Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1893-09-05
THE NAVAL PAGEANT
LESSONS DRAWN FROM THE INTER-
NATIONAL DISPLAY.

The pages which Secretary Herbert de-
votes in the North American Review to
| a comment on the great show of ships at
Norfolk and New York deal with it first
| as an illustration of the friendly feeling
| that now prevails between the United
States and other nations.
He recalls that this peaceful rendez-
vous took place in the very roadstead
where the Monitor and Merrimac fought
and near where the Leopard attacked
| the Chesapeake, while close by at Nor
folk lay the old Constellation, successor
| to Truxton's frigate that overcame the
Insurgente in 1893 OF the nine nations
whose 80 warships were there gathered
three were republics. but all the vessels
put on the colors of Italy III honor of the
| twenty-ffth anniversary of King Hum
| bert's marriage, just as the British
! Blake afterward at New York, where
once the prison ships of the Revolution
| lay, flashed ont 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 of nine nations, in two parallel
| columns, steamed 1t 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 will 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 it:
Every thoughtful observer was i'm
pressed with the idea that if 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. The
stalwart Russians, with their sturdy
| tramp; the business looking Britons.
keeping step to God Save the Queen
the quick stepping Frenchmen; the Ger
mans, with their natty uniforms; the
Italians, and indeed all the detachments.
were drilled and disciplined into fight
ing machines. Never was such a 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 a futile
combination to reduce the Spanish
American colonies because they had set
themselves up as independent republics,
here We're Russia and Germany Joining
their ships with those of republican
France and the South American repub-
hes.
1t 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 In
like comradeship; while as to the inter
the sight of them prompted Secretary
Herbert to say that Great Britain never
formally renowned the right of search,
on account of which the war of 1912 was
fought, until 1858, but the two countries
have made peace at last, mutual good
Will and respect have been testified in
many ways and never more significant
ly than at this naval review"
Yet 1t is not the peace note with which
the secretary closes. He insists, as his
conclusion, that in spite of Geneva arbi-
trations and Paris arbitrations, we have
not yet found safeguard against war.
1.-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 soldiery.
If America would keep her own peace
with all the nations of the earth and
maintain her place in the vanguard of
civilization, she must be at all times pre-
pared for war This is the lesson of
history emphasized by the rendezvous
and the review" We may add that such
lessons We're wholly additional to the
original purpose of the ceremony, which
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 when it
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-
gether 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