The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-10-25
A DiScredited Adviser.

a witness. Is his reputation for
sagacity good? Has he been wise or
foolish in past counsel? These tests
have been applied by a correspondent
of the New York Sun to Carl Schurz,
the man who advises his countrymen
to abandon the Philippines, and the
result is astonishing.
AS showing the "value of Mr..
Schurz's judgment the accuracy of his
foresight and the remarkable quality
of common sense with which he ap-
proaches the consideration of public
questions" this correspondent makes
the following quotation from speech
delivered by Mr.. Schurz in Washing
ton in April, 1896, in which he thus
referred to the subject of increasing
our navy:
The great navies of today are a mere
experiment, Of very uncertain issue.
There is not u warship atloat the be-
haviOr of which in actual conflict any ad-
miral in the world can safely foretell.
modern warship is so complicated a piece
of machinery that the bursting of a pipe
inside of it will disable it for action. The
practical experience with our great bat
of these ships belonging to the same
government touch, one or the other goes
down. The great naval powers of the
world are now engaged in one of the most
gigantic experiments of all the ages.
That is to say, by the expenditure of un-
told millions of money, and by the CXer-
tion of immeasurable working power, they
are building up machinery concerning
which nobody knows what it will do until
1t has been tested in actual use.
Therefore, if we desire to build ourselves
up as a great naval power, will it not be
wiser to wait until we see what the ex-
pertinent of others comes to? VIII it not
be wise to withhold our millions upon
millions until we know that the ships
built will be good for something? Our
experience so far goes to show that when
battleship has lived five years it is
discredited as an obsolete hulk.
Suppose" says the SUMS corre-
spondent, "our government had availed
itself of the wise counsels of Mr..
Schurz, in what condition would the
Spanish war have found our navy?
At the time he spoke the Massachu-
setts, the Oregon, the Brooklyn and
the Iowa were in course of construc-
ton or armament. We should have
stopped the work on them and with
held our Millions and when Cervera's
fleet arrived at Santiago, those vessels,
instead of being available for Samp-
| sons fleet, would nave been lying help
| less and harmless at our dockyards."
So much for Mr.. Schurz as a naval
expert. What is his record as a mill
| tary adviser? In the same speech he
| thus proposed to congress a scheme of
| coast defense:
| We hear much of the necessity of an
! elaborate system of coast fortitiCations to
protect our SeapOrts from assault. How
| far such a system may be desirable I will
| not here discuss. But l am confident our
| strongest, most efiicacious, most trustwor-
| thy and infinitely the cheapest coast de-
| fenses will consist in Fort Justice, Fort
Good Sense Fort Self-Respect Fort Good
| WILL and if international differences real
| ly do arise Fort Arbitration. Let no one
| accuse me of resorting to the clap-trap
of the stump speech in discussing this
grave subject. l mean exactly what I
say, and am solemnly in earnest.
1--WE all recollect," adds Mr.. Schurz's
critic "how much anxiety was felt at
the opening of the late war in refer
ence to the safety of our seaboar1
cities, even after we had expended
| millions of dollars in fortifying our
harbors. But suppose we had saved
our money and relied upon the Schurz
| system of fOrtifications. With what
complacency would the people Of New
York have pu, their trust in the pro-
lection of Fort Justice How safe
the people of Boston would have felt
under the aegis of Fort Good Sense,
and with what a sense of security
those of Baltimore and Washington
would have retired to rest under the
battlements of Forts Self-Respect'
and Good WIFI Fortunately, we did
not take Mr.. Schurz's advice in 1896
but went on building ships and erect
ing coast defenses, and when the war
came we whipped Spain, freed Cuba,
took Porto Rico and the Philippines
and wrote the pages of Manila and
Santiago in the worlds history. One
of our obsolete hulks,' the Olympia
was Dewey's flagship at Manila, and
another, the New York, Sampson s
flagship at Santiago, and we are sat
isfied now that, after all, the new ships
we built, in spite of Mr.. Schurz's ad-
vice, are good for something"
1t should be clear from these cita-
tions that Carl Schurz is not a trust
worthy guide.
General Funston has refused to ac-
cept a sword that contained on its
blade an erroneous inscription regard
ing his remarks at Manila. By refus.
ing to remain in the false light ir
which he had been placed by fairy
tale newspaper correspondents, Gen,
eral Funston has again displayed tht
| trne nnAlltias of q hnrn Thn nntnnl