New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-03-16
THE NAVY.
AMERICAN ACHIEVEMENT IN SHIPS Of
WAR.


1t has been said that the American civil war
was the most instructive in military science
within the memory OF the present generation
Mr. Maclay's minute and careful work will con-
vince its readers that similar judgment might
be passed on earlier wars in which America elther
as a colonial dependency or as nation was Ell
gagged. In each case some important chanee mas
been made which has soon affected the "hole
civilized world This was natural erect Oh '"e
conditions under which the colonies, especlahy
those of New England grew up. A seafaring He
was Indispensable and 1t was taken up pS d
people that had escaped the influence OF ora ira
ditions The colonists inherited IAN aptitude lor
the sea from five of the greatest maritime nations
of tie world The Spanish and Portuguese al the
time of the discovery of the New World were the
boldest and most skilful mariners in Europe
and the State of Maine to-day is populated 10 an
ennreciable extent by descendants of these nrst
exnlorers who have contributed not little 10 the
sh;nbuilding industry that for two centuries mas
made the State famous After the Spaniards ana
Portuguese came the French. Dutch and Ehghsh
all of whom at some period have maintained
high place among the maritime powers ol ru-
r.ne T, was long before the coonists could
make their way to the interior OF the country
Meanwhile they were TO a large extent ueIe"'c"'
on the sea for susenance. When they ulu lea'e
the coast line. they made their entrance 10 "ie
or,n,eval forest by way of the rivers and began
Immediately that inland commerce which, though
little thought upon is now of the wonders OF
the world The trade from colony to co.ony was
largely coastwise. and it led at an early periou
10 the construction Of vessels quite large ior
the times Mr.. Maclay quotes the quaint letter
NJ q New-Englander addressed in 164l 10 MS
friends in the old cOuntry-a letter whch SHOWS
that besides small boats, the co.ons's were Ill
a way of building ships Of hundred TWO HUH
dred three hundred. fOIr hundred tons III 'he
wear mentioned there were already hVe suVh
,,essa,s AZ sea as we'll as many more in hand;
and thirtv-fve years later MASSACHUSETTS, alone
had built 100 vessels varying from . 10 20o IONS
or course from that time the advance was pv
leaps and bounds.
Neanwhile II must be remembered mat the
relations between the peoples of separate coun-
tries on the sea had changed very little IN 'he
course Of long ages When Pompey crucifled
. multitude of pirates he only checked Tor n
oor,urv or 60 4 practice that had been almost
,,,,versaI from the time the first hollow log
was fashioned and hoated. and which was 70 he
moro or less prevalent until the United states
became maritime power OF weight ana sig
ni6cance In time of peace as well as IN ume
of war acts that would now be deemed IN
credible were thought almost praiseworthy II
a foreigner was a victim. Men were not far re-
moved from the exceedingly antique practice or
sacrificing every stranger as matter u
dutv and they were not at all removed even IN
the seventeenth century, from the moral state
Of Chaucers "Shipman," who took no heed of
nice points Of conscience. and when he got the
upper hand in a piratical squabble, invariably
sent his victims home by water; that Is. drove
them into the sea- The early commerce along
the eastern coast of America was largely in the
hands of men who armed themselves and their
vessels. and who were ready to fight for their
lives and their property. The division OF the
coast line among several natonalities, french
about the Gulf Of ST. Lawrence. English in the
neighborhood of Massachusetts Bay Dutch at
the mouth OF the Hudson, Swedes on the Della
ware English In Virginia and Spanish in Flor
Ida was not conducive to peace. For even
when the European countries at peace. the
colonies were still encouraged to make the
most of their situation. Even provincials ac-
knOwedging the same allegiance were anything
but friendly at times in the New WOrd-as. for
example when the Bscayans made things
warm for the NOrmans in the st. Lawrence.
In addition to the conflicts that grew out Of
national animosites, there arose in the islands
OF the tropics the irregular state OF the buc-
cancers which was encouraged as long as 1t
preyed exclusively Spanish and Portuguese
trade, but hated and dreaded when it turned its
hand against all nations. II in such a
school that Americans learned to build ships. to
man them, and above all. to them in
In the with the French about the middle Of
the last century, the English colonies. says Mr..
Maclay. sent out between three and four hun
dred privateers
If the ancient usages Of the between
nations were barbarous. they not less on
hoard NJ no
medieval galleys. when men taken malefac-
tors or as slaves and captves chained TO
the oars and kept there long they lived,
were rivalled by the pressgang and fogging ap-
paratus Against these horrors Americans were
determined from the first. Consciously or
consciously they laying the foundations OF
human freedom. and customs to which the Old
World yielded as part Of the order Of things they
resented with consuming wrath. Impressment
and floggng were indeed not unknown on Ameri-
can vessels. but the tendency to reform them
out of existence began early 1t the Amcri-
can example. according to Mr.. Maclay which
leved the British navy from the disgrace of i'm
pressment. He adds that the brutality of the
British service in the early American period. al
though not equalling that of some Continental
navies. to the American mind almost be-
yond belief. On the other hand. while American
seamen and the public interested in them were
successful in opposition to wanton cruelty, they
never construed liberty into license. Mr.. Macay
points out that the French navy in the time Of
the First Republic permeated by a spirit Of
disorder and mutny. The attempt to realize in
a minute way the theory Of human equality pro-
duced a murderous anarchy land and de-
stroyed all discipline at sea But on American
ships officers and men have agreed on the neces-
sity Of the fullest control on the one side and
the most unhesitating obedience on the other.
This was consistent with admirable freedom Of
speech on occasion. One of the famous early
examples OF this discipline was that Of the Con-
stitution, where the men calmly awaited the
word Of their commander standing intent but
idle at their guns while the British Guerriere