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Купить Stephen M. White, Californian, Citizen, Lawyer, Senator, Vol. 1 of 2, Stephen Mallory White

Excerpt from Stephen M. White, Californian, Citizen, Lawyer, Senator, Vol. 1 of 2: His Life and His Work

The Senate having under consideration the bill (H. R. 75420) making appropriations for the naval service for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1897, and for other purposes -

Mr. White said:

Mr. President: I desire to make a few suggestions in reference to the further construction of a Navy and as to the desirability of coast defenses.

I concede the necessity for an adequate Navy ample to protect us in case of exigency, but when we are considering the question of appropriating money for naval purposes we ought not to forget the situation of the country with regard to the matter of coast defenses.

Our Defenses Condition

While it is universally admitted that the United States is not in a position for successful defense against any leading nation, I do not believe that the public appreciate the utter ineffectiveness of the means heretofore taken to guard our coasts and our property. The situation can hardly be exaggerated. In the event of armed contest with such powers as England or France we could not make even a respectable showing. General Miles, in a statement given by him before the Committee on Coast Defenses during the present Congress, sums up the situation thus:

In my judgment, legislation is required to put the principal ports of the country in a proper condition of safety and in order to give them suitable protection.

Senator Squire. Have you examined the condition of the fortifications that have been erected at any of the seaports?

General Miles. Yes, sir; I have made it a question of study for many years. My attention was first called to it when in command of the Department of the Columbia in the Northwest some fifteen years ago, and later when in command of the Division of the Pacific. In my reports eleven and six years ago I called attention to the subject and urged the importance of protecting the principal harbors of the Pacific Coast, especially at the entrance of Puget Sound, thereby protecting Port Townsend, Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia, and other important places on Puget Sound; also the defense of the Columbia River; giving protection to Astoria and Portland, Oregon, and the entrance to the harbor at San Francisco and that of San Diego, Cal.

Senator Squire. Would the guns now at these places be of any use; are they serviceable?

General Miles. While there are guns mounted at Fort Canby, at the mouth of the Columbia, and in the harbor of San Francisco, they are mostly obsolete guns mounted on old and rotten carriages, and as far as the guns are concerned I believe that they could not be sold for enough to pay the purchaser for taking them down and using them for old iron.

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