Rensselaer Republican, Volume 21, Number 24, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 February 1889 — How Foreign Spies Will Be Deceived. [ARTICLE]

How Foreign Spies Will Be Deceived.

St Louis Globe-Democrat. There is a chance that the German or other foreign military spies who may be in this country, will be deceived and deceive their Governments when they attempt to form an estimate of this country’s strength for offensive or defensive operations from their observations here. They see a small and ill-oro-vided navy, when judged bytte standard of England, France or Italy, and an army consisting of only a handful of men compared with the forces of any of the great European powers. The facilities of the Ufiited States, however, for building a navy on short notice are better than those of any country in the world outside of Great Britain, while our sailors are the bravest' most alert and most skilful possessed by any country. We have had two wars with the greatest naval power on earth, and in bota of them America held its own pn the seas grandly and conspicuously. Nor has ths country degenerated in thia respect The Farraguts, Porters, Winslows and Wordens of the civil war days-do not suffer in_ comparison with Paul Jones, Decatur, Mc-

i Donough, Perry and ths remainder of the brilliant galaxy df seamen who won i mperishable glory for the American navy during the country’s earlier struggles. I The 25,000 men on the rolls of the army by no means comprise all the : military strength which..) the country could command. There are hundreds of thousands of the 2,000.000 or more men who were in the Federal and Con- j federate armies at the close of the civil , war who are still young enough to -sigh their country’s battles, who would rush i to arms at the first tap . of the drum against any foreign foe.. These, added to the other hundre <s of thousands whe enrolled among the militia of the country comprise a body of traned soldiers who could be got ready for active service at once on the outbreak

of war. Within thirty days after the beginning of any conflict the country could have at least 1,000,000 men well armed, equipped and trained, in the field. This is a larger force than any. three of the great Powers of Europe could bring over here for service against this country. In a naval conflict the the United States has nothing to fear from G rmauy, and in a < outl et on the land we are secure against combined Europe.