsome lives In
superihteIdlng the building Of all the ma.
tlonal vessels; in inspecting and testing
| ment;. In the oversight and care OF them,
and OF all the public property appertaining to
o and IN surveying and mapping our coast,
| kindling and watching the beacons which
nightly, from headland to headland, encIrcIe
the domain. sentinels OF light, upon whose
prearTanged and perpetual flashes depend the
! lives and property OF all who SAN along our
shores: In cultivating the sciences essential to
tne olierent parts OF their pr0fesSiOn,-to
navigation, tor instance. geography and as
rine warfare, and always mechanics and the
higher mathematics; In arctic and antarctic
exploration: in devlslng new pathways for the
| worlds commerce. and in emoellshing our
cities with the monumental remains OF buried
| civilizations.
Always and everywhere the honor of the re-
/ public Is safe In their keeping. They become
the lag. Their dignity and manly bearing lend
! IL an added grace wherever on the globe duty
requires them to carry it. Their devotion to 1t
is never chilled or abated by any private grieV-
sense DpFSQnal
OF the sullen, direful wrath which gave man
sh1oa ade ;e eaTess perhaps the greatest poem
Without assertion or compromise. Every repre-
| sentative of the government is consciously
strengthened by their presence, and introduces
them with pride as his cOuntrymen.
have said these things because know they
are true. and because 1t has given me pleasure
TO bear testimony to them at time which
gains Tor our words hearing. The people Of
the United States will surely eat their daily
bread more thankfully, and In greater security,
10 believe that the same service which In our
day OF sorest need gave US Farragut VIII also
furnish champion for every foe within our
coasts or on the high seas.
MI. Maynards speech was much applauded
and was remarked upon as fine effort OF the
kind.
Address of Hon. ID. w. Voorhees,.
Upon the conclusion of Mr.. Maynard's
GRAFTON Senator voorhees,, OF Indiana, delivered
an Grafton as follows:
Ladies and Gentlemen:
This is an occasion on which the best emo
lions OF the American heart are inspired. We
are here to pay ceremonial honors to the mem.
oIy OF one whose deeds OF peril, and of high
renOWn. In defense OF his country. adorn more
than half century Of his country's history
No good life is ever wholly extinguished, even
in this world. He who has lived for the welfare
OF his fellow-men. for the cause of free and en-
nghtened government, and to enlarge the
boundaries OF human happiness lives on for
ever, even here upon the shores OF time. For
the benefactOrs of the human race there Is no
death. The centuries may move on in an end
less procession over their graves; human so.
ciety may be transformed by the storms Of re.
vciution; the world may be carried by the
spirit OF progress from old conditions to new
ones, yet the influences of the philanthropist,
the hero, and the w-giver, in eternal strength
and beauty, will keep pace with them all, and
give color and shape to the conduct OF re-
hottest geneI atoms. 1t is In recognition OF this
great fact that statues and monuments have
arisen all over the face Of the civilized globe
The influences of the nlustrious dead are
always active In the affairs of the world, and
the wish has been strong In every age to per-
petuate their form and features, and to trans
nit them to pOStertty. As the student of an
ttqulty tolls amidst the ruins of former cIviIi-
zauoDs In Rome Greece. Egypt aud Asia he
constantly encounters the forms ana the
faces OF such as were supposed to have
had fha ho