Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1888-10-16
NOT AFRAID OF JOHN HULL
"scresary whitney Thinks We Could
. lake care OF Ourselves In Case of


secretary whitney Thinks We Could
War.
An an interview by Blakely Hail, published In
eue We" iork sun to-day, Secretary whitney Is
Vuo'eo as saying: "There will be NO conflict be-
smeeh tne United States and Great Britain. In
al tne DISCUSSIONS over the Canadian question
must vital and salient point has been ignored.
oui position Is right II has once been substan-
daiiy admitted by the British government"
"hen asked what he would say as to the result
vi an armed conflict with Great Britain the Sec
rotary Is reported as saying after quoting ngures
as 10 population and wealth OF the two nations:
III Is evident that the British could not make a
conquest OF the United States, and that the hnal
result OF any war would be the annexation OF
canada to the United States. British naval SUI
premacy and the geographical characteristics OF
the coasts OF Great Britain preclude any idea of
invasion and conquest by the United States The
TRANSATLANTIC transportation OF military forces
WOULD De limited 10 British achievements OF the
garflsonS IN her American colonies Hostile opera
lions on the offensive would be carried on by the
navy exclusively, and these would be confined
70 attempts to occupy harbors and ports
which might be compelled to pay contributIons
and 10 blockade Of the coast. Attempts to cap
lure the United states seaDorts or 10 blockade her
coast cannot be successful except to a limited ex-
tent upon the FIRST outbreak OF hOstilitles. Gen.
Newton late Chief oil Engineers, y. s. A., says In
the Development OF the modern art OF war. the en-
gineer has solved with mathematical certainty
the problem OF closing har bors and rivers against
hostile ships, so that the sole question In every
case would be whether the importa nee OF the place
would justify the cost. III the Secre Iry continued
..you look at any dictionary Of statistics, You
Will IND that our national wealth Is twice theirs,
and II OF our force Is ON the ground. She would
be obliged TO hight all land battles over here where
her colonies are"
ON THE LAKES
49,,
OF great use TO her on the St. Lawrence and In the
great lakes"
"No, not Of the slightest" said the secretary
"Her only access TO the great lakes Is through
Canals, and the LOCKS would be blown up by US
talked with Gen. Sheridan on this subject year
or more ago. and he made special Investigation
and got ali the necessary data; and what / have
Sald - what ne said 10 me after Investigation.
These canals only take small boats-they would
De OF no great consequence II they should get
throughout We should be able 10 hOid and de-
stroy The line OF access TO the great lakes without
doubt Great Britain has "A large army, 10
De sure, but most Of It is needed elsewhere In
Canada. CONCERNING naval conflict, you under
stand, suppose that Great Britain could make no
conquest OF territory by her navy. she could land
no lorce: Her aim would be 10 get into our har-
bors and destroy properly. But two can play at
that game. Our fast cruisers would 20 at her CON-
meree. That Is what the conflict would resolve
Itself INTO on our side, and here are some OF the
facts Tor thinking men: There Is afioat every day
In The year OF English commerce the value or
anoat daily Great Britain's food supply is on the
water all the tins. We will soon have dozen
cruisers faster than any OF the English ronclads,
and these cruisers would attack the British wealth
afioat, vi ch would be at the mercy OF our CON-
merce destroyers.'
GREAT BRITAISs SENSITIVE POINT.
After giving figures showing the value OF the
British commerce on the seas, the Secretary is
quoted as saying:
English statesmen and business men realize
the significance OF the enormous totals Of these
ngures, and there would be q panic In London In
Iorty.elgnt hours after the opening or hostilItes
FOR Great Britain 10 convoy such u huge COM
mercial fleet Is utterly impracJicaDle."
crulser?'
1.-The attacking cruiser has every advantage
The English, In their recent naval maneuvers, ex-
perlmented In this way: cruiser was sent out
into the Irish seas 10 act as commerce destroyer
-Four other cruisers, superior in speed and TO- c.
were sent after her, and the regular British squad
ron were notified 10 capture her. Sne eluded them
All and In nifty -four hours had captured f1ty-seven
prizes and. when the fictitious war closed, after
ABOUT four days she was still at large and ready
70 operate against British commerce.
This illustrates the difficulty OF supervising
laSt commerce. destroyers. The ocean Is pretty
large and TO ind any one on IL Is difficult Twelve
vessels OF inc Baltimore type such as we are now
pulldlng cruising across the lines or commerce on
the ocean, would be able to destroy more property
in ninety days than the entire English navy would
DC aole 10 reach and destroy upon our coasts
And, mind you, the property OF Great Britain
wncn Is exposed TO our attack does not consist of
orown-stone houses That people can get along
without, but Is the life OF their naton-lheir food
supply and the elements on which the existence
OF their business depends. We would be unable
This might affect our pride soLnew hat--and nope
that this situation Will not long exist-but as TO
the rest OF IL We should be heard from most effect
ively."
ATTACKS ON OUR sRAPoRrS
"Thefr method OF attack, 1t Is usually believed.
would be 10 approach our principal cities"
"Most OF our cities are reached by narrow
channels, easily defended by torpedoes or mines,
Is theoretically possible, but, practically IL is In
effective. Comparatively lew American ports can
be entered by the largest or British armed vessels
and most OF THESE have difficult channels. capable
OF defense. San Francisco, Port ST PUGET Sound
and Portland, Me-, are, however, not capable OF
perfect torpedo defense Long Island sound and
the Chesapeake would have TO be defended by
naval forces"
There Is no European power" said the secre
tary, "that would turn her back upon the others
over there, waiting TO jump on her, and 20 into a
honor, and We are such peaceful nation that That
situation will not be likely to be presented by our
"Your opinion is, however, that If we should get
show for ourselves"
"with the vessels in course Of construction or
finished we certainly could IL Is humiliating
that we have no lighting ships but they Will come
In good time. We have highly-trained body OF
organized perfectly. We know from day to day
where every one OF their ships is, we have COM
pete data as TO their characteristics and shortly
We will have ships"