Grand Rapids herald. [volume] (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 1892-1959, 1892-01-04


entirely az her Esercy. VITA the ships
she HAS. together with those that viii
be ready sacrtly she could h2Te acne
xnytkiEx sta PLEASED with "a IL has
been her ADDITION TO be mistress Of the
Paeillc.
This was not n pleasant e1nsingeory
% eontsmpiate- I suggested that Ne
could thrazh thcs IL we caught them
or shosc. NJ. Tracy laughed grizzly,
and minated that they woali probably
declins u come ashore for the purPsse.
They eouh secure 81 they wanted
without di<embzrking
-And We must ceaticae 20 lie de-
Tenders for several years Al leastg"
Yes: ali that can be said Is, we are
now going ahead as fast as possible.
But even now there is tais drawback
that there Is no absolute security there.
The next congress viii vote to carry On
the work begun by this or by pre-
vious one. This makes many tlr-us
tinid about undertaking contracts
They rigst so TO a great expense and
then DC left stranded"
.wha. 10 the character of our navy?"
I inquired
.'The nea who man our ships are
very intelligent; they adapt themselves
readily TO altered circumstances. A
battle ship now is Al entirely different
thing from what it was some years ago.
Allthe sailing bnxjness-the going alost,
taking in and making sail and all that
lis of course done away with. Tho
work of the man Is below. There are
about thirty district machines aboard
one Of our modern nen-cs-war; the ma
chimes for loconotion, for moving tho
anchors, the electrical machines and
many others. In spite Of the complete
change ia the nature Of the duties
aboard ship. we have had no accidents
The English, on the contrary, are hav-
ing accidsntf and making mistakes
all the time. Our men are more intelli-
gent, careful and efficient"
"In case of war. how many seemen
have we?"
"why. very few; only enough to make
q nucleus for an effective force. But
quite lately something has been done
towards forming n naval militia at vari-
GUS points along the ca st. qualified to
be available In case of emergency.
Organizations have been established at
Massachusetts, New York. Pennsyl-
vania, Carolina, Georgia, Texas and
California; ana not sure that other
states were not included-''and the de-
partment sends officers and provides
ships for their periodical drilling and
instruction. They have been practiced
in firing guns. and in firing them at
targets, which is about the most import
ant thing they can learn to do. They
have done very well. They cost little
or nothing. and are liable at any mo-
mcnt TO become of the greatest practi-
cal value"
"Upon the whole, what is your
opinion Of our present naval situation?"
1--WE are now doing the best we can
20 put ourselves into a proper condition
of defense We have been rather slow
In beginning, perhaps, but now that we
have begun, we are losing no time. On
the very next day after the bill for the
construction of the battle ships and the
armored cruisers became q law, they
were advertised, and the bids were re-
ceived three months later. OF course,
the drawings had already been pre-
pared. counting on the probability of
the bill passing; SO that no delay oc-
Cured. IL. now, congress makes the
appropriations for the construction, as
they fall due, we shall be making ex-
cellent progress. But there is no use
in Disgusting the f:fct that we are not
ready to defend ourselves if attacked
now, and we cannot be in less than
three or four years at the earliest. II
our enemy's feet were to come into
New York harbor, it could destroy
our commerce, cut on all communi-
cation with the city, and, consequently,
It's food srpply-New York would con-
sun,e about five million pounds of solid
food a day--aud, consequently. could
exact any ranso 4 they chose to de-
mand, no matter how preposterous.
And New York il only one Of half a
dozen great cities that could and would
be treated in tho same way. That is
the peril OF our condition to-day. Bat
iP all goes well during the next few
years. we shall be all right in the end,
ard once we &C. into defensive state.
there is no reason why VIC should not
cont;nuc to be So"
left tho secretary of the navy with
the conviction that the Office was in
good hands. Ar. Tracy is blind to no
dangers, but neither does he exaggerate
the.n. nor is lac unncrved by them. Tic
knows what should &c done, and how tn
90 it. ca3 Is taking the best means TO
accomplish his purposes. He has the
confidence of his suboriinatee; and,
whether war comes soon, or late. or no.
at all. he will deserve the gratitude OF
the American people.
JULIAN HAWTHORNE.