The record-union., 1895-12-02
Secretary Herbert Makes Public His
Annual Report to Congress.
THE CONSTRUCTION
OF MORE WARSHIPS.
a Magnificent Squadron of Armed
Vessels, But Not Men Enough to
Put Upon Them-At Least q Thou
sand More Recruits Needed-Plenty
of Material of War, But No Person.
mel to Utilize 1t.

WASHINGTON, Dec 1.-Advocates
Of continuation in the new navy will
find satisfaction in the annual report of
Secretary Herbert to the President,
from which the injunction of secreSy is
to-day removed. The Secretary rec
onlmends the construction of two bat
tle-ships and at least twelve torpedo
boats, and he prefaces his recommended
items with the statement that IAN in
spection of the tables herein given,
showing the relative strength of ma
Vies, Will furnish, it is believed, all the
argument now needed for the continual
ton of the building programme hereto
fore indicated by the action of Con-
greSS. We are not in want Of ordinary
almored cruisers or gunboats, but we
are lamentably deficient in torpedo
boats, and we certainly need more bat
tleships. An inspection of the building
programme of other nations will dem
onstrate that the lessons taught at
1alu and Wei-Hai-Wei have tended to
ccnfirm the belief of naval experts
throughout the world in the efficiency
Of these two classes of vessels"
That gunbOatS and torpedo boats may
be built cheaply the Secretary points
out briefly. The gratifying progress
made by our manufacturers of steel and
our ship builders and the competition
among them has enabled the depart
ment during the past two years to con-
tract guns and torpedo boats at q very
large reduction from former prices. The
price per ton for the gunbOatS MachiaS
and CaStine, contracted for in April,
1890, was S302 S6. The average price of
the three boats contracted for in Janu-
ary, 1894, and of the six others just let
out to contract, is $222 81 per ton,
saving of $50 - per ton, or 26 per cent
of the ships. The price of the Ericsson,
contracted for in August, 1891 was
S945 50 per ton. The average price of
the six torpedo boats contracted for in
1895 is $166 5S per ton, reduction Of
$1I9 % per ton, or about 20 per cent. in
the price of the boats. These prices COM
pare very favorably with the prices of
similar work done abroad.
Toward this proposed increase of the
navy, Mr. Herbert estimates that So
G:3S, 3S3 is necessary, and inclusive of
that amount, his estimates for the COM
plete expenses of the naval establish
ment for the fiscal year ending June
30, 1897, aggregate S29,311 1866. Out of
the appropriation for the current fiscal
year amounting to 14,212S01, there re-
mains S942 $50.
With the exception of the appeal for
more ships, the most important topic
treated by Secretary Herbert is that of
a reserve system. He prefaces his sug-
gestiOn that such system be estab-
liShed, with some comment on the ne
ceSsity for having more enlisted men,
and recomends that the enlistment of
/ 900 more men be authorized. Giving
figures to show how small our enlisted
force is, and how large those of Euro
pean countries are, he makes a compar-
ison of our IL, ,4G0 blue jackets and ma
rines with Germany's 21,4S1. Ger
many's available men, While not all at
one time in actual service on board
ships would. in case of war, furnish no
lack of trained and drilled material
for the imperial navy, and, says the
Secretary. lin case of q naval war, read
mess, other conditions being equal,
means victory In the emergency of
war coming quickly what should we
do for men? All allowed by law are
enlisted, and all enlisted are already on
ships"
I'VE have" he says, "a magnificent
squadron of armed and manned ships,
but we have not man to put upon one
of them, and no authority of law to ac-
cept the services Of q single one OF the
thousands who, in case of war, would
volunteer to serve.
NJ =.
it should be 1t is the hight of unreason
to pay heavy subventiOns to swift ships
and call them our auxiliary navy unless
we have the means of arming them.
1t is folly to maintain these ships and
procure arms for them if we are never
TO man them, and certainly 1t IS unWlse
and Shortsighted TO defer making any
provision by law for procuring the men
who are to utilize these vessels until
oo e
sible war shall have arisen
sThere is no other nation that has so
much of the material of war that is so
little prepared to utilize it; that has so
much of the personnel available, and
that is so utterly without authority of
law TO employ it. The department
needs present authority to enlist the
thousand men asked for, and this num-
her will be sufficient, if the policy herein
outlined be approved by Congress- to
answer all the necessities of the Gov
eminent. while we are so fortunate as
to be on a peace footing. 1t viii GER
tainly suffice for years to come
But Congress should not stop here,
saws Mr.. Herbert, and he therefore sug-
rests that in order to be able to man
oi,r reserve fleet and such naval vessels
as may not have full crews, the PreSi-
dent be authorized to enlist in the naval
service. upon eXigencies to be judged OF
by him. such of the naval, militia and
other men, not to exceed altogether the
number necessary to man all the ships
oe the navy, and such ships as under
the laws now existing or hereafter to be
enacted. the Government may have the
right TO call into its service for a period
OF saw two years. the Government re-
serving the privilege of discharging
when the exigency may have passed.
The Secretary follows these argu-
HI, To
sity of keeping always a portion of our
feet in reserve. He shows by tables
that of the total number of vessels be-
longing TO Great Britain, France, Ger
many and Italy, so per cent are in re-
serve and 49, in commission and says
that as a rule our battle-ships, coast de-
fense vessels and torpedo boats, after
they have been broken in should be
kept largely in reserve. Policing the
seas could be done better and more
economically by cruisers of lighter draft,
carrying smaller crews. and by gun
beats.
The idea which Secretary Herbert
thus suggests is summed up in this
manner: The department proposes,
unless otherwise directed by you or by
Congress, to keep. as soon as circum-
stances may permit, a number of ships
chiefly monitors and coast defense bat
tle-ships as ships of the first reserve
After a vessel in this category has been
thoroughly overhauled and put in first
class condition in all respects. she will
be taken TO the station where she is to
lie, and her officers and crew reduced to
a skeleton organization composed of
skilled artificerS and other leading men
70 care for her battery. hull and motive
power Such of her stores as may not
be necessary for her maintenance in