The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1893-12-25
10 DEFEND rBE sEAsoARn.
The New Mcclure for Carrying Ga ~.
Work OF t'onat rrntcctInr.

1
| Work ot Coast Projection.
WASHINGTON. Dec. 24-The annual Fortirc.-
| lions bilt which Mr.. Livingston has reported
| TO the House from committee. IT, in view OF the
| general pressure for economy. fairly liberal
| measure. It's appropriation OF $22lNGJ4
! seems rather meaRre. COMPARED with the mag
nitude Of the work to which It is to DO devoted.
! and can do little more than continue existing
| tasks and provide for dcbts under existing
| contracts IL is also 81. 2l9 1850 less than the
! estimates Of Secretary Lamont. or in other
| words. II grants less than one-third Of the
amount called for by these estimates. Sttll it
is Mp to the appropriation at the last session.
and even little in excess OF tho latter
On the other hand. when 1t Is observed That
tho session before the -,,st appropriated
So. I3I. 2TG to this purpose. cho session before
that S17T4 9O3. and the session before that
81 232 .n35 or nearly twice NJ much as Ia pro.
posed by tho pending bill. IT may fairly lie
hoped that the present measure may be car
rlcd through without any important or Grip.
ping reduction.
The first items. for gun and mortar batteries
and platforms. 5000 900 recall the TACT that
scores OF heavy guns aud mortars recently
constructed are now waiting TO bo mounted.
and that at the present rate OF work at tho
Watervliot factory other scores will follow
along through the coming year. In addition
the Bethlehem works. which have n contract
to furnish n hundred heavy Y ms, will soon
deliver tho nrst OF them, witch are due dur
ing the coming year. Vt the present time
thorc are snii TO be rea ly Tor mounting about
sixty heavy guns and spvcnty-live mortlrs-
OT course. nptrOpri ,ttons for their ON place
ments and batteries have already been made,
but the work must To- continued by annual
appropriations. and certainly SOUO,OOO ts not
an oxtraragnnt allowance. ...
the present hill allows : l5OOOO. This does not
seem an eNcessivo amount for the purpose.
land needed Tor forts. especially near large
cities, because tho nrice Of Land in these places
usually has steady rise with the growth and
spread OF population. and also when thu act
" known that the Government requires land.
ThetasE Of selecting sizes is In rSsed upon
me Engineer q, sorns and nj. body should have
funds ut It's DISPOSAL Tor securing the desired
land Mt oDportune moments.
The largest item In the icnlng bill Is one OF
sot and ' nnr pfe H"S y
ton bills. This. OF course, must be provided
iPr nneSs II can SS shawn hy ff IT, some Part OF
year Again, with the factory at West Troy In
operation. its skilled workmen engaged. and
to provide for keeping the plant in operation.
10 do this it Is essential both to contract for
steel at private foundries for the guns and 10
provide for tho tni shing and assembling u
the rough turned and rough hored steel ingots
at the atervlet factory. This calls for S2iU-
900 for the former purpose and S2O5UOO for
In our system OF coast defence. hreech- load.
important part They are mounted and fired
In groups. and In connection with the direct
fire OF heavy guns must prove an important
element In harbor defence. A great increase
OF efficiency has lately been secured BIZ max
ing mortars wholly OF steel. and now the alp
proprlation asked Tor carrying on this work IS
500 900. with $50. 900 more Tor the carriages
II will be observed that the foregoing items
make uD by far tho greater portion OF the bill
~ course other items are introduced. such as
S5SOOO for powder and projectilss. $50 600
for armor- piercing shot. aud S24, 200 for the
SANDY Hook proving ground. which is GER
tainly moderate amount A special refer
ence may bs made to the item SO 900 for
steel field guns and Sjl 600 for their car
ringes. These are the new pieces with which
to have some pieces In reserve in case OF sud-
den reQuirements, and 1t is desirable to pro-
vide the militia with light ARTILLERY. There 10
work ahead for many years. and the present
appropriation merely carries on the existing
task on the most M crate scale
. Eight years ago Mr.. Tiden called attention
TO the fact that the property exposed to de-
struction in the tws!ve seaports-Portland,
Portsmouth. boston. Newport New York
New Orleans galveston, ana san Francisco
cannot b" less in value than $1,000 900. 900"
To this consideration must DO added the loss
frSm interrupting commerce during an
enemys occupation of an important SEAPORT
and the price demanded for the ran som OF n
city or as an indemnity for q successful war.
Another point to remember at tho present
timo is that the Government should take care
not to cut down such opportunities OF labor as
coast lefence