The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1893-02-22

truth. the right. the just. and the genuine.
Ten Years OF the New Navy.
Tho House Committee on Naval Affairs
has performed a useful service in compiling
| for Congress and the country an account
Of what has been done to reconstruct the
American navy during the last ten years.
To the Administration OF President
ARTHUR belongs tho credit OF beginning
this great work. Under Secretary HAND
LER a plan was formed to construct q new
and powerful steel fleet. and at length. in
the act OF March 8. 1883. Congress author
lied the first four vessels. the cruisers
Chicago. Boston. and Atlanta. and the gun
boat Dolphin. They were well on the way
toward completion" says the present re-
port. "at the close OF the Administration
Of President ARTHUR. They are good.
stanch vessels. armed with high-powcr
guns and. as our first modern ships. have
given great satisfaction" Five other YES
sells were asked for and authorized under
Secretary CHANDLER. the cruisers Balti-
more. Charleston. and Newark and the gun
boats Yorktown and Petrol. all contained in
the act OF March 8. 1885. and built under his
successor. Even to this day the Chicago
Is the most powerfully armed steel cruiser
we have in commission.
Up to the year 1883. not only had no mod
ern war ship ever been built in the United
States. but no steel for ship plates had ever
been rolled here. The building Of a new
navy was. therefore. the introduction. also.
OF o new industry. With the ships Of 1888.
too. came our first steel guns. Finally. a
Board appointed under this same act OF
1888 recommended the establishment Of our
two gun factories at Washington n West
Troy. and the furnishing Of gun forgings
by American steel works. which is the exact
system developed to-day.
After that first great step progress be-
came rapid. Secretary WHITNEY on entering
ONCE found that. even In the two or three
years succeeding the planning OF the Chi
cago. great advances had been made in
steam machinery. He purchased the best
designs for engines and hulls procurable
in the most famous English shops. and
the result was the splendid speed
shown by the Baltimore. Charleston.
San Francisco. Newark. Philadelphia.
Vesuvlus, Cushing. and other vessels Of his
administration He then began the con-
struction Of armored vessels. including the
Maine. Texas. and Monterey. For this pur-
pose steel m was needed. and one OF his
most important services was that of arrang-
ing with the Bethlehem Iron Works to
establish the special plant" for armor and
heavy gun forgings. shown to be neces-
sary by the Simpson Board Of 1883, already
referred to. Still another admirable SER
vice rendered by him was that OF establish
ing the ordnance factory which had been
recommended for the Washington yard.
Meanwhile, to the Committee on Naval
Affairs. under a fortunate change in the
rules Of the House, had been intrusted the
duty OF fixing the annual naval appropria-
tions. and it began TO make a still more
thorough study OF the requirements OF the
country. One OF the fruits OF that study
was a provision in the act OF Aug. g., 1886, |
that the ships thereby provided for should
be Of American material. including engines,
guns and armor. The new American in
dustry. founded only a few years before, |
was thus fostered and favored under this |
new law; and these are the results, as the !
pending report states them:
Every vessel put anoat under that law OF Aug 7. |
1884. and subsequent acts. has been home mad.
throughout. and there Is not one Of them that will not
compare fsvorably with the best vessels Of like TYNE
manufactured in other countries during the same time.
Some. at least. OF our American shipyardx can turn OIL.
an uuarmorsd vessel of tho very highest type Of excel.
lenee ns quickly as can be don, in the oldes, shipyards
of Europe"
But there was another result OF this sys-
TEN Of favoring American manufactured
materials for ships. which the House
committee declares to be still more graf
flying and highly encouraging" One very
.ntt,anLla .o;.A - xI.- szl.... IT, -
that the price OF our ships and Of the ma
terial for those ships was far greater than
that OF similar foreign-built ships and
foreign material. British critics were quick
to point out this fact. But the second re-
suit was that, with the great impulse thus
lent to our home shipyards and steel
works. very soon after these new indus
tries had once sprung up and become
prosperous in various parts OF the country,
the prices both for ships and material.
under q healthy home competition, and
especially under experience in manufacture,
new studies OF processes. and the control of
all that the Government needed to DUR
chase. began steadily and rapidly to 20
down. The result. since the act Of Aug. 8,
1886. is thus put by the House committee.
and 1t is the only portion OF their report
which they emphasize Dy italics:
Tho price OF the materials entering into the compo.
sition OF . modern ship has been reduced fully onshaif.
and the price of . completed ship excluding armor.
has gone down IS per cent"
Under Secretary TRACY the third stage In
building up our navy has shown an advance
over the second stage no less marked and
gratifying than the advance OF the second
stage had been over the first. From such
battle ships as the Maine and Texas, Of $500
and 6.64s tons. the navy has gone on to the
Indiana and Iowa. OF 10000 and II. 200. Tho
great armored cruisers New York and
Brooklyn are new types added to tho navy.
The magnificent flyers Columbia and Min
neapolis have carried the 10000 horse
power deemed astonishing q few years ago.