The Richmond palladium. (Richmond, Ind.) 1906-1907, 1906-10-14

tn IL the leading nations of the world
appear TO have been seized during
y recent years. with perfect mania
Tor adding to their fleets of lighting ships
Nor has national patriotic ambition In
any case been satisfied by mere increase
in the number of floating fortresses
Larger, more powerful and more heavily
armed warships have been demanded I'M
til the sums expended upon new naval
craft are such as would have appeared
unbelievable few years ago.
: The United States has not been one
whit behind her sister nations In pursu-
ing this policy for the upbuilding of a
powerful navy. II anything, she has been
ahead of her European rivals. for. where
as some of the Old World powers have
larger navies than the one to be found
under the Stars and Stripes, there is no
government beyond the Atlantic that is
now adding to its steei-clad warriors Of
the sea so rapidly as is Uncle Sam.
Time was, and not SO very many years
ago. either. when the United States wns
pretty near the foot OF the list OF prin-
cipal naval powers, but the phenomenal
development of the American Navy dur
ing the past decade has enabled the re-
public TO advance beyond Japan. Italy.
Russia and Austria, and stand in fourth
place In this international contest. Great
Britain. with q navy equal to the COM
bined fleets Of any three other nations,
would appear to be secure In FIRST place
for a long time to come; France II second
and Germany third.
But In making this comparison the
statistics take account only Of the war
ships that are completed ready for use.
or in commission If all the vessels build
Ing for the various navies could be COM
pleted simultaneously and q new census
of fighting strength taken, the status Of
things would be changed, for the United
States would then be In third place-and
not SO very far behind France-whereas
Germany would drop back to fourth place.
The secret OF this Is found, of course, In
the number OF new warshfps Miss Co
luulbia has under construction. Measured
in tons. the standard currency OF naval
and shipbuiiding pariance. the United
States has under way at the present time
considerably greater aggregate of new
naval construction than Great Britain,
and az much as France and Germany COM
bined.
II Is act the nun5es OF new ashtinS
ships which Uncle Sam is building but
their weight and power that is sending
this nation upward in the scale OF naval
Importance To illustrate. 1T may be ex-
planned that there are fr the United
States Navy something like 20 vessels At
for service. whereas the new ships build
Ing number less than so, yet these I'M
completed men -of-war, together with the
lately finished craft which have gone into
commission during the past few months
Wei nigh equal in aggregate tonnage the
couple OF hundred armed craft which up
held cur rights on the high seas after
the close OF the Spanish American War
The United States, alike TO most other
progressive nations. is firmly committed
TO the policy OF building warships of the
heaviest class. carrying guns OF the great
est power and protected by the thickest
arnor- The war with Spain taught our
professional fighting men that the battle
ship is easily pre-eminent among all naval
nese conflict but confirmed this conyic-
fion- The deadly torpedo craft and the
feet cruisers. in which nearly everything
IS sacrificed TO speed, assuredly have
their place In the scheme of naval exist
ence, but 1t Is in the heavyweights of
the seas that reliance must be placed for
the decision of issues between nations
Uncle Sans preference for the thick
skinned ships that give aad take
hard blows is evidenced by the fact that
nearly every one of the numerous ships
which have been added to the Navy dur
ng the past year or two has been a first
a-Aa ha tfiaShin alsa an arrnored cruis-