Year: 1876

Some of the suggestions made in his last
report to the Secretary of the Navy by Admi-
raj Porter were excellent, and indicated the
feasibility of meliorations in the conditions
of the service so important that it is pity
they should pass out of sight. Like every
man whose life has been identified with the
service this gallant veteran has great pride
in It's glory, and doubtless more faith in its
efficiency than the many who, if their oppor-
tunities to know its condition are not so ex-
cellent as his own, have at least the advan-
tage that they contemplate it in that more
relentless spirit of criticism which keeps
always near to the facts. But the Admiral
himself recognizes the difficulties that are
always in the way of securing those appro-
priations without which little can be done,
and it was doubtless in the spirit of that
recognition that he gave so much considera-
ton in his report to things that con be done
without the immediate use of money, and to
other things that promise to enable all gov
ernments some day to reduce permanently
the grand items of naval expenditure. Our
navy, as it stands, cannot be regarded as
lOrce Inat WOulu De lOrInluaDle 10 any
great naval Power; and the Admiral
himself, though he has good reason to know
how much it can do with inadequate re-
sources, can scarcely hold that in serious
war we could make any better disposition
of three-quarters of our vessels than to blow
them up, and so avoid the shame of seeing
the enemy do it for US. Yetupon this navy,
that does not defend our coasts because they
do not need it, and could not defend them
if they did that does not even maintain and
continue breed of American sailors upon
whom we could depend in war-upon this
service that thus neither actually nor pros
pectively contributes to our greatness on
the sea, we spend almost enough money
every year to build respectable iron-clad
feet upon that model which the Admiral
himself has sketched, and which he believes
will some day prevail in all navies 1t would
be eventually far more satisfactory use of
our millions to spend them in accordance
with the policy implied in the main points
of the Admiral's report. The points of
this policy would be line-of- ships,
swift cruisers, seamen and torpedoes; the
policy contemplating not the immediate
possession of these elements of great
navy, but the eventual possession-the pos
session of them in the future when we may
need them-by steps to be taken now. For
the eventual production of seamen the
policy would be to greatly increase our ex-
penditures on an apprenticeship system
on the present schoolship model For the
eventual possession of swift cruisers the
recommendation is to make some provision
of legislation for bonuses or other considera-
tions TO builders to induce them to construct
their clipper ships or passenger steamers on
plans furnished by the Navy Department,
with the understanding that the govern
ment may purchase such ships in case of
war. With one quarter of our expenditure
we'll nigh wasted as at present applied-an-
nually appropriated to construction, we
should in four or five years have a great
iron-clad navy; and our torpedo system, con-
tinued as now in progress would complete
the scheme. In this scheme is at least the
germ of that great desideratum-a way to
get a navy without increasing our expendi-
lures.