The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-11-02

case of the Victoria. The first heavy OBJ
stacle she came in contact with, down she
went. Then, again, in the case of my own
ship. know what was the effect upon her
from small shells. If we had been struck
by heavy shells we would have been torn
to pieces
And this brings me 10 another tenden-
cy-the foolish ana mistaken notion OF
doing away with heavy guns and putting
in 6-inch guns and rapid-hring guns.
Right after the battle of Santiago was
fought the German Emperor ordered all
his Pinch guns to be replaced by 6-inch
ones. Why, 6-inch guns would have no
effect upon heavy plates, and rapid-hre
guns would be of no use at all.
This was again demonstrated in the
Santiago fight, Our vessels were battle
ships, the Spaniards had all cruisers. II
was night between heavy battleships and
cruisers, and should not be taken as a
criterion. True. they were all sunk.
Our 6-inch shells set fire, with their ex-
plosive shells. to the Spanish ships and
then their powder magazines exploded
and sank them. If we had had heavy
plated bautleships pitted against us the
result might not have been the same.
Now one of the results of that battle
is that an increase of speed is demanded.
Every new battleship must show a speed
of nineteen knots. This is surely a mis-
take. For every gain of speed there must
be some loss of strength. You cannot
give a ship weight and strength and enor-
nous speed as well.
We must have heavily armored battle
ships for lighting purposes, and big guns,
too, as well as lighter one and quick
tirers The cruiser is an absolute neces-
sity, for there must be scouts and out
posts. These two arms of The navy should
be well and equally balanced. They are
a < necessary a N nd no
to the army. Then the torpedoboat de-
stroyer-I tell you, Great Britain never
showed wisdom more conspcuously then
in building large numbers of these little
vessels.
In the event of a war between Great
Britain and France, which seems to me
unavoidable, the first thing France would
do would be TO pour in her topedo boats
and destroy the coast defenses and the
big British ships. The presence Of the tor
pedo boat destroyers will neutralize such
an attack and prevent the destruction, the
humiliation of some of Great Britain s
finest ships. AS for monitors, I think
them foolery. They are of no possible use.
| 1t is said we must have them for coast
| defense. The best way to defend our
| coasts is TO attack the enemy's coasts. Get
| the enemy's ships in their own harbors
and keep them there or sink them. That
may be an old idea, but it is the best,
and there can never be a better.
why do 1 think war between Great
Britain and France inevitable? 1 will tell
| you Great Britain never viii and never
can give up Fashoda to the French, and
never will and never can grant the free
| dom of the Nile to the French, or TO any
| other nation. Now, the French people are
| just worked up to fever heat 1t may be
owing to the Dreyfus business that the
present cabinet has resigned, but tell
you that the people of Paris were never
nearer to a revolution than they are at
the present moment, and the Fashoda
question is one of the most important
matters that has stirred them up. The
new cabinet viii have to face that ques-
ton, even though the last has avoided
it, Sagasta was a better diplomat than
Brisson and a drawer. He saw that there
was an insurmountable difficulty to face,
or he must resign, and he knew that II
he resigned the next cabinet would have
to face it. So he prolonged the war and
| kept his cabinet. But the French are ex-
| cited, and the slightest spark will raise
| flame.
1.-The result of a war between Great
| Britain and France? Oh, that is fore
gone conclusion. The same as that be-
| tween the United States and Spain, only
| Great Britain will have a harder job
| for. of course, France is much better
| prepared. But the end will be the same
| No navy can hope to stand up against
that of Great Britain at present. Why,
she would simply pour in her ships on
the French coast and blow everything up.
No. although there could be no possible
ending to such war but the one, and,
although the French must know this, yet,
in nv opinion, the war will come, Tor
the people are in such d state of excite
ment lust now that they are ready 20
force any government into 1t or there will
be a revolution"