The sea coast echo. [volume] (Bay Saint Louis, Miss.) 1892-current, 1896-12-05

cognized as the real hay produc-
ing section of the country, and
when that is true she will be mil
lions of dollars better off than
now. Thousands upon thousands
of acres of magnificent hay land
are now grown up in briars and
sedge grass, but they will blossom
as the rose oFe of these good
days .-Gs fJn-Ledger.
THE NEED OF COAST DEFENsEs.
In the annual report of the
board of ordinance, of which
General Miles is chairman, con
gress is again urged to hasten the
completion of our coast defenses
on the ground that if war ever
comes upon us it will come SO
swiftly that we will not be pre-
pared for it, and our seacoast
cities will suffer heavy losses
from the ravages of hostile
fleet. History shows that ma
jority of 10 as.onA wars in the
M s.sulrable for all liatlps:-.----,--..
~ made 10 ho.zz==sa lied with
'ss-J any foSi'" sifs:olaration or
warning, and on this point. the
Baltimore American has this TO.
say:
1t is no exaggeration to say, in
the language of the report of the
board of ordinance, that "a war,
if it come at all, will come with
no warning and no time for pre-
paration." The experience of
France in 1870 and of China quite
recently are cited in support of
this statement. Many other in
stances might be recalled to show
the haste with which hostiIities
between nations are usually be-
gun. There is a popular notion,
for which history affords no bas-
is, that a war between civilized
nations is always preceded by a
considerable period of diplomatic
alterations, eliminating in for
NAL declaration of war. AS mat
ter of fact, of the more than six
ty European wars recorded in the
present century, there was only
one of which any formal notice
prior to the commencement of
hostilities was sent to the govern
ment of the nation attacked.
That one exception occurred in
1870, when the Prussian govern
ment sent a formal declaration of
war to the court Of Napoleon III.
In all of the wars of the world
from 100 to the present time on
ly ten formal declarations of the
intention of the attaching power
have been placed on record. 1t
is barbarous thought, to be sure,
that we may wake up some morn
ing to find one or more Of our
great seaports "held up" by the
guns of "a foreign power which
has served no warning upon us of
its purpose, but the precedents
are in line with that possibility.
When we take into considera-
tion the spirit of jingoism, which
has been so rife in this country foi
the past fifteen years, it is strange
indeed that congress has mani
tested such apathy in the matter
of fortifying the great seaports oi
this country. With the excep
ton of New York and San Fran,
cisco, which have been recently
protected by Notifications
mounting heavy guns, none o1
them are in a condition TO meet
and hold off the attack Of for
eign feet of modern warships.
There is some reason to believe
however, that the necessity fol
coast defenses has at least beer
impressed on our law makers
and that the sincoming congress
will heed the recommendations oi
the officials of the war depart.
ment, and vote appropriation,
for the defense of our seaooas
cities by the construction o.
strong forts aud defending then
with modern rifles of large cali,
bre.-New Orleans States.