Goldsboro weekly argus. [volume] (Goldsboro, N.C.) 1885-1909, 1893-10-19
OUR DEFENsELEss COAST.


the United States army, has made
a report to the Secretary of War,
indicating a condition OF affairs
prevailing in regard to our coast
defenses which is officially chars.c~
terized as "disgraceful." 1t is
shown that almost the entire souths
ern coast on the Atlantic seaboard
is btolutely unprotected and at
the mercy of a foreign foe. Forts
have been allowed to crumble
away, cannon have rusted and can.
non carriages rottcd.
To quote Inspector General
Breckenridge these forts and their
armameuts "now serve the single
purpose apparently Of reminding
US Of the high estate from which
we have fallen and that we are not
well prepared for resistance against
any bold and aggressive govern
| ment.
In advance sheets furnished the
Secretary of War of that part Of
his annual report relating to un-
garrisoned Notifications, General
Breckinrijge sass: "The very cares
full inspection OF ungarrisoned posts
between Baratoria Bay, Louisiana,
and the Delaware River, made
under your supervision, has brought
very plainly to view the defenseless
condition of our Southern coast and
the great Importance of immediate
action if these Notifications are to
be relied Oh to repel attack.
"Owing to the spread Of some of
the cities they were built to protect
and the increased range of modern
artillery few of the sites occupied
are no longer valuable, but, in
large majority of cases, they are
now and doubtless always will be
Of vast Importance to the coun-
try.
"That there is no immediate
probability of foreign war will be
granted, but it must be admitted
that such a contingency is not i'm
possible, IND that should it happen
within the nett ten years we must
reply in the main for the protection
of our har bors on the forts and guns
we now have, no matter how in
ferior they may be as compared
with more recent inventions.
''For various reasons garrisons of
twenty-seven of these forts have
been withdrawn, until there is no.
now, nor has there been n most
cases for more than twenty years,
single soldier to care for them,
ordnance sargents, sometimes sup
erannuated and decrepit, alone ex-
cepted.
"At the outbreak ofthe civil war
this was not the case. No nation
bad provided better guns and FORTS
fications or more completely and
intelligently established its lines OF
coast and harbor defense than we
had, and the termination of the
war found this equality undis-
turted. To day, while great imr
provements in the designs for our
Notifications and armament have
been made more guns may be exs
pected within the century: no great
progress towards the vast array of
pieces necessary to arm our sea-
coasti is probable, and no appropria-
ton for Notifications, unless we
are brought face to face with stern
necessity or receive one of those
sharp lessons by which nations as
well as individuals learn to observe
ordinary caution in business transs
action"
General Breckenridge will sug-
gest to Secretary Lamont the adops
ton of certain measures toward
correcting the abuses and neglect
that have placed the Southern coast
so absolutely at the mercy of an
enemy. He desires that an estis
mate be made for cleaning and
clearing up the forts, and such res
pairs as will prevent further deter.
ioration. He will also suggest
that sufficient expenditure be au-
thorized to put all guns and carris
ages that can be relied on in cons
neetion with the operation OF tors
pedo lines in serviceable condi-
ton. Younger and more active
men, he contends, should replace
the particular ordnance sergeants
On duty atsthe forts inspected and
he asks that this be done as soon
as practicable.
Furthermore, he will suggest
"that an effort be made, where it
can be done properly, to connteract
the impression which prevails, even
in the army, that these forts are
junk shops, and their armament
and stores obsolete, and that in
structions be issued which will
enable, or compel, all ordnance
sergeants when once the ornaments
are put in order, to keep them so,o
General Breckinriuge wants an
estimate made for the resair or
construction OF necessary wharyes