The Arkansaw traveler., 1884-09-13
GIVE us A NAVY.
[washinssos Haschet.1
sing ho !! the merry Merry tha, 1 am.


 Sing ho! the merry Meny that am
 The U. s. s. Tailapoosa was sunk the other night and the fauls appears to lie with her commander of the iovial coz nomen. A court-martial will be held, however, to fx the blame of the loss.
 Alter all, 1t wasnt much of loss. Only an old tub which had zn exasper- ating way of slashing about reckiessly and running into things, generally. A freight-vessel originally, she was useless for war and of little account as a dis patch-ship. She did well enourh, per haps, to carry Ioad-lubberiy secretaries of the Ravy on their junketing expedi- tions.
 She is gone, not up, but down yet she rests not in downy couch, but is in the bosom of the deep ocean buried.
 Yet, will she not have sunk in vain if her fate serves to impress upon the American people their entire and utter lack of a navy? Here ve are, a Nation with four-line pica cap NJ of iiffy-five million souls, pluming ourselves with the confident belief that we can whip all creation and the rest of mankind, and yet with our sea-eoast cities at the mercy clad.
 We have no navy, we have no sea- coast deienses.
 From Castine, Maine, to Brownsville, Texas, on the east, and from Seattle, Washington Territory, to San Diego, California, on the west, our maritime cities lay open to destruction by the fleets of the most insignificant nations of the earth.
 Much stress is laid in certain quarters upon the torpedoes as defenses for our ports and harbors. Torpedoes are not deienses. They are simply Instructions. They can only serve to delay an enemy. They cannot repel him.
 The safety of our sea-coast cities can only be secured by powerful navy aided by proper sea-coast defenses. We have neither. We haven: a fort but would be knocked inte pieces about our ears in an hours attack of a powerful iron-clad. Damage enough could be wrought on New York City alone in half a day to more than pay for navy which could hold the fleets of the world at bay.
 And yet we have men who think them ~~s'S~ SsosSSnASAy ou0 WnO oIC men, who decline to vote the necessary arms to secure the safety of our coasts.
 Some of them say that when war is imminent, they will vote the required funds to build a navy, construct de- lenses, and provide armaments for them. In these latter days war does not long re- main imminent. While our struggling statesmen would be paltering with the question, the enemy would first strike heavy blow and then make his declara- ton.
 When the fathers were gathered in the which framed the constitution of the United States, member solemnly proposed to limit the army of the new | government to ten thousand men. This | SO aroused George Washington, the | president of the convention, that he de- scended from the chair and proposed the | following as an amend ment:
 Provided, that no enemy is ever per mitted to invade the Uuited States with l more than five thousand men.
 This satire had the effect intended by | the father oi his country.
 It applies to the present situation.
 Any power intending to attack us should notify us for year or two that | war is imminent so We may have time to | build a navy and otherwise prepare for |