The sun., 1893-08-14
sEcnE1ARY HEEBER1,s PROGRAMME

WASHINGTON, Aug. lathe launch OF the
flne war vessel Minp eapolls and the approach
ing trial run Of her prototype and sister ship.
the Columbia. naturally bring to the front, for
public admiration. the class OF protected
cruisers OF which they are the latest and high
est development With all that has boen said.
| and that can most Justly be said in favor OF
these splendid vessels. the suggestion will
naturally arise that the country ought to have
| more ships OF this sort, and to have them ns
soon as possible. Secretary Tracy once said
that they could safely be counted on, In any
ordinary sea- to overtake any commerce de-
stroyer. any commerce protector or any mer-
camille vessel now afloat" To that extraordi-
nary superiority they add "a coal endurance
hitherto unknown in ships OF war" thus Civ
ing them an uneaualed speed radius. Ac-
cordingly such vessels. though built for az
| Rression, might fairly bo classed among the
ablest OF defensive ships; and this Is Wow
| that Mr.. Tracy emphasized in saying that ak
| OF thom could exterminate the commerce Of
| any country. under the present conditions OF
commerce protection. 30 that they would. "un-
der these conditions, solutely preclude an
attack from commercial State. however
threatening In its demands. powerful in its
armored fleet or aggressive in its foreign pol
Icy" 1t would be very desirable. therefore. to
have more such cruisers. since only from n
commercial power has this country anything
| to fear.
But It may safely bo said that tho Mime
apolis and Columbia are the last vessels OF
their type that the navy Will see for some
yeaY to come. The ground for this view may
be found in the report which Mr.. Herbert. rs
Chairman Of the House Committee on Naval
Affairs. made no longer ago than Feb. 13 Of the
present year. Congress has now provided
Qntd hof nntf In
opinion OF your committee no others should
at present bo built II we are to have battle
ships. In battle ships consists the fighting
strength OF q modern navy" Accordingly
MIR. Herbert recommended the construction Of
seven or eight more CT these. and their ac-
cessories. n reasonable number OF torpedo
boats" The light-draught gunboats for river
service. actually provided for last year. were
an exceptional need. which could be supplied
at that time since the delay OF the armor
makers rendered 1t useless to authorize an
other battle ship. while the condition OF the
Treasury was such as to make economy desir-
able. But the whole tone Of the report favored
battle ships. and 1t is we'll understood that
Mr.. Herbert as Secretary holds precisely the
the same views In this respect as he did when
Congressman. Hence battlo ship will
doubtless be thu chief. II not the only call in
the way OF new construction. made upon Con-
gress by the Navy Department next winter.
Battle ships are tho backbone Of O modern
navy To the United States they are especially
serviceable from the present lack Of suitable
land forti1cations. ship like the Indiana.
with its heavy steel water-line belt. barbette
and turret and with guns larger than any
found in our land defences, ia a floating fort
and most efficient coast defender. She can
move from barber to harbor. and SO help to
protect ports that have no adequate guns
mounted: she can also move out against an
enemy's base OF operations. as. for example.
Halifax. Bermuda. Jamaica. or Havana. A
distinctively seagoinR battle ship like the Iowa
adds to her coast-line functions the ability to |
cruise anywhere. It is not strange. therefore. |
that Secretary Herbert should strongly favor
battle ships
Besides. the navy Is beginning to accumulate |
respectable body Of cruisers for the proteo-
tion OF our commerce and the destruction Of |
an enemy's While the great racers OF this |
class are the Columbia and the Minneapolis, |
on the Pacific coast the fine $500 ton Olympia
is soon to have her trial trip. She Is guaran-
teed to make 20 knots. and likely to approach
Fl. The New York. an armored cruiser OF
greater displacement than the Minneapolis.
has already achieved trial average Of 81
knots. and is a most effective commerce de-
stroyer. while the Brooklyn is to be as fast
The San Francisco is a 20-knot ship: tho Balti-
more and Philadelphia exceed 19H, the Newark
follows them closely. and the Cincinnati and
Raleigh. though built for 10 knots. are likely
to approach or reach 90 The high speed Of
the Detroit. Montgomery. and Marblehead
makes them effective commerce destroyers,
and the Charleston is certainly in the same
category. or less speed. yet very useful. are
the Bennington. Concord. Yorktown, and the
earlier cruisers Chicago. Boston. Atlanta, and
Dolphin. The small gunboats also have their
uses. 1t Is accordingly practica BILE to POSTPONE
the further construction Of cruisers.
1t will be observed. however, that Secretary
Herbert also favors torpedo boats. Since the
Ericsson will probably be In the water before
the next navy bill is framed. and since we have
at last two good sources Of torpedo supply wa
may expect q multiplication OF those boats
under Mr.. Herbert's administration. Possibly.
also. he may ask for two composite gunboats.
The new Chief Constructor. Mr.. Hichborn. 10 a
great advocate Of shenthed vessels. and 1t was
. disappointment both to him and the secre.
tary that the law would not allow the building
OF the new light-draught Runboats. for river
service. on the composite system. Hence Con.
gress may hereafter be applied to for two moro
gunboats. with authority for such form OF
construction. Two more small vessels would
be useful to our Asiatic station.
In the present condition OF industry. tho
Government has double incentive for carry
ing on with vigor the rebuilding OF the navy,
Missouri Populist Seeking Light.
From hs Kansns Cfy Journal
. E,,tt NJ