The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-09-05
Why We Need More Ships.

Ex-Secretary HERBERT does not 20 to
extremes in estimating at nine battleships
and seventy five torpedo boats the additions
that should be made to our fleet. We al.
ready have, either built or building, nine
tirst-class and two second.class battleships
and twenty-five torpedo boats, so thai Mr..
HERBERT would give US a score in all Of
the former and abou a hundred of the
latter. This is an enlargement of the esti-
mate he made when Chairman of the
House Naval Committee, q dozen battle
ships and forty boats being then. if memory
serves us, his computation of our needs.
Yet his later estimate is the sounder, as his
article in the Forum shows.
The rank Of fifth among the naval powers
which Mr.. HERRERT assigns to us Is un.
~doubtcdly deserved, Great Britain, France,
Russia, and Italy surprising us in total
displacement, which Is his rough measure
of value, and Germany, Japan, and Spain
following. But ever these three countries
beat us in torpedo boats, with l24, As, and
81 respectively, while the other four powers
have 23s, 22s. 2O4, and 16s. Practically,
we think, our navy could tackle Italy's with.
out much fear. She has a total displacement
of 27l ,039, exclusive of torpedo boats.
against our 216,765, and her ba%ttleships
average faster than ours but ours are bet
ter armored and have guns more powerful
In ratio to displacement. Then our armored
cruisers are very much faster than Italy's
and their battery power Is also much
greater. Our unarmored cruisers and gun.
boats outclass Italy's, also, in average speed
and In armament. We may hope soon,
therefore, to take fourth place on the list.
The reasons which Mr.. HERBERT gives for
Increasing our feet are wholly convincing.
Excluding Alaska, we have over 5000
miles Of seacoast and more population
ana more wealth in cities by the sea than
perhaps all the other nations of the world
together" Again. we nave an enormous
merchant marine to protect. 1t is true that
our ocean'borne shipping is pitifully small,
but our coastwise vessels are so numerous
as to bring the total, even excluding the
vessels on the great lakes n the
Western rivers. up to 3,1O4.4OO tons,
or moro than the merchant ton.
mage of Russia, Germany. and Italy
combined. All those vessels, says Mr..
HERBERT, are subject to attack by foreign
ships of war; and adding the Great Lakes,
while still excluding Western river com.
merce, we have 4,42s, 900 tons, or more than
the combined mercantile marines of Rus.
sia, Germany, Italy. Japan. and Spain,
which make five out of the first eight naval
powers of the world. AS we took ground
at the Paris Conference against abolishing
privateering, this commerce Is exposed to
the attacks Of private vessels provided with
letters OF marque as well as to naval ships.
The only ground for refusing to increase
The navy Is the assumption that we shall
never be forced to &c to war, which Is q
most perilous assumption. Our relations
with England and with Spain during tho
last few years show the danger of presum.
ing anything Of the sort. 1t may DO said,
also, that a larger navy will be a
greater inducement to war. Not so; 1t
VIII be a warning to other coun.
tries not to give us just cause of
offence, and not to attack us. Mr.. HER
BERT does not consider a war with Spain
impossible, and he holds that. in case of
trouble with Japan, 80 much of our naval
force Is In the Atlantic that she could con-
centrate at Honolulu before wo could, so
that we should have to decline battle and
give up tho islands until our reinforce
ments should arrive, or else tho con-
nict for the possession of Honolulu would
DC over before our Atlantic feet could get
there" Without discussing this particular
point We may say that the possession of
Hawaii will call for moro naval strength,
useful, however, everywhere in the Pacific,
ana That our building OF the Nicaragua
canal as an American enterprise will also
demand a greater naval force.
win six battleships added to our Allan
tic neet and three to our Pacific, and with
NIFTY more torpedo boats, we should still be
lar behind Great Britain. France. and Rus