The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1890-09-09
WE NEED DEFENCES.
General Nelson a. Miles on Our
Coast F0rtificatiOns.
HIS BRIEF STOP AT SEATTLE
On His Way to Port Townsend He stems
Ashore from the City of
Kingston.

the City of Kingston yesterday morning on
bis way to Port Townsend. Then he will
take revenue cutter down the straits to
the coast After few days he will go back
TO Chicago by way of the National park
The trip is partly for pleasure and partly
Tor the collection of material supplementary
TO his yearly report General Miles left at
Tacoma the women of the party, Mrs.
Miles, Miss Miles, Miss Sherman, who is a
daughter of General Sherman, and Miss
Hoyt. On the Kingston yesterday with
the general were Mr.. A. w. Hoyt and Mr.
j. 5. Hoyt, nephews of the general; Mr.
George Booth, of New York. and I.ieuten-
ant NJ. z. Maus, the generals aid-de-camp
When the boat touched the wharf here
General Miles came ashore for few min
utes and was greeted by several Seattle
friends. He is apparently in the best of
health and spirits, as erect, active, keen and
soldierly as ever. In chat with PosT-
lNTELLlGENcgR reporter he spoke of the
subject in which Seattle is so much inter-
ested, coast defenses. He believes that be-
fore much can be done in the way of fortifi-
cations the people as a whole must be
brought to see the necessity of them In
the matter of appropriations congressman
are limited by the views of their constitu.
ents, and when the latter think that money
spent on defenses is wasted, and that the
world is about to enter upon an era of uni
versal peace and good will, then the con-
gressmen do not feel justified in going very
far. So the general believes that through
the new spapers the people at large must
be brought to understand the need for forti-
hcatioHs. Then representatives at the
national capital will be forced TO take some
action. The people can be easily convinced
says General Miles, when once the facts are
clearly laid before them.
He himself sees no reason for thinking
that millennium has come upon us sud-
denly and without warning. Nations are
not unlike individuals. We cannot get
along without courts, policemen or
sheriffs, and so nations cannot be expected
10 reach at bound that much-to-be-de-
sired state of peace when arbitration can
settle all differences. At present arbitra-
ton is only resorted to when both parties
are afraid to fight. Moreover peaceable in
clinations are not always safeguard
against war. China with her 400, O00, 900 of
people surely did not seek war, and her
enormous population would have seemed a
protection to her, ana yet England de-
clared war upon her. John Bull rules 700,-
100000 people or Whereabouts simply because
he has guns and can be oppressive.
This talk about our ability to build up
an army and navy before serious damage
is done to the country is nonsense, as every
well-infOrmed man knows. Look back for
two centuries, and of the wars, more than
100 in all during that period, the declara-
ton of war preceded the beginning of it in
less than 10 per cent. of them. The blow
is struck, and that first blow is good one
to get in. We caRnot force universal
peace by disarming ourselves and appearing
defenseiess before the world. That is the
very way to invite attack and bring OH a
war. In order e establish defence works
at given point the government must sup
ply modern guns. rifles OF long range and
great power, and mortars as well as a sys-
tenn of torpedo defenses, all of which re-
quire years to construct. The very tools
necessary to make modern rifle cannon
cannot be manufactured complete in less
time than two years. 1t would be imposs-
Bile for us to manufacture II, IA and 16-lnch
callber guns, such as are now used in Euro
pean service, if war was to break out to-
morrow. Months, if not years, would be
consumed in making guns such as have
been used IN European countries for wears
past.
Now as to the Notifications themselves, -
said General Miles, sit must be borne in
mind that no navy, however efficient, can
take the place of land defenses. With
ships alone it would be simply impossible
to defend our immense coast line. Our
new navy has started well, but the trouble
is that the English government has lot
OF transatlantic steamers that can out
sail them by several knots, and within
twenty-four hours these steamers can be
fitted with more guns than the Charleston
carries. The Teutonic for instance. can
be made into fighting ship, superior to
the San Francisco or Charleston, within a
day and can run tWenty-three knots an
hour to their twenty. Then, too, we've
built no line of battle-ships, but merely
cruisers to hunt for helpless merchantmen.
| should like to see." said the general with
vigor, here on the Sound ana on the
Eastern coast as we'll, a merchant marine
built up like those fast Atlantic vessels
that England owns.
The value of land defenses has been
proved time and time again." continued
the general. I'm our own war, for ex-
ample, Fort Sumter showed what a prop
erly equipped land fertilization was worth.
We never succeeded in getting Sumter
back till the close of the war. Guns on
land can be handled with lar greater ac-
curacy than those on vessels, for the I'M
certain factor of the motion of the water
does not have to be taken into account.
Then too, the whole armament OF ship is
at the mercy of shot which NAV disable
or sink it. Land Notifications are so COM
paratively simple and inexpensive that
there is no reason why they should not be
erected for every important city along
the whole coast"
In coming To the matter OF Puget sound
defences, General Miles said that two
boards would study the matter, one on the
proposed navy yard and one on the fortifi-
cations. The navy yard should be in the
Sound where there is a harbor of refuge
and plenty OF room for ship-building. To
the advantages of Lake Washington which
might be opened up by canal cut through
TO the Sound, he said he had already called
attention. His ideas on coast defenses had
already been set forth in MS annual report.
most OF which had been published in the
Observation-Disclosures. and the same opin-
ions had been expressed in his testimony
before the Senate committee. also pub
lished. The TACT is, that this country is at
the mercy OF any nation with a strong
navy, and such condition OF affairs is
most undesirable. The general would
have defences at Puget sound, at tn e
mouth of the Columbia, at san Franci SEQ