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THE SUN, NEWBERRY, S. C, FRIDAY, MARCH 22, 1940 In 1794 Congress Grudgingly Voted To Build Six Ships; This Year It Talks About a Billion Dollar Navy! The Constellation, oldest vessel on the United States navy list, now used as a training ship at the Newport (R. I.) naval training station. In this old frigate Commodore Thomas Traxtun won two great victories over superior ships daring onr “undeclared war” with France at the beginning of the Nineteenth century. By ELMO SCOTT WATSON (Released by Western Newspaper Union.) P RESIDENT ROOSE VELT’S budget recom mendation of a billion dollar naval program, the largest peacetime sum ever consid ered for that purpose, is by its sharp contrast, an inter esting commentary on the spirit of economy (perhaps “parsimony” would be the more appropriate word) in which provision for our “first line of defense” was con ceived 146 years ago. For it was in March, 1794, that the first congress ap proved a bill out of which grew the United States navy, albeit its passage was marked by a long and acrim onious debate during which it was declared that “a navy is the most expensive of all means of defense, and the tyranny of governments con sists in the expensiveness of their machinery.” Indicative of the grudging spirit in which this first con gressional provision for a navy was made is the fact that the bill won in the house of representatives by a vote of 50 to 39 and in the senate the sentiment was so evenly divided that it took the vote of Vice President John Ad ams to break a tie and pass the measure. Despite the success of John Paul Jones and other American sea captains against the superior sea forces of England during the Revolution, one of the first acts of congress, after the fight for liberty ended, was to dispense with the services of the victor of the famous Bon Homme Richard- Serapis battle and begin scrap ping such war vessels as we had. In doing this congress was only following the wishes of the citi zens of the new nation. But the United States soon learned a bitter lesson from its naval disarmament program. For centuries the Barbary states in northern Africa—Algeria, Trip- poli, Tunis and Morocco—had preyed upon the commerce of European countries and, despite the huge indemnities which France, Spain and the Itahan states paid to these pirates, their shipping and their coasts were never safe from destructive raids. England, because of her sea power, had suffered but little from these marauders but her former colonial shipping, now fly ing a new flag, immediately be came the prey of the corsairs. Ask $60,000 Ransom. In 1785 the Algerian pirates Seized two American merchant men and by the time of Wash ington’s inauguration their 21 of ficers and men were still held prisoners. The Continental con gress had made some efforts in their behalf but these had been contemptuously rejected by the Dey of Algiers who demanded a ransom of nearly $60,000 for his captives. Soon after Thomas Jef ferson was appointed secretary of state in Washington’s cabinet, he was called upon to report to con gress upon the negotiations which he, as minister to France, had carried on with the Algerines. In 1790 Jefferson submitted a report, remarking that a solution of the problem “rests with con gress to decide between war, trib ute and ransom. If war, they will consider how far our own resources shall be called forth, and how far they will enable the Executive to engage, in the forms of the Constitution, the co operation of other Powers. If tribute or ransom, it will rest with them to limit and provide the amount; and with the Execu tive, observing the same consti tutional forms, to make arrange ments for employing it to the best advantage.” But congress was slow to take any action. In the meantime, the Algerian pirates continued their raids on American commerce in the Mediterranean until it was al most destroyed. Finally by 1793, when the corsairs had captured 10 more American ships and im prisoned 105 more American sailors, the federal government decided to do something about it. In January, 1794, a committee of the house of representatives brought in a resolution for build ing four ships of 44 guns and two of 20 guns each for the pro tection of our commerce. Debate on the matter began early in February and immedi ately it became apparent that sentiment was against creating a federal navy. One of the leading opponents was James Madison of Virginia who believed that peace with the pirates “might be pur chased for less money than this armament would cost.” Another Virginia representative “feared that we were not a match for the Algerines” and a Georgian thought that “bribery alone could purchase security from them.” A New Jersey congressman ob jected to the “establishment of a fleet, because, when once it had been commenced, there would be no end to it.” Smith of Maryland and Fitz simmons of Pennsylvania, who championed the resoluti<~- , a nd Fisher Ames of Massachusetts, who supported them, called upon, Madison to define his position and he proposed a substitute for the resolution. It was that “money should be employed in such a manner as should be found most effectual for obtaining a peace with the Regency of Algiers; and failing of this, that the sum should be applied to the end of obtaining protection from some of the European powers.” Navies “Foolish Things.” This suggestion was denounced as an attempt to get other na tions to fight our battles for us but Giles of Virginia came to Madison’s support with a state ment that he “considered navies altogether as very foolish things. An immense quantity of property was spread on the water for no purpose whatever, which might have been employed by land to the best purpose.” As it became clear that the two Virginians were taking an isolationist stand which would make the United States a hermit nation, sentiment began to swing in favor of the original resolution. Despite the effort of opponents of the bill to delay consideration of it, on March 10, 1794, it came up for final passage in the house. Giles made a last effort to pre vent its passage. He argued that fitting out a navy would inevitably involve us in wars with all the European powers. Besides that, it would be a perpetual threat to American liberties. But despite his eloquent plea, the final vote was 50 in favor and 39 against the measure. It had an even harder struggle in the senate for, as has already been stated, it required the vote of the vice president, as presiding of ficer over that body, to break the deadlock and concur in the action of the house. However, in order to get the measure passed an amendment had to be tacked on that, if peace terms with the Al gerines could be arranged, “no farther proceeding be had under this act.” On March 27, 1794, President Washington signed the act pro viding for the building of six frigates—the President, ■‘he Unit ed States, the Chesapeake, the Congress, the Constellation, and the Constitution. However, be fore they could be completed a treaty of peace was concluded with Algiers in September, 1795, under the terms of which we paid Algiers a total of $642,500 for the ransom cf captives, for tribute and for presents to of ficials. Besides that we agreed to build a frigate for the Algerine navy and also supply naval stores, bringing the total cost of the treaty up to $992,463.25. By the terms of the amend ment to the navy act, we had to stop building vessels for protec tion of our commerce. Of the five frigates authorized, work on three, the United States, the Con stellation and the Constitution, was already under way and even tually they were completed. The timber for the others was sold, except for the ship which was to be presented to the Algerines. Although the navy act of March 27, 1794, was emasculated by the amendment, nevertheless it marked the real beginning of the American navy and, as such, should be a red letter day on our national calendar. In 1793 France and England were at war again and America soon founa itself trying desperately to main tain its neutrality in the conflict. Jay’s treaty with England ir 1794 put an end to most of the disputes between England and America which grew out of the Revolu tion and which brought us close to another war with Britain. But the next year the British Orders- in-Council against neutral trade with France raised the war fever in this country again and France, angered by Jay’s treaty, did all she could to fan that flame. But eventually France over played her hand and when her blackmailing schemes were ex posed, American sentiment ap proved the strong stand taken by the new President, John Adams, against our former ally. Not only did congress agree to complete three of the frigates authorized in 1794 at a cost of $1,141,160 but on April 20, 1798, it voted $950,000 for the purchase and equipment of an additional naval force. On April 30 a separate navy depart ment was established (heretofore naval affairs had been adminis tered as a part of the war de partment) and Benjamin Stoddert was appointed the first secretary of the navy. A Naval Program. By this time America was def initely committed to a naval pro gram and on May 4 President Adams