The San Francisco call., 1896-10-20

New York City. In 1870, at the recon-
mendation of his friend James G. Blaine
that he should go into journalism, he went
to Bangor, Me-, and assumed the editor
ship of the Bangor Daily and Weekly
Courier, which was at that time leading
Republican paper.
In 1874, on the death of the proprietor,
he purchased the paper with Mr.. Brewer,
and has conducted the paper ever since.
When he was elected to Congress in 1882
he naturally became a member of the
Naval Committee, and during his mem
bership on that committee the entire
work of building up the new navy of the
United. States was accomplished. This
feat has been regarded as the most mar.
yelous Illustration of the bouneless re-
sources and capacities of this country.
When he first entered Congress there had
been one appropriation maize for the first
new steel ships. known as the Roach
ships-the Chicago, Boston, Atlantic and
Dolphin-and the contracts had Just been
awarded. That was in the Forty-seventh
Congress. In the Forty-ninth Congress
he was one of the Naval Com mittee, when
the building of the second batch of vessels
was authorized, which included the
CnarleSton ana the Baltlm ore.
At that time this country was depend
ent for all the heavy steel forgings for the
guns and the armor for the uncompleted
monitors, for the hollow steel shafting and
for the engines, upon foreign forges, as
also for considerable portion of the steel
plating. There were no great steel forges
In this country.
In 1886. after Mr.. Cleveland had become
President, Mr.. Whitney, his Secretary of
the Navy, had undertaken to go forward
with the building of new war vessels, and
the first bill framed in the winter of 1855
provided for the construction of some
plans that had been purchased in England
by MIR. Whitney. Those for the Charles
ton were the plans of the Japanese cruiser
Naniwa Kan, and the plans for the ship
that became the Baltimore and her sister
ship the Philadelphia were from designs
made by the former constructor for the
British navy.
On this subject Congressman Boutelle
said: 1.-THE bills contained provision for
the purchase of engines to be manufac-
tured in England, on the ground that
none of these high-power marine engines
had ever been built in this country, and
eaSs ~ "OA4N 10 P4aOiASdAiy lulpOSSlDle ID
produce them here in time. very stren-
uously opposed that provision, and was
assisted in my opposition by other loyal
members of the committee, and finally
Secretary Whitney recommended that
that provision be dropped out, he stating
that while the machinists of this country
had had no practice in that line for many
years, he was inclined to trust 10 their
skill to produce whatever we needed.
The outcome was that the engines built
by the contractors here at home produced
better results than had been called for by
the English specifications.
while that legislation was in progress
moved to amend the provision which re-
quired the Secretary of the Navy to con-
struct these vessels of materials of domes-
tic manufacture, including the armor and
other steel forgings, if they could be OBJ
tanned in the . nited States within rea-
sonabIe time and al reasonable price. /
moved to strike out the conditions and
make it obligatory upon the Secretary of
the Navy to procure all these materials of
domestic manufacture, basing my de-
mand upon the ground that it was abso-
lutely essential that we should be able to
produce in this country all the important
material entering into the construction of
our ships of war.
ut was urged that we had not the plants