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New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 8157, 20 January 1890, Page 4

America is evidently in earnest aboyf the reconstruction of her Navy thg Naval Board having recommended that one hundred war ships should bo con. structed during the next 14 years ataa estimated cost of fifty-six millions ster! ling. The United States Naw has been deliberately allowed to sink"toth» lowest point so far as ships are con' cerned. The. Government desired to profit by the costly experiments l JeK , made by European Governments. Tim result is that they begin with a clean sheet and have no vessels worth speak ing of, to put upon the shelf in order to make room for new ones. Their latest ship was a very fast cruiser, armed with dynamite guns of most destructive effect, and discharged by compressed air instead of gunpowder. The power of these guns is enormous, but their range limited as yet to 1700 yards. Tile ship already armed with them is a steel cruiser of great speed but light armour The latest conclusion is that, to be properly effective, dynamite gun ships must be heavily armoured and able to approach an enemy closely. Speed is a secondary consideration. battle ships of the great size and heavy armament that European nations have built, are not in favour with the American authorities, they prefer vessel? armed with lighter, quick-firing, and machine guns. They consider that the greater handiness and superior speed of such vessels, and the enormous rapidity of their lire, will more than counterbalance the advantages to be derived from weight of armour. In any case it is evident that America intends to assert herself as a great naval power. That she can so assert herself without the least difficulty there is no doubt. She has the skill, the material, and the men, to construct and man a navy of any extent that she may desire. He in these seas, have every reason to welcome the decision, remembering that " blood is thicker than water," and that American warships have more than once proved this to be the case.