The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1898-05-19
MORE WAR VESSELS.
Ex-Secretary Tracy Thinks Six
Cruisers Should Be Constructed.

Cruisers Should Be Constructed.
Washington, May 19.-Ex-Secretary
of the Navy Tracy of New York, under
whose administration of the navy de-
partment many of the battleships and
cruisers of our new navy were project
ed and built, was at the navy depart
ment today meeting his old associates
and talking with the officials on the
status of the present war.
Gen. Tracy was asked if our ships,
in their present active service, met the
expectation he had of them when the
new navy was being developed.
ITO judge from Manila. they are
meeting every expectation" said he
land yet believe it to be the plain du-
ty of congress to authorize immediate
~ the construction of six large armored
cruisers of the most modern type, even
larger than the cruisers New York and
Brooklyn. These should be ordered in
addition to the ships authorized by the
regular naval appropriation bill. Now
that we are called upon to carry on Of
fensive warfare, the need of armored
cruisers is imperative and the lack of
them is at present a serious handicap.
Our new navy was developed on the
idea of being a defensive navy, not an
offensive one. 1t was thought that if
we ever had war, it would be with
one of the great naval powers, capable
of throwing their vast naval arna-
mentS against our shores. To meet this
onslaught, we proceeded on the theory
of having a navy to protect our long
stretch of coast and scout the ocean and
cause all the damage possible on the
commerce which most of the naval
powers possess. For that reason we
built our battleships and our unarmor-
ed cruisers. The battleship is essen
TALLY for defensive purposes, as it lacks
the speed essential to carry on effective
offensive warfare, although, of course,
it is a valuable adjunct line of
warfare.
1.-The unarmored cruisers, such as the
Minneapolis and Columbia, were de-
signed mainly as swift scouts, and also
as commerce destrOyers. Now, howev-
er, we find ourselves at war with a, ma
ton which has little commerce to be
destroyed, so that the unarmored cruis-
er has little work to accomplish in the
line of it's original purpose as a COM
merce destroyer, although valuable as
adjunct in any line. In short, we
are carrying on what was not expected,
an offensive instead of a defensive
war, and as a result we ought to have
the ships capable of executing offensive
warfare. The armored cruisers New
York and Brooklyn are fine ships of
their class and are exactly fitted for
this line of offensive work. They COM
bine both the features Of heavy armOr
and protected decks of an ironclad, to-
gether with the speed of a cruiser. But
what we need, is more of them. The
strength of the Spanish squadron, now
in southern waters, lies in the fact that
it has this type of armored cruisers,
with speed and protected armors, suita-
BILE for offensive work. Under the new
conditions which have arisen, it seems
plain that congress should provide at
least six of these armOred cruisers. We
are now carrying on an offensive war
fare, but we are reaching out to the
Philippines. The entire theory of a de-
fensive navy, on which our present ma
Wy was formed has been changed and
the new conditions should be promptly
met by congress-
When Gen. Tracy's attention was
called to the report that he might go to
the Philippines as civil governor gen.
era1, he laughingly dismissed the sug-
gestions, and said there never had been
thought of this move except in the
vivid imagination of some newspaper
writer. The ex-secretary strongly ap-
proves the energy of all departments of
the government in coping with the pres
ent war emergency and deprecates the
loose gossip and criticism which seeks
to force aggressive movement without
regard to that mature consideration
which the momentous character Of the
movements require.