Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-11-17
NATIONAL DEFENSE.
SECRETARY OF WAR PROCTOR ISSUES
HIS ANNUAL REPORT.

Special Recommendations for Coast De-
fense-The Northern Frontier in De-
fenseless Condition-Desertion Decreas-
ing Under a Beneficent Law-The Ma
tionaI Guard.
WASHINGTON, November 16-The Secretary
of War has just issued his annual report to the
President. One Of the most important topics
treated is that of coast defense. The Secretary
says:
It 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
strated and Its net work of railways is SO
adapted to a 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: it is not probable that any
large one will incur the risk. We have, there
fore, little to fear from invasion, and are free
from the necessity of maintaining large stand
ing armies or of fortifying against land attacks.
But our long coast line is peculiarly exposed
to an attack from the sea- So long as an enemy
can reach vulnerable points without exposing
himself to our land forces he may intiict blows
which we are unable to parry, and which may
cause losses i'll to be endured. No great civil
lied nation to-day 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 con-
graduation that this national deficiency is be-
ginning to excite the attention it merits especi-
ally as time, even more than moley, is neces-
sary for its proper preparation.
A modern land battery constitutes a perma-
nent defense upon battlefield, chosen in ad-
vance, where no 1anking is possible and where
an enemy must force his way abandon the
In oh cI1; e
placed under every disadvantage. The chan.
mel is selected where their deployment is diff
cult, while they are at the center of a concen-
trated fire from many dispersed guns Modern
Inventions in the use of electricity high explo-
sives, and in rifled mortars, have resulted
strongly in favor of the comparative resisting
strength Of land Notifications as against a
naval force. They cannot oe blown up by dyna-
mite nor sunk by vertical fire. They can sup
port anv weight of armament, and can protect
themselves by any weight of earth or stone or
iron. For accurate aim they have the solid
earth for foundation. They also have the
cooperative aid of our navy, of torpedoes and
subm arine mines, and other accessory means
of defense: When our principal cities. our
harbors and our navy yards are thus protected,
then our coasts will be safe, and our navy and
increasing commerce will have safe ports of
refuge. where they can be repaired, recoaled
and refitted.
The efficiency of land defenses is no expert
ment. 1t was the former wise policy of the
Government, previous to the Civil War. to main
tain coast 1ortlncatlons entirely 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. A modern land battery
when once constructed and armed needs few
repairs and no renewals. Outlays for coast de-
fense are investments which yield large interest
in the form of insurance, with little deteriora-
tion to principal. AS the sole object of harbor
Notifications is defense, its construction should
at least keep pace If not precede, every other
preparation: for it has been we'll said that
while we may afford to be deficient in means
OF otfense we cannot afford to be defenseless."