and Unpreparedness 145 



navy of which he was the chief ornament had be- 

 come an object of derision to every third-rate power 

 in Europe and South America. The elderly moni 

 tors and wooden steamers, with their old-fashioned 

 smooth-bore guns, would have been as incompetent 

 to face the modern ships of the period as the Con 

 gress and the Cumberland were to face the Merri- 

 mac. Our men were as brave as ever, but in war 

 their courage would have been of no more avail than 

 the splendid valor of the men who sank with their 

 guns firing and flags flying when the great Con 

 federate ironclad came out to Hampton Roads. 



At last the nation awoke from its lethargy. In 

 1883, under the Administration of President Arthur, 

 when Secretary Chandler was in the Navy Depart 

 ment, the work was begun. The first step taken was 

 the refusal to repair the more antiquated wooden 

 ships, and the building of new steel ships to replace 

 them. One of the ships thus laid down was the 

 Boston, which was in Dewey's fleet. It is therefore 

 merely the literal truth to say that the preparations 

 which made Dewey's victory possible began just fif 

 teen years before the famous day when he steamed 

 into Manila Bay. Every Senator and 'Congressman 

 who voted an appropriation which enabled Secre 

 tary Chandler to begin the upbuilding of the newi 

 navy, the President who advised the course, the 

 Secretary who had the direct management of it, the 



VOL. XII. G 



