The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1898-07-08
NEED OF THE NAVY.
More Fast Armored Cruisers for Of
fensive Warfare.
Ex-secretary of the Navy Tracy Says
the Present Navy Was Built
for strictly Defensive
Purposes.

L S.eecretaly of the Navy TTacy, of
New York, under whose administration
of the navy department many of the
battleships and cruisers of our new
navy were projected and built, was at
the navy department the other day,
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 ex-
pectations he had of them when the
navy was being developed.
ITO Judge from Manila, they are
meeting every expectation" said Gen.
Tracy. "And yet believe il to be the
plain duty of congress to authorize i'm
mediately the construction of six more
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 author
lied by the regular naval appropriation
bill. Now that we are called upon TO
carry on offensive warfare, the need of
armored cruisers is imperative and the
lack of them is at present serious
handicap. Our new navy was developed
on the idea of being a defensive navy,
not an offensive one. 1t was thought
that II we ever had a war IL would be
with one of the great naval powers,
capable OF throwing their vast naval
armaments against our shores. To meet
this onslaught we proceeded on the
theory of having navy TO protect our
/ L. II. . H..
70 scout the ocean and cause all the
damage possible on the commerce
which most of the naval powers pos
sess. For that reason we built our
battleships and our unarmored cruis-
ers. The battleship is essentially for
defensive purposes, as it lacks the speed
essential TO carry on effective offensive
warfare, although, of course, it is val
liable adjunct in any line of warfare.
THE unarmored cruisers, such as the
Minneapolis and Columbia, were de-
signed mainly as swift scouts and also
as commerce destroyers. Now, how
/ ever, we find ourselves at war with a
nation which has little commerce to be
| destroyed, so that the unarmored cruis-
er has little work to accomplish in the
line of its original purpose as a
commerce destroyer, although val
liable as an adjunct in any line. In
short, we are carrying on what was not
expected, an offensive instead OF a de-
fensive war, and as a result we ought to
have the ships capable of executing Of
fensive warfare. The armored cruisers
New York and Brooklyn are fine ships
OF their class and are exactly fitted for
this line OF effective work. They com.
bine the features of heavy armor and
protected decks of an ironclad, together
with the speed Of cruiser. But what
is wanted 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 protective armors, suit
able for offensive work. Under the uew
conditions which have arisen IL seems
plain that congress should provide al
least six of these armored cruisers. We
are not only carrying on an offensive
warfare, but we are reaching out TO the
PHILIPPINES. The entire theory of de
fensive navy, on which our present navy
was formed, has been changed by this
conflict with Spain, and, being changed
the new conditions should be promptly
met by congress.