was authorized to procure cannon and build foundries and armories. This act was soon fol lowed by an appropriation of $80,000 for galleys to be used “as porcupine quills in punishing en emy attacks.” With what was already appropriated, the Presi dent was authorized to accept, if offered by private citizens, six frigates and six sloops of war, and to pay for them with govern ment bonds. Meanwhile France had substi tuted force for Talleyrand’s de vious diplomacy and it had seized nearly a thousand American ships. As a result, our alliance with that country, formed during our fight for liberty, was abrogat ed and in June, 1798, congress authorized the President to use our navy to “subdue, seize, and take any armed French vessel which shall be found within the jurisdictional limits of the United States or elsewhere on the high seas." This was an important step because it said, in effect, that if we were to compel an enemy to do us justice we must no longer depend upon harbor galleys but must send ships swift enough to search out the enemy vessels in their own waters and strong enough to overcome them. The result was our “undeclared war” with France which contin ued for two and a half years during which time one of the new frigates, the Constellation, won two brilliant victories over French men-of-war and our little navy captured 85 armed French vessels, nearly all privateers and lost only one war vessel, which had been originally a captured French ship. But despite the les sons learned in this conflict it re quired two more of them—the War with the Barbary Pirates of 1802-04 and the War of 1812 with England—to teach us the neces sity of maintaining an adequate naval establishment if we were, as Washington said, to “secure respect” for our flag and to save it “from insult or aggression.” Although the name of Commo dore Thomas Truxtun is but little known to most Americans, yet two victories which he won dur ing our “undeclared war” with France entitle him to a place alongside John Paul Jones, Ste phen Decatur, Isaac Hull, James Lawrence, and Oliver Hazard Perry in our galaxy of naval heroes. Early in 1799 Truxtun was placed in command of the Constellation, flagship of a squad ron of five vessels which were sent to the West Indies. At noon on February 9 while the Constellation was cruising off the island of Nevis, a large ship was discovered away to the south. Truxtun immediately gave chase and by the middle of the afternoon h« had overhauled 1 the fleeing ship and was engaged in a hot battle with her. Within ! an hour and a quarter the swift and accurate fire of the Ameri can gunners had so shattered the enemy ship that her captain struck his colors. She proved to be the famous French frigate. La Insurgente, whose loss was 70 men killed and wounded, whereak the only casuc.ties on the Constellation were three wounded. The captured French ship was put in charge of a prize crew commanded by Lieutenant (later Commodore) John Rodgers and taken to St. Kitt’s. When i:vws of Truxtun’s victory reached the United States it sent a thrill of joy through the country such as it had not known since the days of John Paul Jones. Truxtun was eulogized in the newspapers, sent “congratulatory addresses” by groups of citizens and re ceived from the merchants of Lloyd’s coffee house in London a handsome service of plate worth more than $3,000. A year later Truxtun gave his fellow-countrymen even more cause for rejoicing. Early on the morning of February 1, 1800, while cruising off Guadeloupe seeking the large French frigate. La Vengeance, which was be lieved to be in those waters,' he discovered a sail to the south which he took to be that of an English merchantman. So he ran up the English colors, but, upon receiving no response, gave chase. The stranger begem piling on sail and for 15 hours succeeded in keeping out of range of the Constellation’s guns. Then the American ship came within hail ing distance and Truxtun discov ered that the stranger was the very ship he was seeking—La Vengeance. At eight o’clock in the evening the Americans opened fire and from that time until one o’clock in the morning the two ships carried on a run ning fight, sometimes coming within pistol shot of each other, j Suddenly the French frigate ; ceased firing and disappeared so completely in the gloom that Truxtun believed she had sunk, i But at that moment he discov- | ered that nearly all the Constel lation’s shrouds had been cut away by the fire of the enemy and that her mainmast was about to fall. Soon afterwards a heavy squall came up and the mast went overboard. Although badly crippled, the