Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1881-12-31
THE pgrEssEs OF SAN FRANCISCO.

80 $500
be made to Congress, because San Fran.
cisco is SO far from Washington that it will
probably take long time to get any thing
done. In matters of this kind it is I'M
possible not to feel sometimes that the
country is too large. There are SO many
interests to be attended to, they are all SO
greedy, and every public affair is SO gov
erned by political considerations, that it is
very difficult to secure attention for mat
ter even of the first Importance, if the
locality is far away. Moreover, the de-
fenselessness Of ports much nearer the seat
of Government is against US. So long as
Boston and New York are without ade-
quate defenses it will be extremely diff
cult to induce Congress to take the neces-
sary steps for protecting San Francisco.
| And vet it is an undoubted fact that in the
event of war an enemy possessing IRON
clads could. as the case stands, capture
San Francisco in two hours, and either
sack it or hold it to ransom. At the same
time he could destroy the navy yard at
Mare Island, and thus make it difficult to
secure adequate protection to the Pacific
coast for years to come. And it must
be regarded as certain that all this is
thoroughly understood outside of the
United States and that it would be acted
upon in the event of war; We talk about
the Monroe doctrine, and the g manifest
"destiny" of the United States, but if
ever there was a case of manifest destiny
it is the destiny of San Francisco to be,
come the prey of the first foreign power
with which we may quarrel.
There are always plenty of foolish peo
pie who think that because a thing has not
occurred it never viii occur. But in this
case the indictments to action are such as no
enemy either would or could resist. Here
is a great city, Astounding in wealth /; an
| important naval station, the destruction of
which would count for more than the gain
ing of pitched battle; unlimited prize
money and little or no danger. There is
no question of serious fighting with stone
forts and heavy guns. We possess no for
tifcations which could resist the kind of
naval artillery carried by most modern
war-ships, and our heaviest guns will only
carry hundred and eighty pound ball.
An enemy, therefore, could knock all our
forts about the ears of their defenders
without putting himself in range of their
guns, or losing a man, and when he had
done this he could sail into the Golden
Gate, and take or destroy whatever he
pleased. This is the literal truth of the
situation, and since it is folly to suppose
that we shall always escape war, and since
San Francisco is growing richer year by
year, we must realize that unless her de-
lenses are improved before long her sack
or ransom is as certain as anything in the
future can be.
At meeting of the San Francisco Cham
Der of Commerce the other evening, to
consider the question, communication
from Colonel MacAllister, of the United
States Army, was read. The Colonel is
fully alive to the dangers of the present
situation. He points out that he called
attention to it two years ago, but that
since then the only change made has been
the mounting of Is eight-inch converted
rifle guns in classmates at Fort Point.
"These guns" he says, with charges of
"35 pounds of powder and shot weigh
sing $50 pounds, are capable of piercing
seven inches of plate at a distance of
"three, fourths of a mile." But inasmuch
as the enemy's guns would be capable of
demolishing the classmates at distance of
five miles, it is not probable that these
eight.inch converted rifles would come into
play at all in the event of an attack on the
city. Colonel MacAllister thinks they
would prove excellent auxiliaries to guns
of large caliber, which he would have
mounted in a battery facing seward, above
Fort Point. At present he is of the opin-
ion that the bar could not be relied on
" as a means of defense that we could not
"depend entirely on torpedocs to prevent
50 hostile feet from entering the harbor
:" and mulcting both San Francisco and
'' Oakland that it would not be neces.
sary for vessel to enter the Golden
" Gate in order to throw shell into the
"center of the very room where your
Board is now celebrating; and that we
" have no guns OF sufficient caEber to de-
fend these cities from paying tribute to
I" England, Japan or China in case of a
"war." In the event of a war with China
San Francisco would perhaps have to ex-
pect some retaliation for the brutalities
practiced with impunity by her hood
+" lums" upon the defenseless and peace
full immigrants who have had for twenty
years to run the gauntlet through her
streets on landing
The idea Of great American city being
at the mercy of China or Japan is not
pleasing, but it is sober truth, and it
must be faced. Even little Chile could
hold San Francisco to ransom tomorrow,
and in case of war would no doubt do it.
Colonel MacAllister believes that the harbor
can be made impregnable by erecting suit
ably armed batteries at thefollowing points,
viz son the cliff above Fort Point,
facing to sea at Lime Point, Alcatraz
Island, Peninsular Point, Angel Island,
g Black Point and Yerba Buena Island +"
But he goes on to say that there are at
present only two foundries in the country
capable OF casting the kind of guns which
would be required, and remarks that if
both of them :" were employed continuously
and in their full capacity for one year
"they might manufacture sufficient num-
"ber of guns for this one harbor." OF the
l2a inch guns, throwing 700 pound shot,
which could alone serve the purpose of
efficient defense, the Colonel says there are
only two in the United States to-day,
"and they are simply experimental. !"
It is evident from these statements
that it will be necessary to educate
| Congress M to the necessity of