Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-11-17


Secretary Proctor has several very interest
ing things to say in his second annual report to
the President, just submitted. As TO the de-
Tense of our national coast line he says:
1t has been our traditional policy from the
FIRST to avoid entangling alliances We are
separated by an ocean from the powers which
maintain great armies. The military resources
of the nation have been so recently demon
s:rsted and its network of railways is so
adapved to a rapid concentration of troops on
any threatened point, that no hostile force is
likely to seek an encounter with us on our own
soil, A small army sent upon our shores could
not hope for success; il is not probable that
any large one will incur the risk. We have,
therefore, little to fear from inva-
sion, and are free from the neces-
sity of maintaining large standing ar
mics or of fortifying against land attacks.
But our long coast line Is peculiarly exposed
to attack from the sea. So long an
enemy can reach vulnerable points without ex-
posing himself to our land forces he may in
fict blows which we unable to parry and
which may cause losses i'll to be endured No
great civilized nation today has more Just
cause than ours to look well to the condition of
its coast defenses, and none, since the civil
war, has so wholly neglected them. 1t is .
matter of congratulation that this national de-
fciency Is beginning to excite the attention 1T
merits, especially as time, even more than
tAOAcyy - ASSSsSdKy pAOtSE
MODERN INVENTIONS FOR COAST PROTECTION.
Modern inventions in the use Of electricity,
high explosives and in rifed nortars have re-
suited strongly in favor of the comparative
resisting strength of land Notifications against
q naval force. They cannot be blown up by
dynamite nor sunk by vertical ire. They can
support any weight OF armament, and can pro-
tect themselves by any weie hit of earth or stone
or iron. For accurate aim they have the solid
earth for a foundation. They also have the
cooperative aid of our own navy, of torpedoes
and submarine mines and other accessory
means Of defense. When our principal cities.
our hsrbors and navy yards are thus protected
then our coasts will be safe. and our navy and
our increasing commerce Will have safe ports
of refuge, where they can be repaired,
coaled and reftted. The efficiency of land de-
lenses Is no experiment 1t was the former
wise policy of the government, previous to the
civil war. to maintain coast Notifications en-
tirely competent to resist the vessels of war of
that period. They are the cheapest to build.
they are the cheapest to maintain, they are
always in position and ready for service.
modern land battery when once constructed
and armed needs few repairs and no renewals.
Outlays for coast defense are Investments which
yield large interest in the form of insurance.
with little deterioration to principal.
ANNUAL APPROPRIATIONS NECESSARY
Under the fertilization act of last session
positions for forty-eight mortars in three
groups OF sixteen each, and for three of the
new long range guns will be prepared III New
York harbor, for one group OF mortars and one
gun In Boston harbor, and for one group of
mortars and two guns in San Francisco As
this Is a matter In which make-shifts from year
to year are both expensive and destructive of
the object to be attained, trust that n fixed
policy may be adopted in the line of reason
able yearly appropriation for the completion
of the work on which the nation is but just en-
tering. With such a policy manu- -.cturers
could safely put in the necessary plants and be
able to furnish material at a cheaper rate
With an annual appropriation Of $4,000 900 to
O,0OO, 0OO-only little more than that OF the
present year-the construction and emplace-
ment OF guns and mortars works of torpedo
defense, for the whole coast. can be carried on.
and IN ten years ou- principal harbors and
cities rendered reasonably secure.
THE MAKING OF BIG GUNS.
Apropos of these remarks is a section de-
voted TO the matter of ordnance, in which be
says:
I'm the matter of armament fair and promis-
ing beginning has been made. The gun factory
1t Watervliet arsenal has already turned out
completed steel guns Of 80 Sc, 8 and 10 inches
cahber, which have been entirely satisfactory
30 far as their tests have proceeded The g. 9
inch ch-loading field gun meets with gen.
erai approval IN service and the firing tests of
the and 10-inch type guns manufactured at
Watervilet have given excellent results, both
~ regards accuracy and range, and have salts
factorily demonstrated the capability of the
gun factory to turn out modern high-power
rihed steel guns equal to the very best
Under the present contract about thirteen
12-inch cast-iron mortars hoped with steel can
be furnished per annum, and as there are
other plants in the country besides that OF the
present contractors which are capable of turn
ing out these mortars, it is only necessary that
sufficient sums be appropriated for the manu.
facture OF about fifty mortars a year, and the
production of mortars will keep pace with that
OF guns and the construction OF empIacements.
No fear need DO entertained that the plant for
TINS work Will not be in existence when needed.
The art of modern gun making is now well in
augurated IN this country. The carriages for
the and 10-inch guns will be of the disappear
ing type Several designs of this type are now
under manufacture or consideration. The I2-
inch guns will be mounted on platforms which
Will be raised In position for firing by an ele-
vator, and then lowered out Of reach of the
enemy's f:e to be reloaded and aimed ex-
cept where the position Is at such an elevation
as to make this unnecessary for the protection
OF the gunners. design for such a platform
ana elevator has been approved, and one IL
now under construction. The 16-inch guns If
any are made, Will doubtless be mounted in
turrets."
oUR UNPROTECTED NORTHERN FRONTIER.
In natural sequence of ideas came his OBJ
servations as to the unprotected northern from
tier to which the press has frequently pointed
q finger Of warming:
by our agreement of 1917 with Great Brit
ain each party Is restricted TO a single armed
vessel on Lakes Ontario and Champlain and
two on the upper lakes Since then the great
west has become an empire of production and
population, with its great cities, centers of
wealth, commerce and transportation, built on
the straight shores of the broad lakes and de-
fenseless against naval attack. The Welland
canal and the SIX canals along the st. Lawrence
between Lake Ontario and Montreal have been
constructed and are wholly III foreign territory
The smallest of the ST. Lawrence canals have
feet depth OF water and locks 200 feet long
and As feet wide, sufficient for the passage
OF over nifty OF the armed vessels Of the British
navy. Measures have already been COM
menced TO enlarge the smaller canals so that
none will have less than IA feet depth OF water
which would admit the passage of as many
more OF a heavier armament. One of these
canals, the Beauharnois, llSl miles loag is
wholly on the right (south) bank OF che St.
Lawrence. Another Is within rifc-shot of
Islands belonging to US. The board of Iortif-
cations and other defenses under the &c. of
March 3, 1885, composed OF army and navy
officers and Of civilians, of which my predecessor
was president, made a full and very able report
In regard to TINS situation, and recommen ded
Considerable works Of defense for the lake
ports.
PROTECTION OF THE LAKE CITIES.
TN the absence of any preparation on our
part the lake cities might. in the event Of war
with the power holding the highway OF the ST.
Lawrence, be In more defenseless condition