French ship managed to reach the safety of a harbor on the coast of South America. There her commander, Captain Pitot, acknowledged that twice during the engagement he had struck his colors but in the gloom of night this signal of surrender was not seen by the Americans. Once more Truxtun’s victory over a superior foe—although La Vengeance carried 54 guns and 400 men, as compared to the Constellation’s 32 guns and 300 men, the French loss was 162 killed and wounded while the Americans’ was only 14 killed and 25 wounded—sent his name ringing through the United States. Two months later con gress authorized the President to present him with a gold medal “emblematical of the late action” with the thanks of the nation, the second time in our history that such an honor was bestowed upon a naval officer. Two years later Truxtun was ordered to command a squadron destined for service in the Medi terranean. His request for a cap tain to command his flagship be ing denied, he declined the serv ice and President Jefferson con strued this action as a resigna tion, which was accepted. Thus the navy lost the services of one of the best officers in its history. Truxtun retired to a farm near Philadelphia and died there May 5, 1822. Household Neius THIS SEASON BRINGS EGGS AND MORE EGGS (See Recipes Below) For an Easter Feast The Easter and more eggs to look like ison brings eggs the tables of the whole world, it seems. There are tinted eggs, eggs with dainty and intricate patterns adorning their glossy shells, and eggs decked out er bunnies. Eggs may be decorated, too, with gaily colored stickers—and if you’re clever with your fingers, you can make a giddy blonde or demure brunette egg, sporting a new Easter bonnet! Use bright blue round stick ers for eyes, and a tiny gummed heart for a mouth. Or, if you like, paint in the features, and tint the "cheeks” with ordinary water color paints. Cotton or fringed crepe pa per inay be glued on to resemble hair, and an Easter bonnet is made from a tiny paper nutcup, bits of colored paper, and a tiny feather or artificial flower. When the bunny comes around with his gift of eggs, keep him as a guest at your Easter table. He’ll be a delight to children and grownups alike if his basket is filled with candy eggs that the children themselves can eat. But Easter Sunday demands more than eggs in the way of food! It’s a day of feasting and most of us plan and plot for weeks ahead to give the family a truly delicious and unusual meal. Leg of lamb or baked ham are the traditional foods around which most of us plan our Easter menus. Either may be used in the menu below, to excellent advantage. Broiled Grapefruit halves Roast Leg of Lamb or Baked Ham New Potatoes With Parsley Asparagus Spring Salad Hot Rolls Butter Boston Cream Pie You’ll find another Easter menu and additional recipes, too, in my cook book “Easy Entertaining.” Boston Cream Pie. % cup butter 1 cup granulated sugar 2 eggs (well beaten) 1% cups cake flour % teaspoon salt 1% teaspoons baking powder % cup milk 1 teaspoon vanilla extract Cream butter and add sugar grad ually. Add eggs. Mix and sift all dry ingredients and add alternately with the milk and vanilla extract, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Bake in 2 well-greased layer-cake pans in moderate hot oven (365 degrees Fahrenheit) for 20 to 25 minutes. When cool, put together with Boston cream pie fill ing and sprinkle top with powdered sugar. Boston Cream Pie Filling. % cup sugar % cup bread flour V* teaspoon salt 2 cups scalded milk 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract Mix all dry ingredients and add scalded milk gradually. Cook 10 minutes in top of double boiler, stir ring constantly until mixture thick ens. Add eggs and cook one minute longer. Cool and add extract. Broiled Grapefruit. Select thin skinned, juicy fruit, cut in halves and remove the pithy cen ters and rib sections. In the cen ter of each half, place half a tea spoon of butter and 1 teaspoon of brown sugar. Broil until the grape fruit is heated through. Roast Leg of Lamb. (Serves 12) 1 leg of lamb 1 teaspoon salt Vt teaspoon pepper Wipe leg of lamb with damp cloth and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place, skin side down and cut sur face up, on a rack in an open roast ing pan. Roast in a slow oven (300 degrees), allowing 35 minutes per pound. Remove to hot platter and garnish with pineapple rings and fresh mint, or with orange cups filled with mint jelly. Currant-Mint Sauce for Lamb. 1 cup currant jelly 2 tablespoons fresh mint (chopped) Melt jelly over very low heat, then bring to boiling