The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1901-12-06

navy Is the gGSL guaranty 6RdlUSI WAL 4
the cheapest and most effective peacel
insurance. The cost OF building and
maintaining such a navy represents
the very lightest premium for insuringl
peace which this nation can possibly,
pay. |
Probably nc other great nation in the
world is so anxious for peace as we are.l
There Is not a single civilized powerl
which has anything whatever to fear
from aggressfveness on our part All
we want is peace: and towards this
end we wish to be able to secur thel
same respects for our rights froml
others which we are eager and anxiousi
to extend to their rights in return, toI
insure fair treatment TO us commer-l
cially, and to guarantee the safety of
the American people. |
Our people intend to abide by theI
Monroe doctrine and to insist upon It'll
as the one sure mea Of securing thei
peace of the western hemisphere. The
navy offers US the only means Of maxi
ing our insistence upon the Monroe doc-l
trine anything but a subject of deris-l
ion to whatever nation chooses to diS-l
regard it. We desire the peace which,
comes as of right to the just mani
armed; not the peace granted on termsI
of ignominy to the craven and theI
weakling.
Our Navy
1t is not possible TO improvise a navy
after war breaks out. The hip must
be built and the men trained long I'M
advance. Some auxiliary vessels cam
be turned into make5hifts which will
do in default of any better for the
minor work. and a proportion of raw
men al be mixed with the highly
trained, their shortcomings being made
good by the skill of their fellows; but
the efficient fighting force of the navy
when pitted against ar equal opponent
will be found almost exclusively in the
warships hat have been regularly built
and in the officers and men who
through years of faithful performance
| of sea duty have been trained to handel
their formidable but complex and deli
cate weapons with the highest effici-
ency. In the late war with Spain the
ships that deal the decisive blows at
Manila and Santiago had been launched
from two to fourteen years, and they
were able to do as they did because the
men in the coming towers, the gun
turrets, and the engine rooms had
through long years of practice at sea
learned how TO do their duty.
III present navy was begun in 1882.
At that period our navy consisted Of a
collection of ANTICIPATED wooden ships,
already Utmost IS out of place against
modern war vessels as the galleyS of
Alcibiades and Misunderstanding as
the ships of Tromp and Blake. Nor at
that time did we have men fit to handle
a modern man-of-war. Under the wise
legislation of the congress and the sue
cessful administration of a succession
Of patriotic secretaries of the navy, be-
longing to both political parties, the
work of upbuilding the navy went on,
and ships equal TO any in the world of
their kind were continually added; and
what was even more important, these
ships were exercised at sea singly and
in ~squadrons until the men aboard
them were able to get the best possible
service out of them. The result was
seen in the short war with Spain,
which was decided with such rapidity
because of the infinitely greater pre-
paredness of Jul nav than Of the
Spanish navy.
While awarding the fullest honor to
the men who actually commanded and
manned the ships which destroyed the
Spanish sea forces in the Philippines
and in Cuba, we must not forget that
an equal need of praise belongs to those
without whom neither blow could have
been struck. The congressman who
voted ear in the money tC
lay down the ships, to build the guns
to buy the armor-plate; the department
officials and the business men anC
~wage-workers who furnished what the
congress a authorized; the secreta-
RES VI tte navy WHO asked LOT anu eN-
! pended the appropriations; and finally
the officers who. in fair weather anG
foul, on actual sea service, trained ant
disciplined the crews of the ships wher
there was no war in sight-all are en-,
!, titled to a full share in the glory o
Manila and Santiago. and the respec
! accorded by every true American t,
. those who wrought UGH signal triumph
. for our country. 1t was ~forethough
, and preparation which secured us tn
overwhelming triumph of 1898. If w,
fail to how forethought and prepare
: ton now, there may come a time whel
disaster will befa1l us instead of tri
umph; and should this time come, TIL
fault viii rest primarily, not upon thos
= whom the accident of events puts il
. supreme command at the m blu
upon those who nave failed to prepar
o, in advance.
Increase OF the Navy
:, There should be no cessation in tn,
work of completing our navy. So fal
ingenuity has been wholly unable to de
, wise q substitute for the great wal
/, craft whose hammering guns beat ou
the mastery Of the high seas. 1t is un.
safe and unwise not to provide this yea
q for several additional battleShipS an(
: heavy armored cruisers. with auxiliar,
. and lighter craft in proportion; for thu
exact lumber and character / refel
you to the report of the secretary of tn,
navy. But there is something we neeC
even more than additional ships, an
this is additional officers and men. tt
: provide battleships and cruisers an
. then lay them up, with the expectation
. of leaving them unnamed until the!
= are needed in actual war, would b.
worse than folly; it would be a Grim,
against the nation.
Il To send any war ship against a com
f petent enemy unless those boa i
nave been trained by years of actua
d sea service, including incessant gunner
practice, would be to invite not merel.
disaster, but the bitterest shame AM
n humiliation. Four thousand additional
s seamen and one thousand marine
e should be provided; and an increas
s in the officers should be provided b.
making a large additional to the claSSe
If at Annapolis. There is one small ma
ter which should be mentioned in con
v nection with Annapolis. The preten
tious n unmeaning title of naval ca
det' should be abolished; the title o
'midshipman," full of historic associa