The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1893-08-01
THE NAVAL PAGEANT
LESSONS DRAWN FROM THE INTER
NATIONAL DISPLAY.

Secretary Herbert OF the Navy Quotes I'm
Time of Peace Prepare For War'-Be-
ing Able to Fight Is often Protection
Mr.. Herbert's Part.
The pages which Secretary Herbert de-
votes in the North American REVIEW 10
q comment on the great show OF ships at
Norfolk and New York deal with 1t first
as an illustration Of the friendly feeling
that now prevails between the united
States and other nations.
He recalls that this peaceful rcndez-
vous took place in the very ro&dstead
where the Monitor and Merrimac fought
and near where the Leopard attacked
the Chesa peake, while close by at Nor
folk lay the old Constellation, successor
to Truzton's frigate that overcame the
| Insurgente in 1899. OF the nine nations
whose 90 varships were there gathered
three were republics. but all the vessels
put on the colors of Italy in honor OF the
| twenty-fifth anniversary of King Hum
| bcrts marriage, just as the British
| Blake afterward at New York, where
once the prison ships of the Revolution
| Law. flashed out the image of Washing
ton in her fireworks display, and just as
other foreign ships took part in our
| Decoration day ceremonies.
Secretary Herbert well says that the
voyage from Hampton Roads, when the
vessels Cf nine nations, in two parallel
| columns, steamed at a prescribed rate,
| all under the command, by courtesy, of
| an American. officer, formed "a scene
that has no parallel in history Yet
| even this scene was surpassed in suggest
| iveness by the land parade in New
| York. which, while it was the most
| significant act of good viii to the Amer
| lean PEOPLE and American institutions.
| was also the browning lesson OF the re-
| view
And what was that all important les
son? The secretary thus expresses 1t:
Every thoughtful observer was i'm
pressed with the idea that II our men
| should ever come to blows with their
| friends who were behind them in line
they could never hope to win except with
a fair supply of ships and guns. Inc
stalvart Russians, with their sturdy
tramp: the business looking Britons,
keeping step to God Save the Queen;
the quick stepping Frenchmen; the Ger
mas. with their natty uniforms; the
Italians. and indeed all the attachments,
were drilled and disciplined into fight
inc machines. Never was such sight
witnessed before as the sailors of nine
different nations marching together, and
never was anything better calculated to
impress upon those who saw them the
lesson that the American sailor can keep
his place upon the seas only when his
government is behind him.
This. after all. should be an abiding
moral Of the pageant for our country
men. 1t taught not only the beauty Of
peace, but the duty in peace to prepare
for war 1t was suggestive, no doubt,
that while 20 years before Russia, Prus-
| STA and Austria had entered into futile
J combination to reduce the Spanish
American colonies because they had set
themselves up as independent republics,
here were Russia and Germany joining
their ships with those Of republican
France and the South American repub-
lies.
It was still more suggestive to find the
armed forces of Russia and England
, marching one after another in the same
streets and in the same column and the
armed forces of France and Germany III
like comradeship; while as to the inter
mingled forces of E2rland and h'Tf -
~, 9:l,+ of +bo,,, go -1Ahi1l -C'''
me sisnt "a - =. prompted Secretary
Herbert e e-t Ss That 'sGreat Britain never
lor la1ttify renounced the right Of search,
on account of which the war Of 1912 was
fought. until 1853, but the two countries
have made peace at last, mutual good
will and respect have been testified IN
many ways and never more significant
IL than at this naval review.
Yet it is not the peace note with which
the secretary closes. He insists, as his
conclusion, that in spite Of Geneva arbl-
trations and Paris arbitratlons, we have
not vet found safeguard against war.
The Geneva arbitration was achieved
| only after the terrific battles OF our civil
war had demonstrated to the world the
| fighting capacity of our citizen soldlery.
| IF America would keep her own peace
with aIl the nations of the earth and
maintain her place in the vanguard OF
civilization, she must be at all times pre-
nared for war. This is the lesson OF
history emphasized by the rendezvous
and the review" We may add that such
lessons were wholly additional to the
original purpose of the ceremony, winch
was to furnish some distinctly naval
pageant as the fttest possible form OF
public festival in honor of the greatest
of voyages.
Indeed it may fairly be said that the
| full benefits of this memorable pageant
were not universally recognized wien 1t
was planned. Even Mr. Herbert HIM
self, although member Of the house
naval committee, voted against the joint
resolution Of congress which directed it
to be held, but as its possibilities gradu-
ally became apparent he headed the sue
cessful effort at subsequent session to
increase the appropriation for it to the
amount needed. The advantage derived
from bringing our own new ships to
cether for the first time in considerable
numbers has been exceedingly great, and
| it has been increased by giving them the
opportunity to compare themselves not
| only with each other, but with the picked
warships of eight other nations.
Still the great benefit of the review,
according to Secretary Herbert, has been
in teaching what remains for the coUn-
try to do in its naval preparations.-New
York Sun.