SECRETARY WHITNEY'S EFFORTS TO REBUILD THE NAVY.
Upon his accession to the Presidency in March, 1885, President
Cleveland had appointed a Mr. William C. Whitney, a New York lawyer,
secretary of the Navy; and although he had had no previous experience
in naval matters, he seems to have been profoundly impressed with the
necessity of rebuilding the Navy, and bringing it up to a standard
more in consonance with modern methods, and more in keeping with the
vast national interests which it might at any time be suddenly called
upon to protect and defend. During his entire term of office,
Secretary Whitney's reports and official communications were
invariably couched in the most earnest and vigorous language; and
bore the strongest possible testimony to the serious importance with
which he regarded his position; and it is not too much to say that
many of the features which at present cause the United States Navy to
rank first among the navies of the world, grew out of suggestions and
recommendations made by Secretary Whitney.
Like all reformers, however, his path was beset with many
difficulties; and although he persisted bravely in the task he had
set for himself, he encountered so many obstacles and
discouragements, that his health became seriously impaired, and it
was only at the earnest solicitation of the President, and leading
members of his party, that he consented to serve his full term of
four years. During President Cleveland's administration party
feeling ran very high, and the Republicans, who had recently been
ousted from power, after a continuous enjoyment of it for twenty-four
years, seemed to look upon any effort to alter or increase or improve
the Navy, as a reflection upon their previous management of the
department. Consequently, Secretary Whitney found himself opposed
and hampered at every turn; and his well-meant and intelligent
efforts in the direction of reform, encountered the open or concealed
opposition of Republican Senators and Congressmen; and as the
Republicans still held control of the Senate by a narrow majority,
but few of his recommendations were at first favorably acted upon.
Thus does party prejudice at times outweigh patriotism; and thus the
best interests of the country are often neglected or jeopardized in
obedience to the behests of a political boss, or in deference to the
supposed necessities of a partisan organization.
It is difficult at this late day, to conceive of such a state of
affairs as this; but as a partial vindication of our ancestors
against a charge of what might almost be called high treason, we must
remember that the passions and prejudices which grew out of the "War
of the Rebellion," still found a resting-place in the bosoms of most
of the older inhabitants; and these extended to the political
discussions of the day, rendering party feeling exceedingly bitter
and vindictive.
In fact, what would at present be regarded as an absurd
impossibility, was then an actual fact; and the two great political
parties of the country, twenty years after the close of the Civil
War, found themselves divided on precisely the same sectional lines,
which had existed previous to and during that conflict; and the most
casual reference to the journals of that date can scarcely fail to
reveal one or more allusions to "The Solid South," as a political
entity whose interests must have necessarily been antagonistic to the
other portions of the Union.
The vast manufacturing and mineral interests of Alabama, Georgia and
Tennessee, were then in their infancy; and the people of those States
still hugged the delusion of free trade, as a sort of an inherited
political superstition, in common with the other Southern States,
whose interests were almost wholly Agricultural, and which have since
found their proper and logical political affiliation with the
Agricultural States of the West and Northwest.
During President Cleveland's term of office, the Senate, as has
before been remarked, was Republican by a small majority. The House
of Representatives, however, was Democratic; so that there was a
practical deadlock on all party questions; and as nearly every
question that arose became more or less of a party one, scarcely
anything in the way of practical legislation was accomplished. In
fact it would seem that about the only measures which could safely
run the gauntlet of both houses, were bills of the nature of jobs to
rob the treasury, which were passed by what were called (in the
political slang of that day) "logrolling" methods.
