spect the report which he
proposed to make to Captain-General Blanco. I felt that the truth would
be understood in the course of time, and that while I would not now, or
then, under any circumstances, admit that he was outnumbered in the
proportion of three to one, I still felt that he should be at liberty to
defend himself in that manner.

The fleets that were opposed to each other on that Sunday morning were,
as regards the number of the ships, about six to seven. Leaving out the
torpedo-destroyers and the "Gloucester," which may be said not to have
been fighting ships, the proportion was six to four. The fleet of the
Spaniards consisted of four beautiful ships. I think I am stating the
case within bounds when I say that they were--barring their condition at
that time, which, of course, we did not all know, in many respects--that
they were all our imaginations had led us to suppose. We outnumbered
them, but this is only another illustration of the fact which I wish to
bring before you, that it is necessary to have a superior force to make
sure of victory in any case.

It seems to me that you, gentlemen, who are so influential in
determining and deciding what the Navy of the United States should be,
should bear this emphatically in mind--that we must have more ships,
more guns, and all that goes to constitute an efficient navy. I am not
advocating a large navy. I do not believe that we should support a large
navy, but that it should be much larger than it is at present I think
you will all concede. The increased territory which we have added to our
country will probably produce an increase in our chances for war by at
least one hundred per cent.--not that we need increase the Navy to that
extent--but probably will.

NOAH HUNT SCHENCK

TRUTH AND TRADE

[Speech of Rev. Dr. Noah Hunt Schenck at the 110th annual banquet
of the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York, New York City,
May 14, 1878. In introducing Dr. Schenck, the President, Samuel D.
Babcock, said: "The loose manner in which the Dinner Committee have
conducted their business is now becoming evident. The chairman has
got considerably mixed on the toasts. You may recollect that the
toast to which Dr. Chapin responded referred to twins [Rev. Dr.
Edwin H. Chapin had spoken to the toast 'Commerce and Capital, twin
forerunners of civilization and philanthropy'], and here is one
that refers to matr