Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1895-12-02
FOREIGN NANIES.

Iorty-cNO vessels now under cCOSUuc-
i0n. of which ten are battle ships IL
wiz be- observed chat In accordance with
EuslaDd's policy of placing her first line
az defense at the enemy coast, no coast
defense vessels are building FOR that
country. The displacement OF the first
class battle ships i'm Their present pro
eramme Is lt.300 tons that OF the sec
ond-ciass 1850 tons
France. with 144 effective vessels in
service. exclusive of torpedo boats, has
O. building programme calling for an in
crease of thiru--hree vessels. OF which
five possibly six. are battle ships and
four are arUOred cruisers.
Russia has eighteen ships building.
of which fifteen are armOred; I'm service,
100.
italy has I'm service seyenty-One yes
sells, the number building is. armored
eight six battle shipsl and Unarmored
seven
Germany has seventy-four efficient
ships and is building four armored and
four unarm0red
Spain IS showing increased activity,
and lis building ten add i0n9l vessels
".A .A-'.. .r.N'. 'At IN -AA. III
viii make total effective strength of
hftv-two
"Ile Dutch navy numbers ninety-two
effective vessels the additions are TO
Dee three 2rmoroj and four unarmOred
vessels
ION this continent, Argentina Brazil
and Chile have. all told. ordered about
six armCreC and nine ucarUored YES
sells
"tOr the ASialic powers there are now
building In England two battle ships
for Japan. and q third VIII probably be
commenced soon. These are of the
English RCv9l Sovereign typ-. of over
$4,000 tons displacement. and it is pro-
posed 10 submit 10 the Diet pros
gramme looking toward further in
crease which. with the addition Of the
vessels captured from China In the late
war. viii place Japan among the i'm
p0rtant naval powers OF the world. It
is also rumorei that China Is looking
toward the rehabilitation and further
. increase of the navy as soon as affairs
. become settled and the money available.
TORPTDO BOATS.
Activity fin building these auxiliary
cOast-defense craft remains about the
same as On my report. France leads in
+ the possession OF torpedo boats with 21S
+ iu service and dfty-f0ur building; Great
Britain has 1S9 in service and sixty-two
under construction. Spain i5 doubling
+ her torpedo boat force. and Japan. TAX
+ ing q lesson from her experience in the
/ late war and having already with those
D. bal a.e ra.raH
/ iu service. is building seventeen more.
These tables VIII show that while
the fifteen other countries mentioned
have altogether I POS torpedo boats i'm
. service argentina with the smallest
number. showing twe1ry-Onel, the
United States has only two. The aver
age number building for these other
countries IS fourteen and O fraction.
We have authorized and building seven.
INCREASE OF THE NAVY.
81 DO not deem It necessary now 90 re-
peat the arguments SO often made by
-l.s Department.. and which apply now
with fun force. in favor Of q still fur
Their Increase OF The navy. A reference
-o pre- ions reports viii show the rea-
sons uuOn which the recommendation
then made were based. and that Con-
ress has not yet authorized all the
ships hen deemed necessary. An in
saec-ion OF the tables herein given,
showing the relative strength OF navies,
viii furnish it ifs believed, all the ar
gtment now needed for the continuation
of The building programme heretofore
indicated by the action Of Congress.
We are not I'm want OF ordinary unarm-
ored cruisers or Of gIubCats. but we are
lomenDhly deficient in torpedo boats,
and we certainly need more battle ships.
An inspection of the building pro-
crammes of other nations VIII demon
srrate that the lessons taught a. Yalu
and Wei Hal Wei have tended 10 con
firm the belief of naval experts through
our tho world in the efficacy of these TWO
classes of vessels. I respectfully rec
oumcnd the construction of Two battle
ships and at least twelve torpedo boats
MORE MEN NEEDED.
Authority to enlist 1000 additional
men is also asked for. The present
strength oi the navy is 13,46O officers
and men, England has $3.50, Franco
t'.3-l. Germany -l4S1 Italy 24,2J5. On
this point the report says:
.Ile Massachusetts,. the Oregon. the
/ Puritan. Oh. lI0uldDCck and the Ter
ror VIII soon De ready for commission
ing To man these ships alone we
should need 1900 men.
Our Naval Militia are promising bod
ies of young and vigorous men. but we
can not rely on lem alone, they lack
Organization and training and are i'm
sufficient In numbers. We have. be-
sides the ships iUs- mentioned a hne
fleet in 0ur reserve navy. From the
American line alone we could draw four
shiDs-the New York. the Paris. the s..
Paul and The S. Louisa magnificent
squadron If armed and manned; but
We HAVE NOT A MAN
20 put upon one Do hem and no author
.ty OF law 90 accept the services OF q
single one OF -le thousands who, ID
case of need would volunteer 10 serve.
All this ought not 10 be. II is the
height of unreason TO pay heavy sub
voUtiOns.t0 swift ships and call them
our auxiliary navy unless we have the
means of arminE them; f. IS folly 10
maintain these ships and procure arms
for them IF we are never 10 man 7hem,
and certainly &c IS uDwise and short
sighted 20 defer making @ provision
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