Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-10-21

Of Indiana was then Secretary, and 1t was
with sope t-epidation that l. q green Con-
gresham, called upon him and told him
that wanted to know something as to the
condition OF the navy. I said that thought
our cities along the coast were in an unpro-
tected state. and that we ought to have bet
Thompson. who had probably been bothered
by young Congressman before, listened to
my statement. AS / finished he rather
pompously. but confidentially. told me that
I might rest easy about the matter. And
that our torpedoes had then reached such a
state Of perfection that II the ships Of all
the world could come at once within the
range Of those we had planted along the sea
I remember that went away from the de-
partment with my mind considerably re-
lieved. I did not know as much about tor
pedoes then as I do now. or / should I'M
doubtedly have had a different opinion"
II continued my interest in the navy,
however. and I was connected with the
committee on naval affairs during large
part of my congressional period. I was.
you know. chairman of that committee
during three Congresses including the last
America Against the World.
"How does our navy now compare with
the other great navies Of the worldr'
Every we'll. indeed" replied the Secretary.
"or 1t will do SO as soon as we have finished
the ships we are now building We now
Stdhu Altl VI SaAtH dILlOiS Tue BTeat u&Vle9
Of the world. The greatest naval power on
earth is Great Britain. She has nearly half
as many naval officers as We have men.
and her total naval service includes about
100000. She has N5 ships In commission and
she Is making others. so that next year she
will have about 425 effective ships afloat.
Her colonies are such that the very exist
ence Of her government depends upon a
great navy. and the new ships which she
Is now building will cost, II Is said. more
than $100.000.oO0. Next to England as a
great naval power is France. who has some
of the biggest gun boats and best armored
ships Of the world. Her naval service in
cludes vast numbers Of men. and the same
Is true Of Italy and Russia Next to these
powers comes the United States or Ger
many. It Is a question as to whether Ger
many or the United States stand fifth IN
rank among the navies OF the world. In
some respects we are superior to Germany
rapidly advancing however. and our navy
has been the creation Of practically only
the last ten years..
Americans Naturally Fitted for Naval
Warfare.
what kind Of naval officers do Ameri-
cans make? How do We rank among the
nations as fighters on the sea?''
II believe the American Is naturally 1T
ted for naval warfare. and I believe we
have all the elements Of a great naval DOW
er. I do not think 1t q necessity that We
should surpass the world in this regard at
present. The development Of our vast In
terror resources will consume our best ener-
gy for a generation or SO to come But
when we go out OF our own boundaries
when we become a great sea-going people
our navy will Increase as our interests de-
mand protection. and we may eventually
become the greatest naval power of the
world.
Our Navy I'm History.
"As to our natural ability in this respect :"
Secretary Herbert went on, look at our
history. At the beginning Of the revolution
England was mistress of the seas During
the first two years Of that war our navy
made up Of what we could buy. build or
borrow. captured more than 267 English
ships, and acquired for itself a reputation
as one Of the naval powers Of the time. In
the war OF 1872 we started out with about
a dozen and half ships Of war to fight
England. who then had more then 800 ships.
Of which a large number were effective
cruisers. There were all told fourteen duels
between single ships in that war, and in ten
Of these the Americans were victorious In
two of the remainder the honors were near
ly even. and In only two out Of the fourteen
were the British the victors. At the begin
ming Of the late civil war the government
had only ninety vessels afoat. At its close
its navy contained ITO ships, and II stood
out one Of the greatest naval powers Of
the world. Its battles changed the navies
OF the world. and some of the greatest Of
n"val inventions have sprung from Ameri-
G. n brains