New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-12-05

such as our az Contemplated south Carolina and
The department has been caused serious concern
by the conflicting advice on me as5 enrt ad
| vtsers The general board recommended some
increased in displacement from 1900 1900 tons
The board on construction dlsseE5s aeoi f,rthnT
recommended the authorization Of three battle e
be of such tonnage win suffice to secure an
armament Of at Least ten Pinch gyms the
| ton likewise. and advises instead three battle battle
an anticipated armament of eight Pinch guns and
fd b the and be McSgan
After very carefully weighing these divergent
that the larger sI and more costly bateships would
the certain addition to the public burdens involved
| in accepting the views of the general board I'm
otherwise, / shall order the construction of the
proved by the board on construction;
It viii be observed however that have assumed
to the number b tie bdBg5 and 6a
structon to make ali reductions which economy
e eT dfa eas fgps new m at
| least two more scouts and at least one vessel OF
mersbes for the sake Of experiment and BY reason
Of their comparatively small cost and the the two
their ascertained utility.
d a s4 the those qaaed
pert opinion | recognize and accept this responsl-
however. of the large reduction made by the de,
pnd the board on of trust that it may
ys and h f hs Of e G eg
| Constitution
OUR PROGRAMME FOR sHIPBUILDING.
There has been of late much discussion in the
press and elsewhere as to the advantages and dis,
and as to the er limits to be set to the
sion of navy. 30 treat these questions fruit
navy the meT1 pear name and small can be only
relative. A navy is an instrument of warfare and
| 1t be reasonably described as large OF SIlldl
only with reference to the strength OF the enemy 1t
In fact, if we compare the ratio Of our naval al
our coast e or 20 per in the case OF any
| ton of Great Britain or France or Germany-we
tionaliy small Doubtless it is very much larger
than it was in the earlier days of our Republic but
this fact has more relevancy than that a man 5
coat you'd be too large for an o infant very costly
navy; but this fact arises from two causes, neither
of which we should be willing to change me rate
! in our country than in most others, and we are
aee 9ho mse 81 pRe Under e
we must expect to pay for our good fortune WITH
problems, therefore, the material question fairly
; Wv M ps asemra7 that IN sny event our navy
| our national duties, a very small one compared
| The second problem be determined only pro-
visionally If circumstances remain as they now
ships in navy need increase; on the contrary It
be reduced and even reduced materially within the
next FIVE years What is more important h9weyer
the size of fighting fleet and here, again, sup
| posing that no developments at present unforeseen
occur the of the problem, it seems proha-
that Ted@ mo av nD e ncpaed Within the
| period above mentioned in the number OF vessels
of our batteships, armored cruisers and coast de-
eoo eu 6H6ng Gc Sufficient Mfud 10
provide for any contingencies within the limits OF
This statement however. must not be misunder-
stood + does not at all mean that we sR6ad s giye
| sity for vessels of improved type to take the
IDENTITY deStined to become such has grown plain
urgent At the time Of the AMERICAN o4o war
second class batleshps armGred cruisers ana
| added four more monitors to the navy as one OF
OF these seventeen vessels the battleships and
cruisers notwthstandng their credtab tab, record IN
dered since are universally recognized as too small
and too slow to form an effective part OF fght7
alterations, which have been effected in some and
Te to our IN puposs M years to
come but by the time any battleshps which e may
shall go into commission it win be necessary, in
all human probability to relegate these veterans to
This. is already true with regard to the ten yes
these ships was designed it was thought that yes
| fence and in most foreign navies such vessels
were then to be found. This idea is now outgrown
| only certain and complete defence for coast line,
In "
must be provided through effective strength on the
fhe theory that our ports could be satisfactorily
| defended by having at each of them few vessels
more or less effective for harbor defence but i'll
| open sea ca, is indeed an old heresy in our naval
! policy having been illustrated considerable
scale by President Jeffedson,s policy Of BUILDING
| however no less than the lessons of recent naval
warfare sufficiently establish the comparative
gent that SUFFICIENT number Of battleships con
structed to take place of the vessels above
| mentioned: probably one-half as many would be
| While any discussion of our future needs and
| the proper means to meet them must be- of neces-
said that if the situation is not complicated by
| any unforeseen developments our programme of
| naval construction for the future in far as 1t
relates to our lighting fleet alone should consist
| in substituting five new battleSFlps ana two new
| types on our register and five more battleships
| for the coast defence vessels of the monitor
| at latest. within the next six years.
1t must not be supposed that the vessels thus
placed in reserve will be altogether unemployed.
| In the event of shall need at large
number of training ships TO receive the thousands
| of recruits who will have TO be Immediately
| furnished, may be hoped. by the naval militia
of the several States. For this purpose these YES
| sells will be exceptionally well suited. and they
| will moreover form reserve feet which be
of great utility in case of disaster to our first line
7 In dealing with all questions relating to the navy
| it should be borne in mind that power must be
a factor of the first moment in any conflict of any
| gravity or danger to which country could be
| a party An appreciation of this fact on the part
| nenditure for the purpose of building up a navy
sufficiently strong to assure our national safety in
| any contingency Of reasonable probability
| On the whole, the results of this expenditure
| have been highly satisfactory Without giving cur
If great promise trust that it may receive such
| consideration and encouragement from the leRis-
s1ch liberal approximation for its reasonable needs
in present and future as will assure its beinS
and of consequent security in orr national deence