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“Preserved Lumber”

The board of investigation was forced to the following conclusion: "That the art of preserving timber has no practical value whatever."

This cartoon is part of a series by Thomas Nast that criticizes the feeble state of the United States Navy. Here, he blames former Navy Secretaries
George Robeson (left; 1869-1877) and William Chandler (right; 1882-1885), who
appear encased in glass as "preserved lumber" on the "Navy
Department shelf."
For decades following the conclusion of the Civil War, America's tiny
navy was not only far smaller than the navies of European
powers but even lagged behind countries such as Turkey and Chile.
It was also increasingly outdated, lacking steel ships and other
competitive advantages. The modernization and expansion of the
U.S. Navy was impeded by several factors: a traditional American aversion to a large
peacetime military, debates over what strategy should be pursued
(defensive, offensive, or balanced) and thus what type of vessels should
be built, budget-conscious congressional appropriations that left the
Navy under-funded, and charges of corruption in shipbuilding contracts
and other areas of Navy Department operations.
The Navy was already in disrepair when Robeson
became secretary in 1869. He
had difficulty getting Congress to allocate sufficient monies for
upkeep, thereby forcing him to cut costs. In the election
year of 1876, House Democrats initiated numerous investigations of the
Grant administration, including possible corrupt practices by Secretary
Robeson. The main charge stemmed from the activities of Alexander
Cattell & Co., a firm that gained profitable contracts from
Robeson's Navy Department and offered itself as an influence broker for
other companies doing business with the Navy. The Cattells had
clearly furnished Robeson with favors, including substantial loans,
repayment of large debts, and real estate. Still, no direct
evidence linked Robeson or his subordinates to influence peddling or to
any questionable Navy contracts.
William Hunt, who was briefly
Navy secretary in 1881 under President James Garfield, established a
Naval Advisory Board headed by Rear Admiral John Rodgers. The
Rodgers Board proposed a Naval program that emphasized rebuilding,
including using steel rather than iron or wood. In March 1882, the
House Naval Affairs Committee recommended that Congress fund 15
ships. Many congressmen and journalists, however, attacked the
alleged corruption and wastefulness of the Navy Department, so the full
Congress only approved the construction of two ships.
But Hunt's successor as Navy
secretary, William Chandler, argued against building one of the approved
ships, which were large and expensive, and instead recommended
construction of medium-sized vessels. Besides being
conscious of Congressional resistance to Naval expenditures, Chandler favored
the traditional Naval strategy that balanced defensive and offensive
military capabilities. Many in Congress, especially among the
majority House Democrats, preferred a wait-and-see approach, stressing
that funding would be wasted if advances in naval technology outpaced
construction.
Chandler appointed a second
Naval Advisory Board, chaired by Commander Robert Shufeldt, which
reflected the secretary's preference for strategic balance over
innovation. In January 1883, debates on the Shufeldt Board's
recommendations revealed an important attitudinal shift in which some
congressmen assailed the Board and Chandler for failing to advance a
larger, modernized Navy. In March 1883, Congress appropriated
funds for construction of the ABCD ships: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago,
and Dolphin. Those favoring an expanded Navy saw it as a
starting place, while those opposed viewed it as a proper limit.
In order to be large, fast, and inexpensive, the ships were unarmored
and lightly armed. At the time this cartoon appeared, the tests
for the Dolphin were proving to be disastrous, and the press was
having a field day. During its first trial, the ship's shaft
broke; the second trial was officially deemed satisfactory, although
rumors questioned the report's veracity; and in the third trial, the
crank pin overheated, so that the engines had to be stopped. A
fourth trial was scheduled. When finally put into service, the Dolphin
served not as a warship, but as an excursion boat for government
officials and journalists whom the Navy needed to court.
Despite their limitations and
problems, the ABCD ships can be identified as the beginning of the new
Navy. By the end of 1885, Navy Secretary William
Whitney and Congressional supporters had adopted a new strategy for the
Navy: that the best defense is a good offense. In 1886,
Congress approved construction of the battleships Texas and Maine,
and the expansion and modernization of the U.S. Navy was underway.
It would not be until five years later that Alfred Mahan, president of
the Naval War College, published his book, The Influence of Sea-Power
on History, which is often credited with inspiring the modern
American Navy.
Robert C. Kennedy
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