The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1898-07-12
THE FRENCH NAVY. +.

r-+.H
I Aamifal Daront shows ~ wsalnss,
Compared with Engiand's Crest y1set.
Rear Admiral Dupont, writing In thu
Gaulois on French and English nsvies,
Gays:
1.-THE speech Of Mr.. Chamberlain, the
campaign waged against US In the Eng
lish press, the attacks Of the British min
lister on Russia, the general Ill humor Of
tho English merchants, menaced every
where In their interests constitute dis
quieting symptoms which II would be
puerile to ignore. The question naturally
arises, therefore, IN everybody's mind, IL
the French navy ready for an eventual
struggle with the English navyf As re.
! CARDS the number of ships now available,
as regards facility Of concentration Of
forces, the judicious choice and the pre-
paredness Of naval bases, our inferiority is
notorious. Since the application Of the
naval defense act our neighbors have dou-
bled their resources by constructing with
feverish haste. They have been able to
launch within single year as many as
five battleships Of from 1000 to IL, 900
tons, eight large cruisers and % smaller
vessels, 90 that the disproportion, already
great, which existed between the two
navies has been enormously Increased.
England can now put into line "a battle
ships Of from 5000 to $1,000 tons, SO
largo cruisers and very large number of
smaller vessels, among which should be
noted a numerous fotilla Of very rapid
torpedo boat destroyers. Besides these YES
sells, 20 older battleships, for the most part
remodeled, may be reckoned as solid To-
serve to this already formidable force.
What have we to set against this array
Sixteen now battleships, good coast de-
fense vessels, about ~ old battleships Of
mediocre value and 2S modern cruisers.
are Of no use for service and taking into '
account breakdowns and accidents, we
may say on the whole that the strength Of
our navy ID between third and half Of I
that Of the English navy. Tho quality of
the smaller vessels in both navies is about
the same. The English vessels have in
general look of greater strength, they
can 60 creator distances, and their ton
mage Is greater, which enables them to be
better armed and equipped. Their guns
are we'll placed, but less powerful at an
equal caliber. The speed is usually infe-
rior to ours and can be less easily kept I'D,
In spite of the nominal figures to be found
In tho numerous lists published in both
I'm word, tho value Of similar types is I
approximately the same, but we remain
In presence Of a crushing numerical supe-
riority, and our inferiority is increased by ,
the inadequate preparation of stations out
side Europe. While England is strongly
posted at the outlets Of all the great mari
lime lines Of the globe, we are reduced to |
q few indifferently placed posi- 4
lions. =.
I'VE shall patiently bide our time, and
t will certainly come. Meanwhile We
hall organize an implacable system of pri. t
'ateering against the trade Of our eventual Il
'nemy. know not what diplomatists
hink Of the convention of 1855, but as for :,
Is sailors, let tho English be assured be- =,
orchard that we shall carry on privateer- =
ny against them, and let them take the
uin of the maritime trade into their fore b
asts. London Times. v