point. Remove from heat and stir in the chopped mint. Fresh Asparagus With Lemon Butter Sauce. (4 servings) 2 small bunches fresh (or 1 large bunch) asparagus 5 cups boiling water 1V4 teaspoons salt Vt cup butter 1 tablespoon lemon juice Cpt off lower parts of asparagus stalks as far down as they will snap. Discard, or use in soup. Tie stalks together loosely in a bundle and place upright in saucepan contain ing the boiling water to which salt has been added. Cook, uncovered, until ends of stalks begin to be ten der, about 15 minutes; then lay bunch of asparagus flat in pan and continue cooking until tips are ten der, 5 to 10 minutes. Then drain. Cream butter and add lemon juice slowly. Pour this mixture over hot asparagus and serve at once. Magic Easter Eggs. % cup sweetened condensed milk 1 teaspoon vanilla 4 cups sifted confectioners’ (4X) sugar (about) Blend sweetened condensed milk and vanilla. Add confectioners’ sug ar gradually and continue mixing until smooth and creamy. Divide into three or four q parts. Color with different vegetable colorings in very light tints—pink, green, yellow. Form into eggs. One end of each egg may be dipped into melted chocolate that has been allowed to cool. Makes eight eggs 1V4 inches long. When dipping candy eggs, melt the chocolate in the top of a double boiler, but do not let the water boil. When melted, remove from heat, and let the chocolate cool to about 83 degrees Fahrenheit, a tem perature slightly cooler than luke warm. Baked Ham. 1 whole ham 1 teaspoon whole cloves 1% cups sweet cider 1% cups brown sugar % cup orange juice Wipe ham with a damp cloth apd place in an uncovered roaster, skin side up. Roast in a very low oven (300 degrees) allowing 25 minutes per pound of ham. About % hour before ham has finished baking, take from oven. Remove skin and pour off all excess fat. Cook cider and sugar together to thick syrup stage. Add orange juice and pour mixture over ham. Dot with whole cloves. Return to oven and bake one hour longer, basting frequently with liq uid in pan. Have You a Copy of ‘Easy Entertaining’? Eleanor Howe’s cook book, “Easy Entertaining,” is crammed with menu and recipe suggestions for hol idays and parties of every kind! You’ll find in it menus and recipes for children’s parties, for picnic sup pers and for a wedding reception, too. If you haven’t yet ordered your copy, send 10 cents in coin, now, to; “Easy Entertaining,” care Eleanor Howe, 919 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois. What Every Good Cook Should Know. There are lots of secrets to suc cess in cooking and baking that ev ery good cook should know! Next week in this column Eleanor Howe will give you some of her cake se crets and hints on measuring and mixing ingredients, to insure satis factory results in the all-important business of feeding a family. (Released by Western Newspaper Union.) IN THIS scrap quilt. Friendship Garden, you can combine va ried materials to your heart’s con tent. Pattern 2451 contains accu rate pattern pieces; diagram of block; yardages; instructions; diagram of quilt. Send your or der to: SEWING CIRCLE NEEDLECRATT DEPARTMENT U Eighth Av«. New York Enclose U cents la coins for Pat tern No Name Address WOMEN! Relieve "Trying Days’* by taking Dr. Pierce’s Favorite Pre scription over a period of time. Helps build physical resistance by improving nutritional assimulation.—Adv. At Palace and Cottage With equal pace, impartial Fate knocks at the palace, as the cot tage gate.—Horace. ACHING CHEST COUS Need Mere Than “last SaM* Te Relieve DISTRESSI To quickly relieve chest cold ml—T sad / muscular aches and pains dus to eoldf^-' it takes MORE than “just a salve”—you need a wanning, soothing "counter- trrif on r"like good old rdiable Musteraie —used by miuiont for over 80 yean. Musterole penetrates the outer layers of the skin and helps break up local coo- Bettar Than A Mustard Ptastnrl Freeman and Slave He is a freeman whom the truth makes free, and all are slaves be sides.—Cowper. ^OME MORE DEFCHPm* mmumsTsmam A Human Dissatisfied It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied.— J. S. Mill. *//te luvujain of uot*>i lifetime! Gone With The Wind SPECIAL MOVIE EDITION Complete, unabridged, the same thrilling story for which 1,000,000 people paid *3 a copy, plus 14 pages of "stills** from the movie in tech nicolor) ^ m OnlyOy*! If you can’t get it locally, send as the coupon below DEALERS: Here’s a certain, easy prod* maker.Wtite forour generous diacoont plan. The Macmillan Co., 60 Fifth Avenue, N. Y. G Send me copies of GONE WITH THE WIND (Movie Ediuon) at 69c Name Address City State