The Times of Monday gives a summary of the annual
report of the Secretary of the United States Navy, just issued, from which it appears that, though America has some two dozen modern warships, some of which are very fine vessels, she has not what can be called a really effective naval force. She has one very large battleship, the Iowa,' which is over 11,400 tons, is well armed, and able to steam at a good rate of speed; three good-sized battleships of 10,000 tons each, the Oregon,' 'Massachusetts,' and Indiana,' and one smaller battleship, the Monterey,' of 4,000 tons. Besides these, there are four powerful armoured cruisers, ten protected cruisers, and lastly, several monitors for coast defence, which are nearly finished. All these vessels are equal, as fighting machines, to the best ships in other navies, comparing like with like. The Secre- tary of the Navy seems most concerned at the lack of men and officers. Including marines, the States have only 13,460 men available for sea service, and no reserve of either sailors, guns, or materiel. Though the four Atlantic liners, the New York," Paris," St. Paul,' and St. Louis,' are at the disposal of the Government, "we have not," says the Secre- tary, "a man to put upon one of them." "There is no other nation," he goes on, "that has so much of the materiel of war that is so little prepared to utilise it." No doubt the Americans, if put to it, would do wonders in the way of quick building, and would call sailors out of the ground by huge bounties. Still, even allowing for this, it would take them many years to produce a navy capable of acquiring the command of the sea,—and nothing less will serve them if they insist on Mr. Olney's strange version of the Monroe doctrine.
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