Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1886-12-11
CONDITION OF THE NAVY.
Synopsis of Secretary Whitney's Report
Many improvements Recommended.

Synopsis of Secretary Whitney's Report
Many Improvements Recommended.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 4.-The report Of Sec
retary of the Navy Whitney, given out last
night. renews his former recommendation
for consolidation Of the bureaus 80 as 10
insure responsibility in the purchase and
care Of supplies, and says that so far IS his
power extended he had consolidated in one
bureau the general purchases Of the
department the care and custody Of
stores, and had created system OF
book keeping by which the responsibility
for the care and disposal OF property can
b. had :: snow that there Is a. present
no zeal responsibility for property be-
longing to the department, the Soc
retary quotes from the report OF
board appointed by him to make an in
ventory at the different navy yards
and naval stations. The inventory shows
an accumulation Of stores and supplies ag.
gregatlng over S20,G0o,0)O, near.y E,0Ol,0O
of which is obsolete and useless. Among
other items there are H,5b augurs ana DTS.
of which 25274 are at closed yards where
no work is likely to be DONE
The Secretary confesses that the ex.
perience Of the department in its first at
tempt 70 create modern vessels OF war ha,
been disappointing. He says:
"One Characteristic which an unarmored
cruiser must possess is great speed. This IS dc
termined by the function which she Is expected
10 perform In modern warfare. She IS com.
merce destroyer. She must be able 10 escape
from iron-cads and outrun so os 10 overhaul,
merchantmen II slower than ronclads she
could not keep the sea, and II slower than mer-
chantmen she might as well stay in port. -
When the Dolphin. Boston, Atlanta and Chi
cago were projected and contracts for their
construction entered into il was well known
what speed oUgh. TO be attained and what
weight and character Of machinery per ton OF
displacement was necessary TO obtain It. Com
mercial vessels had at that time attained speed
ranging between sixteen and nineteen knots,
and cru sers were built in other countries at
tanning the same speed"
The Secretary compares the trial trips OF
the Dolphin and Atlanta with those OF En-
glish and French boats only recently COM
pleted 10 the disadvantage of the former.
The report gives the bids and awards OF
the new cruisers, and says regarding
cruiser No |. for which no bid was received
| within the limit set by Congress, that or
| ders had been given TO reduce the size TO
| bring within such limit, Sll0]0J0 The re-
port treats Of armor and guns for monitors
| and g~mor clads at great length, and
| deprecates the fact that this country
| sbnuld ho content, "a ha denandent on the
,,,on,,t,o.,yora of otbor natiopa for tha
s'p'.,.i'a,ie. as .,.,on o,a Oh ,o,,.orod
i'o' 'Na"ot. VA u ~. ~" g.
guns IN 'h's conhectioh 'no oeeie.a'y feo.
ommehus the dppoihthiehe Vi CON- h'ssiou
TO formulate scheme OF naval conStruo-
tion ant continues;
II CONGRESS should at It's next session mako
provision ior the mahHlactare IN .n's country
OF arrior ana OF powered guns, anu snoI,' a.,
,amn, ame D.ser,ia, w. anS ,re,1mert Of ,he
rsner,I snbicr, of construction proper TO be nm
6er,aI,en, no time in The end viii be lost ant
mistakes will be avoided Meanwhile it is M
duty to call attention to the urgent necessity
for immediate action
The Secretary slys that if the estimate oi
the clicf constructor of the navy Is correct
in SIX years only three Of thu serviceabla
cruising vessels nowon the list will be left
and unless o new navy shall be Great d
there will be none IN existence after that