Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1885-02-10
DAILY poSI-INIELLlGENcER


Ths trooess Of gradual vsssinR aSss'
through Walsh the United states navy
has besn going daring the past nftsen
Years. has been fruitful theme ea
naw.rAper comment. and has been
viewed by people generally vita . kina
Of dared and helpless h'Ssrer' a. ihoa9h
sorue calamity ~ars taking plaes betois
their eysa. the wosfsl nature Of Hhish
they recognized, bat which they Sefs
totally unable p rsevens- 80 tse dis'n-
,aVration vers on without interruption
Vessels needing repairs remained anTs-
pssrsd new vessels 90 the it0cks re-
manned there 10 unfinished harmless
nsas old fashisnsd suns becams Older
fnshioued. until the United states Aas
vir.ually esaaed ~ be naval % SER
and its impotence Is freely discussed bJ
foreign journals In lang1Ass Finilaf 20
the following from the London Iissef
sssssss Il Is scarcely Necessary
20 add thst the Junction OF tbs French
fest, with the navy Of any otber con
.idsrable mower, would plaee this couf-
Try tEngIand), according TO The test 50
oiled bJ Sir Edward Reed IN E position
81 inferiority. The naval Strength o.
falls IA measured by displacement OF
iz71uO tons. OF Russia b5 one Of 10000
TONS. Of Germany by one OF iV4.BUe
tons. and Of Austria by one OF
e8 sOe tonS. We need not, peThspst
- y ~
States. or Of that Of Turkey. o. the
lesser Powers, such A. Spain, Holland
and Denmark.
Nov, whethm vs really have any use
for a navy or not, AMI it seems to be
urst.y clear thai We have il hurts an
Americans pride 10 hear himself CHASED
with the unspeakabIe Turk, and 1t harts
him s,ill more 10 be compelled 20 40
knowledee that the classification Is Iast.
80, for the sake Of being more respect
ably classified, II for no other reason.
the great mass Of the Americas people
would b. willing 10 zee navy construct
Cd at almost any Gust.
The Republican party has always
claimed 10 be tbs friend Of the Navy
and has from time 10 time made efforts
10 secure appropriations for the revival
OF that branch Of The public service.
These efforts, however, have been
thvarted by the Democrats, who saw In
every movement OF the kind big
scheme for robbine the Treasury. Prob
ably their opposition on this ground, IN
many instances, was iustihable; in 9th
srs, 10 vas NOS. 80 long as this appro'
priation would Of necessity pass through
Republican hands, however, they main
tanned their position Of distractions and
defeated every muAsure brought for
ward. Cruisers and monitoEs- once be
gun, we're left unfinished IN the ship
Yards, 10 become FIRST q little cut of
date, then uselessly old fashioned, and
finally to rot away with no more pros
peos Of becoming fall dedged var YES
sells than has Noah's ark.
Nov. however, that the money 20 be
expended will pass through Democratic
hands alone, Ii is 10 be hoped TINT both
parties will unite in urging forward this
much needed work. IL was hoped that
q naval bill, appropristing sufficient
money TO complete the unfinished cruis
ers. would be passed at the present ses-
sion, but Mr.. RaDdall's opposition has
pretty effectually disposed of all chance
of this. We must make up our minds
10 at least one more year of inactivity.
and thsn IL can be seen once for all
whether the reason given by the Demo.
Gratis foE their opposition TO heavy nava
appropriations was the true oae, oil
whether they we're actuated by an in
nate hostility 70 all things naval.
Not only should the navy receive at
,sntion at the hands Of the nest admin
istrstion and the next Congress, but 10,
matter OF providing suitable coast de
f@nses should be carefully considered
In this respect the country Is IN Il con
diiion fally In keeping with the 0ondl
tion Of Its navy. unwelcome ns I'll,
fact may be, Il II nevertheless true tha
thare b not on all the coast line Of th,
United States fortress which will ecm
pare in strength with the fortihcationi
Al Alexandria. which were knocked 3.
pisces with such erss by few British
ironclads three years ago. New Yerl
barber IL practically undefended. til.
fswA.antiqaatsd stone forts being abIs
10 offer about as much resistance 10 4
nsst OF ths iFonolads of today as would
the poreslaiR tower or the los palaoe al
Montreal. Yet New York. practically
sithous defence, IL thu best defended
sity on the Atlantic Coast.
The works on the Pacihe are scarcely
worth mentioning. Every one knows
with what ease hostile feet coald re
duee every seaport from san Diego to
the British line. II weuld not of nscss
siis be = strong aees either, but sinoply
snah aess a. eoald b. commanded by
almost any enc OF the Pacific royalties
Of South America.
This IL eli wrong. While il l. true
THAI the nssessity for either q navy or
ossst dessnees may never arise. be
would Be hardy prophet Who wonla
predict thai IL viii not. A nation viih
30 ovesaowine treasury. but vishoa.
an army, navy or fortress worthy Of
consideration, may realize some morn.
ina thai liz glory has departed in the
NIGHT, and that ita Independence will
have 10 be fa<eufei. The Democratic
party has, daring lis coming lease of
poser, no greater work 10 perform than
thai Of restoring to the Nation iss loss
naval and military power. Is lhe party
equal 10 the taak
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