The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1884-12-10
sserstary ch.ndler,s R.port.

| ., wAehiN0ToN, Dec. 5.-The annu.
~ report of tne Secretary of the Navv
was was made public to-day. Secretarv
Cnandler says three ships have he.en
successfully launched and it has been
SHOWN our steel makers can readiIv
furnish excellent metal in Iarae
Quantities, its high quality being as-
sured by tests adopted. The de6arf.
ment Is confirmed in the opinion
mat the criticisms advanced. last
year against new ships were of lntle
moment. Comparisons of speed be-.
tween the new cruisers and great
transatianttc steamers are unfair be-
cause the latter attain their speed
only by sacrifice Of qualities essen
tial to ships of war. T0ey are un-
protected, unwieldy and Of enormous
draft and dimensions; pressure 'vef1
high and speed small, and the new
crulseIs could ID uvertake ninety.
Six per cent of the merchant
steamers of the world. The rates
OF speed assigned the new shlps
are based on VI cry conservative calcu-
lations Of their probable performance.
and they will undoubtedly exceed
the estimates. But the first unarm-
ored cruisers Of the new American
heet are not Intended for comparison
In speed with unprotected racing
ships of enormous size or in defensiv..
power with modern ir0n.clads. The
department. In adopting the recon-
mendations Of the advisory board
for additional new vessels calls
special attenti on to the necessity for
torpedo boats in general. The secre-
tary recommends the construction of
seven modern cruisers annually for .
q period OF ten years. Such y plan,
he says, will be adherlng to the con-
servatlve dem ands of our national
policy and a ford ample time for
adopting every new device in con-
and would give the country
at a moderate cost a navy adequate
to train its officers and maintain its
safety and honor. In "a regard
to the existing navy Secretary
Chambers says: 1t appears
from the condition of the feet that
1t the end of fifteen years only cruis-
ing vessels re- naming Will be three
small iron vessels-the Monocacy,
Alert and Ranger. The real explain
alton of the disproportlon between
and results accom-
pllshed in naval administration is TO
be found in the policy of attempting
at a great cost to rejuvenate worn-out
structures under the name Of repairs.
and construction in the alb
sence of a fixed limit are terms easily
lnterchaDged, and public state
ments of expenditures under the first
name during many years show IL Is
Dnly to get nearer the second. The
practice of Rex constructing vessels Tn
der the name of repairs is only q pre-
text upon which our OvergrOwn navy |
yard establish hments could'te justified !
aud it appear B in ,tead of making our
yards for the advantage and benefit
If our ships, the ships have dragged
)ut a prOtracted existence for the
benefit of the yards.
Concerning navy yards the Score
holds only two naval workshops
mould be maintained-one on the
Atlantic and one on the Pacific. The
New London yard should be restored
10 Connecticut and the League Is
and yard to Philadelphia. The
Boston yard should be sold or re-
luced In size; the Pensacola and
Portsmouth yards may be kept for
laval stations. The workshops
would then be ut New York, Norfolk
md Mare Island. These need Ger"
ain improve lnents in organization.
Flrst-All politics should be ex-
luded from their management.
Second - r responsibility for work
must be NOR definitely liked.