The Washington weekly post. (Washington, D.C.) 1878-1916, 1899-03-07
TALKS fifth
=HOTEL GUESTS.


resume the practice OF law. in which he
had gained the highest prestige before
entering political life. He had twice been
elected Attorney General OF his State.
and his administration q that Office won
the unqualified appreciation OF the peo-
PIE Mr.. Jones Is a capable man in many
directions, but IN Congress he gave spe-
eial attention to Improvements in naval
warfare, ard his speeches On that Iine
are not only interesting and convincing.
but are mines of Information for al
students OF that subject.
4 am convinced" said Mr.. Jones al the
wellington yesterday, that our govern
ment is making a mistake in spending
such large proportion Of our naval ap-
preparations on ironclads and so small a
proportion on submarine torpedo-boats.
The defensive power OF the irOnclad is
limited TO a weight OF metal that can be
kept afioat, while the destructive power
OF the torpedO-bOat is unlimited. 10 is
the old story of the attempt 10 make ar
NOR that would protect 4 man against
missile weapons after the invention Of
gunpowder. The limit was soon reached
IN the resisting power Of armor. while
the force of projectiles kept increasing.
As armor~was discarded finally I'm armies
so it Will disappear from ships. TWO feet
Of steel cannot protect a ship against q
torpedo, while the weight OF the metal
lessons the efficiency Of the vessel and in
creases its cost. As the t9rpedo-boat
promises 20 be the warship of the future,
that warship reaches perfection in The
submarine vessel.
The boat that sails beneath the sur
face out of sight of the enemy and DIS
charges its missiles without danger 70
itself. besides being more effective for
ordinary naval warfare. costs so little
IN comparison with the great iron-c!ad
that it recommends itself strongly 10 the
consideration of an intelligent and pro-
gressive people. Naval officers as a rnIe
are opposed to the use of submarine
boats. Their use would end the occupa-
ton Of those trained to fight with the
great battle-ehip. So they opposed the
use OF monitors, and so they have op-
posed every improvement in ships AMI
guns which they thought would inter-
fers with the methods Of fighting to which
they had been accustomed.
IN spite Of the ridicule of and obiec-
tons against the submarine boat / be-
Heve it to be a great success. It has
proved its ability to sail beneath the
water, to rise to the surface at will, and
TO discharge its missiles with accuracy.
Ii is practically invulnerable. even when
sailing on the surface, for II presents
such small mark to the gunner that il
Is Weil-nigh impossible to hit H. In
spite of its approval by young naval ex-
perts the influence of preiudiced officers
like Admiral Sampson has prevented its
general adoption by our government. In
the meantime other nations are adopting
it, and should we become invol, cd in an
other war we may find our battIe-ships
as obsolete as our wooden ships were
when the Merrimac sailed into Hampton
Roads"
I suppose that the forthcoming peace
conference. which is to meet at the in
stance OF the Car Of Russia to try to set
tie on a plan of limitation of military
will be something like what
your American railroad managers style a
gentlemen's agreement" said tIr. Alfred
Rroughton. of London. at the Shoreham.
''The army and navy budget Of some OF
the powers is projected into the first few
years OF the next century, and as | I'M
derstand II. Nicholas hopes to get all
hands TO agree that after the expira ton
OF these terms no further increase, either
or standing armies or Of navies. Will be
undertaken by the parties to the com
pact But as l said, this is surely on the
order Of your 'gentlemen's agreements
which. il l remember Alright, were cor
st2ntly violated, resulting in demoraIiza-
ton of rates and the worst sort of COM
petitive strife among the principals.
80 1t VIII be with agreement between
the European governments. There will be
no way TO enforce the contract. and
pretty soon each of the parties to il viii
be accusing all the rest of bad faith,
when, in fact, none VIII be guiitIess.
Count W0istoi is right in saying that
the scheme is impracticaOle, though 1 be-
lieve he goes further and calls it hypo-
critical. II can't be done BY a concert of
the powers, for no one of them will live
up 10 such Il promise. In the meantime
is going ahead keepl G its navy
as II is now, just about as strong as that
OF any two other nations, and for every
vessel that Russia builds Great Britain
will construct two"
1.-THE increase in the wages Of cotton
mills operatives in several of or Massa-
chusetts towns has been a godsend TO
thousands Of poor people" said Mr. II. A.
Flynn, of Boston. al the Riggs 1.-THE rise
comes at a time when the laboring class
affected by it will feel its benefits exceed
ingly, for they had been having a very
severe time TO make 4 suDDor. during a
prolonged interval of depression.
Il think that this may be taken as an
indication that the reaction has set in and
that henceforth better times In the tex
tile industries OF New England are as
suTed. Nearly all the manufacturers Of
fabrics in our section haze suffered, part
" from Southern competition and partly
from lack Of demand for their goods In
the future / think that the cotton goods
business will be divided pretty equally
between the Northern ana Southern
States, the South producing the bulk Of
the coaTser goods and the North combining
itself 10 the finer grades, though il cannot
always hope to have a monopoly Of
them"
Talking about expositions," said Col.
/. II. Hamburger, of Chicago, az the Nor
mandie, iii looks as though there would
be plethora Of them IN the United
States in the near future" Col Hamburg
CT has had a great deal to do with exposl-
tiOns, and his judgment is that OF an ex-
pert.
There are" he continued, no less than
eight ambitious prospects now in sight. /
which are sure 10 Elateriallze. not 10
speak OF a score Of others that are mere
ly being discussed. For 1899 Omaha and
Philadelphia will both hold shows. OMAHA
styling hers z colonial exposition. while
the Quaker City calls hers Industrial
IN 1871 three big events come or with
the scenes lad IA Detroit, Buffalo. and
San Francisco. Detroit celebrates its sec
oHd centennial Of discovery; Buffalo uses
the catchy title. Pan-American, while the
metropolis has adopted, tire
long name Of Pacific Ocean and Interna-
tional Exposition.
Toledo has high hopes Of ecllpsing ali
rivals b It's exposition OF 1862; ST. Louis
invites the world in 1919. and 50 does Kew
Orleans, both the latter 10 commemorate
the louisiana purchase. while the Ohio
town nominal reason Is the celebration
OF the 10th anniversary OF the admission
OF that State into the Union. Across the /
ocean Paris holds forth IN 1850, and Glss-
Cow in the year following"