The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-04-22
Not a Dangerous Foe

Now that there is every probability
Of speedy war it becomes pertinent 10
consider how much damage Spain can
do To American commerce and Amcri-
can scaLorts. The Philadelphia Bulle-
tin offers the following interesting i,H1
plausible hypothesis upon this subject:
owing To the decline in the ocean
shipping of the l'uited states, only a
comparatively small amount Of the
commerce of this country with other
rations is carried on i'm vessels under
the American nag, During the calen-
dar year 1897 our combined exports ana
imports were valued at Sl,S42, ,&74 9Oi. or
this ST, ,551. .923, AS, or about eighty-four
per cent, was transported i'm foreign
ships. The greater bulk of this came
and went under British colors. More
than one hundred millions Of the re-
mainder was carried by railroad To
Canada ana Mvvic". only about $685.
! cru,U00- some ten per cent. of all this
! trahic--Wa~ transported in American
| bottoms.
! "Whethcr Spain fits out privateers or
! H. beyond her reach. IT is certain that
neither Great Britain nor any other M
! purtant maritime power would permit
| Spanish vessels to overhaul its ner-
| chant SHIPS on the high seas for the
purpose of seizing American goods that
might compose their freight. Such an
! Interference with the profitable ocean
Il.
lean ship owners some 2oO,oO0,OOO year
! " would be instantly and strrnly re-
,ented. The dWindling of our formerly
vast merchant marine To its present in
s,Pntiicant proportions has been d ma
tiunal misfortune. but in this instance
II adds signallv to our myulnerability
AGAINST attack.
There remains our enormously inn
portant coaetwise commerce. The eX-
sent and value OF this are appreciated
| by few persons besides those actually
| ENGAGED in il. Chairman DinGlay, OF
the Ways and Means committee, has
| recently shown that, while the tota
tonnage of American Sea-going NOR
chant ships was only 922 tons, th'
tonnage Of our coastWisc. river and lax,
trade exceeded 1914, ,494 tons. The lax,
and river traffic would be secure in any
event. Vessels plying along cur coast,
would be theoretically exposed to Span.
ish depredations. but t may well ht
doubted whether they wonld actually
be III serious danger except in a few
| Isolated instances,
The prompt seizure of cuba anC
Porto Rico by the United States at TIA,
outbreak OF hOstiities may confidently
, he looked for. This would depriv,
Spain of her only basis OF naval sup
plies on this side of the Atlantic. Ems
lands reported determination to dc
clare coal contraband Of war woulC
prevent Spanish ships from getting in
dispenSahle fuel from any Of The British
coalng stations, While they nigh
? bring limited supply Of coal acros
the sea in Golfers, the Spaniards woul,
be exposed to the constant danger o
: having these coal ships seized by Amer
J lean mon of War--an event which WOllt
t leave their cruisers in American water
: as helpless as 50 many logs of wood.
Excluding torpedo craft and tn
old singlc-turreted monitors, the Unit
ed states viii have about thirty regu
? lar warships available for the defenc
Of the Atlantic coast by May /. Elevel
! of these will hc formidable armurclads
the rest are fast, strong cruisers an,
gurboats. These will be reinforced b,
moi fewer than "A dozen swift well
2 armed merchant steamships of larg
5 tonnage, with the St. Louis and 81
Paul heading the list. For patrol work
scouting and general picket duty nearl
one hundred fast yachts, ocean-goin
tugs, lighthouse craft and revenue cut
ters, equipped with suitable batteries O
{ light, rapid-frlng guns, will be provid
ed.
This total force is more than fy
times as numerous as all the ships tina
Spain could command for offensiv
purposes on our eastern seaboard. Tn
der the direction of skilled and cour
ageous officers 1t should be able to af
!, ford practically complete protection
not only to our coastwise commerc'
Lut to all the smaller ports. AS for til
important harboTs, these are so we'll de
-. Tended by land batteries, torpedoes an
mines that they are safe from any flee
that Spain can muster
/ Thus it will he seer that there is CON
l,arauvely little genuine cause for ur
easiness on this score.