Huntsville gazette., 1891-12-12

OF the sixteen completed vessels Of the new
navy, thirteen have been commissioned during
the present administration and four during the
past year The work on the three great battle
ships, the Indiana, Massachusetts, and Oregon is
going forward rapidly. and according to present
probabilities, they will be ready for service early
in 1894. The Monterey is ready to receive her
armor and will be completed next year, while
the powerful cruiser New York, which was
launched the other day will be ready for serv-
ice in January, 1893. Next to the three battle
ships, she will be the largest and most forrnida-
bic ship of the new navy, and viii be able to
hold her own it is thought, against any vessel of
her size afioat. Work on all the other ships. ex-
cept the proposed torpedo cruiser, the mate to
the Cushing, is being pushed as rapidly as pos
sible. The appropriation for the torpedo cruiser
(S350CO0) was too small the secretary having
been unable to get any bids for its construction
within that limit.
MORE SHIPS NEEDED.
Secretary Tracy insists that more ships are
necessary if the United States desires to secure
and retain her share of the commerce of the
world On this point he says:
The course of events during the past year has
shown anew the necessity Of continuing the
development of the navy. The demands upon
it have been constant, and they are constantly
growing. The rapid extension of commercial
relations has doubled the Importance of our in
terests, especially in the Pacific. 1t was said
few years ago by keen foreign observer:
Some day or other there will be great rivalry
of three or four nations in the Pacific for the
commerce of those seas, and the country which
has cultivated its strength with a view to that
contingency will carry off a chief part of the
prize - The rivalry has already begun, and the
signs evident on every hand of sharp com
petition; 1t is apparent that the mercantile
largfng their fields of activity with q more
aggressive energy than ever before. No one
can fail to observe the indications Of a system
attic effort to take advantage OF the disturbed
conditions now prevailing in many of the small
er states. In this movement naval ascendency
plays large part. The consequences are not
Far to seek. The establishment of complete
commercial supremacy by European power in
any state of the western hemisphere means
the exclusion of American influence and the
virtual destruction, as far as that state is con-
cerned of independent existence. With the
great maritime powers it is only step from
commercial control to territorial control If
that most important agency in the commercial
development of the United States the Mica
ragua canal, were completed, the strategic
situation would be largely modified. AT the
present time the two seaboards are so remote
that each requires a separate system of naval
defense. Each has its vulnerable points. and
each has neighbors that are well prepared for
offensive movements. There is circle of in
suIar fortresses facing our Atlantic seaboard,
the sole object of whose existence is to maintain
naval outDosts at our doors. There are states IN
the Pacifc-and not large states, either'-whose
fleets are more powerful than any force that we
could readily bring to meet them. To protect
either seaboard, even when our present author
lied fleet is completed will involve stripping the
other at a critical moment.
Even if it were impossible to involve this
country in war without its consent, there are sit
uations in which that consent would be given py
a unanimous popular voice. There are outrages
which can not go unredressed; there are inJu-
ries to which no nation can afford to suOInlt
Against such injuries the surest preventive Is q
raepts OF danger 1t ri times for American inter
asts, and at any moment sasss alsiaeREs nsy pe