The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-03-10

The opinion is quite frequently ex-
pressed, and, no doubt honestly, that in
a war with SPAIN the Spaniards would
have one great advantage over us, namely,
their warshlps are manned by spaniards,
who would. from patriotism. fight des-
perately for victory, while the crews of
our warships are composed largely of
foreigners. willing to fight for any coun-
try that pays them. AS a matter of fact,
however, the proportion of native Ameri-
cans in our navy is much larger than it
is generally supposed to be, and it is be-
coming larger all the time. Under the
policy of Secretary Long, of Americana
ing the navy only American citizens are
now accepted as recruits.
Much more than half of the men on
the first cruisers we put in commission
were foreigners. Within the last few
years, however the proportion of for
eigners on our warshps has steadily de-
creased. and if we should have a war the
enlistment of native Americans in the
navy would be so great that the foreign
element would hardly be noticeable.
Our naval officers say that they have
no doubt that the foreigners in the navy
would acquit themselves with credit If
placed in positions where GOODNESS and
courage are required. They make good
sailors, and obey orders without raising
the question as to whether the orders en-
croach upon their rights. The native
American not only knows his rights, but
&c IN
doubt. of course, that all of the principal
officers of our ships should be native
Americans, because it could hardly be
otherwise than that they would be loyal
to the government
In 1885 the roster of the old Brooklyn
showed that of the 2S6 blue jackets only
JOG weres Americans, and that there were
only 10 Americans among the 40 marines
Since that time, however, the proportion
of Americans has greatly increased. The
New York Evening Post has taken the
trouble to find OUT from the navy depart
ment what proportion of the men in the
navy at the present time are native
Americans. 1t finds that the records
show that at the close of the fiscal year
1897, when the last statistics were sum
married, the number of men in the general
service was s,6s5, and in special service
including fish commission and coast sur
vey, LOIS OF the men in the general
service, 2Sl5 were petty officers, SO per
cent. of whom were citizens of the United
States, and more than As per cent. ma
tives. OF the remaining $50, about 20 per
cent were citizens, and S. per cent. ma
tives. In special service there were S5l
petty officers, of whom more than 81 per
cent. were citizens, and more than Sc per
cent. natives; of the remaining 667 men in
special service, more than 6S per cent were
citizens and more than As per cent. ma
tives. Or, taking the service entire we
find "a per cent. citizens, and more than
81 per cent. natives, as against about Y
per cent and 50 per cent. respectively ono
year before; and more than u per cent OF
the remainder had declared their inten-
ton. OF the 1,643 apprentices, more than
Sc per cent. were natives"
The foregoing figures indicate that those
who are apprehensive that the navy would
not give a good account of itself in the
event of trouble with Spain because of the
number of foreigners in it have no reason
for uneasiness.