The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE. Equal and exact justice to all men, Of whatsoever state or persuasion, religious or political. SATURDAY, FEB. 1, 1890.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXIV, Issue 2739, 1 February 1890, Page 2

The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE. Equal and exact justice to all men, Of whatsoever state or persuasion, religious or political. SATURDAY, FEB. 1, 1890.

Tiik new departure of the United States in the creation of a powerful navy is an event that must be of considerable importance to all coun-

tries in the Pacific. The resolute spirit with which that navy will be

handled was shown in the stand made against Germany in Samoa. At the present moment there is no second-class European Power that would not be more than a match

in the ocean for the great Republic— at all events at starting. This is now to be changed. A hundred war ships are to be built at an average cost of i>SGO,OOO each, and fourteen years are to be spent in

their construction. They can. of course be hurried ou if an emergency should occur, but the most interesting partis the new character

>y which they are to be marked. Battleships of the style of the Great European Ironclads are to be

avoided, and fast, powerfully armed, steel cruisers are to be the rule. It is argued that speed will make the ships more difficult as marks, for the heavy, slow working ironclads, while they will be so built as not to be easily sunk, even when hie. Reliance is also placed on the quick firing and machine gear, with which they are to be armed, and on the torpedo tubes, which will enable them to do deadly work within

limited ranges. But the most novel und most trusted of all will be those armed with the dynamite gun, which has been subjected to severe trials, and by the latest accounts, is relied upon confidently as a success. One of these dynamite gun ships,

the Vesuvius, has been constructed, armed and carefully proved. She does not give satisfaction, but from the experience gained with her a new system has been adopted. The dynamite gun was, in itself, an improved experiment when the Vesuvius was built. Hence she was constructed so as to be useful as an ordinary cruiser in ca.se of failure with the gun. She has great speed and power but is only lightly armoured, and more of the character of a torpedo ship than any other. She can only carry 130 tons of coal but, with that, can steam 4,000 miles at a speed of 10 knots, and can easily double the speed with a greater consumption of fuel when necessary. Her draught of water is very light. She is regarded as a valuable type of the fast despatch

vessel or scout, but as a dynamite ship is a failure. Slow speed and very powerful armour are the conditions on which the new dynamite ships are to lie built. They can only be effective at 1500 to 1700 yards but, at that distance, their power will be enormous and deadly. To make them as strong, and as small marks as possible, entirely new lines are to be adopted. Twelve knots is to be. the utmost speed of these new vessels. They are to have the thickest deflecting armour, and to be of light draught, so as to manoeuvre in shallow water. A battery of rapid-firing guns is to protect them from torpedos, and their coal consumption is to be of the smallest, so as to enable them to carry a greater weight of armour. For coast defence these new ships are regarded as invulnerable. They can be built quickly for this purpose, and are relied upon to keep any fleet, however powerful, from getting within boundary range of a town. The forts of the United States are old-fashioned, and useless against the Ironclads of to-day; but the Government hope, by means of dynamite and gunboats to render any considerable outlay on these forts unnecessary. The experiment made in their construction is of special interest in these colonies, and should be closely watched by our Government, The dynamite ships are also to be built as cruisers, with a speed of fifteen knots, but must, of course, be very mueh larger and more costly for that purpose. If successful in America, the example of building such cruisers will soon be followed by other Powers. An attack upon ports like ours, would bo rendered much easier, because submarine mines are easily exploded by a dynamite shot from one of their vessels anywhere in the neighbourhood of the mines. To attempt the erection of batteries that would enable us to meet ironclads is impossible with our means. We must depend on the navy to defend us from such attacks, and so long as our navy is the most powerful in these seas, such attacks are highly improbable. Complications in Europe, or in the East, might encourage an enemy to pay us a visit, and then dynamite gun-boats would be our best safeguard against it. They would serve all the purposes of submarine mines and do the work very much better. We urge upon our Government therefore, before incurringany further expense in connection with our defences to obtain the fullest information respecting this, the latest, cheapest, and probably far the most effective defence ship which has yet been attempted. It is for defence alono that our armaments are required, and here we may have them, of the most efficient kind, brought within easy reach. This is the more important, as the latest cablegrams tell us that Lord Brassey has distinctly warned Australasia that the time must come when the colonies will be asked for a large contribution to the cost of the navy maintained for our defence.