For instance, if a river or harbor needed improvement, the member of
Congress in whose district it was situated, looked around for other
members who had one or more rivers or harbors similarly affected; and
a number of these, combining together, would originate what was
called a "river and harbor bill," in which each member's district was
to have a good slice of the total appropriation. Then, if there were
not votes enough to secure the passage of the bill, other members
were drummed up, and were offered appropriations for creeks and
harbors in their districts--the expenditure of which would of course
be under the direction of their political friends--and thus, at every
session of Congress, a gigantic appropriation bill, amounting
frequently to $20,000,000 or $25,000,000 was passed; two thirds of
which in all probability was sheer robbery. A similar system was
pursued with reference to public buildings in different parts of the
country; and the extraordinary spectacle was presented, of Senators
and Representatives meeting in Washington, year after year, wrangling
over these appropriations, and exhibiting their ignorance of the
cardinal principles of political economy, in long-winded harangues
about "the treasury surplus," while they permitted the United States
Navy to go to decay, refused appropriations to fortify the harbors
and coasts, and utterly failed to do anything to foster and encourage
the re-establishment of the American Merchant Marine, whose value as
a nursery or training school for the development of a naval force,
had been so conclusively shown in the earlier days of the Republic.
At the time of Secretary Whitney's accession to office, the whole
available naval force of the United States consisted of a few old
wooden vessels, so rotten as to be scarcely seaworthy, three or four
iron-hulled steam corvettes and frigates, of an antiquated and
obsolete type, and a few vessels of the "Monitor," or revolving
turret style (so called from the fact that the first vessel of this
type was called the "Monitor").
These latter, however, were in an unfinished, rotten and rusty
condition, having from motives of "economy" been permitted to lie and
rot at their docks ever since the conclusion of the Civil War; and
were therefore utterly useless for any sudden emergency; as several
month's work would have been required to finish the unfinished ones,
and repair the completed ones. It is true, that a commencement to
rebuild the navy had been attempted during President Arthur's
administration, and two modern cruisers, (the Boston and Chicago) and
a despatch boat (the Dolphin) were approaching completion when Mr.
Whitney became Secretary of the Navy. These vessels, however, were
only partially successful; and when finished, were found to fall far
below the requirements of the contracts; and it was only after a long
series of tests, and many expensive alterations, that they could be
rendered serviceable.
In spite of all obstacles, however, Secretary Whitney did make
considerable progress in rebuilding the Navy. During the years 1887
and 1888, several new cruisers were added to its effective force, and
the construction of two heavily armored battle ships was commenced.
Numerous experiments were also made with torpedoes, and various
submarine systems were tried with greater or less prospects of
success.
A lieutenant in the army named Zalinski, had invented a pneumatic
gun, which he claimed would safely throw a dynamite shell a distance
of two miles; and a vessel was built expressly to carry guns of this
kind. Discussion more or less heated, concerning the disgracefully
unprotected condition of our seaboard cities, had been carried on in
the newspapers, and at length, early in 1889, the city of New York
(or rather a few of its more public-spirited citizens) organized a
system of volunteer harbor defense militia.
The Legislature having been appealed to in vain, private
subscriptions were started, and a fund was raised sufficient to
charter one or two harbor tug boats, and to equip a marine battalion,
mostly of longshoremen and stevedores, who were drilled in torpedo
practice, electric light signaling, boarding, cable cutting, anchor
tripping, night attacks, and various other plans for annoying or
disabling supposed hostile ships in our harbor. This drilling and
exercise were supervised and carried on under the direction of
intelligent naval officers, detailed for that purpose by the Navy
Department, and although the limited means at the disposal of the
originators of this plan, prevented them from accomplishing any very
important results, yet their efforts were instrumental in getting
together a splendid body of men, who could be relied upon at any
time, in case of a sudden emergency, to volunteer their services; and
whose practical skill as a signal corps, and perfect knowledge of the
harbor, would render their co-operation of the utmost value to the
regular naval force in time of war.
This was in fact the origin of our present magnificent and complete
"Harbor Defense Corps," which has so often challenged the admiration
of foreign naval experts. Anybody who should at this time publicly
advocate its abolition or its curtailment, on mere grounds of
"economy," would be ridiculed as an idiot, or branded as a traitor;
and yet the Legislature of New York refused even to grant its members
exemption from jury duty, on account of the protest of a few
intelligent and incorruptible(?) back country members.
Having thus given a general resumé of the condition and situation of
the United States up to the years 1887 and 1888, I will in the next
chapter endeavor to give a succinct and intelligible review of the
events which had a more direct and immediate effect in causing the
"Battle of the Swash."