Helena Weekly Herald

Our Navy.

According to some critics our whole navy is incapable of doing as much belligerent work as occurred in the house during the passage of the naval appropriation bill. Robeson, the chairman of the Naval Committee, has been accused of keeping back the bill to the last moment to avoid unpleasant criticism on his former management of the navy, which he expected and perhaps in some measure deserved.

It is generally agreed that our present navy is of little account, not equal to that of such a fifth rate power as Chili. After making due allowance for partisan exaggeration on the part of such Democratic leaders as Hewitt of New York and Atkins of Tennessee, there remains a general public distrust in the efficiency of our navy, and still further in the system under which it is constructed, managed and equipped. Lieut. Gorringe, in a late number of the North American Review, gives some account of the causes of the decline in our navy, which throws the blame upon a vicious system of bureaucracy rather than upon the ignorance or mismanagement of any head of department.

So far as we can judge, it is about an even thing whether it be wiser to throw away what is already spent on the half finished monitors or spend what is still needed to finish them. It is confessed on all hands that when complete they would only be fit for harbor defense, and many assert that other nations have war ships built since these were begun that could take position beyond the range of any cannon our ironclads could carry and sink them in ten minutes. At best they will be very inferior war ships, that never could venture to sea without an escort, and much more apt to sink themselves than any possible foe. The fact is that since our first experience with ironclads the Old world has taken the hint we gave and has gone on to improve upon it till there are ships and guns now that surpass anything we have as much as a monitor surpassed a wooden ship.

For our part we would prefer to see these half finished hulks broken up, the material sold for what it would bring, and our whole naval system abolished and built up anew from the foundation. We do not believe the ablest Secretary in the world could do anything effective under the present system. It was not Robeson's fault that he failed, nor can we expect aught but failure from the present Secretary, though he is able and ambitious to serve his country and illustrate his administration. There should be a special commission to organize the navy and our navigation laws, and till this is done, we care little whether the appropriations exceed a million of dollars. Whatever is appropriated is mostly dead loss. The further one goes when on the wrong track the worse it is for him. We believe there is genius and skill enough among our ship builders and inventors to surpass other nations as much in this department as in others. We are not in immediate danger that we should hurry to completion ships that are of doubtful value when complete.

It is confessed that steel is as much better than iron as iron surpasses wood. Let the Secretary advertise for plans for a steel ship that would excel in speed armament and effectiveness any ship afloat in the world. We believe there would be competitors, and that out of this competition we could secure something that would serve us creditably. We want no third or fourth rate ships. We want the best afloat or none at all. The subject of cannon is of equal importance, or more than that of armored ships. With superior cannon we could defend our harbors and seaboard cities from any assaults. As a nation without aggressive tendencies, we should at least be prepared for defense against any foe, and should have better cannon than any that could be floated over the sea to assail us. This is not the case now.