New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-06-29
AT THE NATIONAL CAPITAL


crrrD-NR BECK sCOLDs THE CoNii'oi
Tho consideration of the Naval Appropi'a',"n
,,;,l ,,os hccnn in the House yesterday anu 'no
I'M uos attacked with much vigor. MT. h'.-
',no of Tennessee. assailed Mr. RoDesonS
iya;nistration .'Da of the Navy Department. charg-
;n, that many millions had been squahuereu
A. Robinson. of Brooklyn, made
oharacteristic speech on the sulJecC
~ 49, ;,,,rrisopmert in Great Britain OF
American citizens. Upon the reception oaoA
~ Soroto of tbe Bank Charter bill Mr.
Rocl, delivered some structures against 'he
Controller of the Currency.
THE NAVAL APPROPRIATION BILL
ME. wnIrrnoHNr MAKES AN ASSAULT UPON NIX Mr.
RoREsoN's ADMINISTRATION OF IliE NAV DA
pARTMENr.
rpy TELEGRAPH THE TRIBuSHI
U,eu1vGToX June 2S.-The entire afternoon III
.lc Housc Of REPRESENTATIVES was devoted TO gen,
u totato ~, IN. NAVY Appropriation BILL and
.overol features of that measure weIe subec'eu 10
s.r,ro criticism by Republican as well as by Dem
,o,,c ,pembcrs The Committee on Naval An"HS
hd been in session all the morning discussing 'no
I'm and had agreed utedly 10 oppose inc re"u'
,ion in the number of officers DeIohgins
:, ,bo medical. paw and engineer corps Oh
,h. Navy: the provision that no moro
csdct engineers shall be appointed W
the Secretary of the Navy; the aool'ion Vi .Ho
Grade of commodore; the PROVISIONS Iesui"'i"S
,o,uot,ons TO the grade OF rear-admiral; the pro-
I',, ,I,i,, IN, admiral and vice-admira sub
;ect TO retirement; the provisions AUTHORIZING 'lc
Socretorv 70 suspend work in such naVy-yardS Us
be NAV deem best. =,
lis evident that stubborn opposition from 'he
committee may be expected to most ei 'he he" 'oH-
,s,ation recommended by the Appropriations CoU-
,n,ttee Mr.. RobesOn, who prepared the Olil, -
,1oined and defended its provisions III d snoiU
snccch He did not, as some had eApecteu' 30 i"'S
olopc defence OF his administration as secretary u
the Navy, probably pIelerrins ~ """
which was sure to come 49,.
rrol Atsirs = member of the subcommittee,
od.ocotod some parts of the bill and opposed
o+ncrs-,specallv NJ the item making an appfoPll"-
ton to continue work the monitors ana 10 ocEin
the building of steel cruisers. If we are 10 nav"
new navy. Mr. Atkins thinks that the Dill 10 pro-
vide for il should come from the Committee OH
Naval Affairs MIR. O'Nelll, member OF Ile AplIo
uriatlon Committee opposed that feature OF INC Dill
which invests the Secretary of the Navy WIN au-
thorty to close navy-yaldS Mr'oNcih collo' Ai0'ii
a city which has uavy-yard
MIR. Wmtthorne. OF Tennessee, at last found the
onportuuity which he las long coveted. and he
smoke nearly two hours. The bh' ne
said. had been prepared by tie mana
of master 1t sought to restore
and perpetuate the autocratic power when
characteriz and diSgraced the administration OF
the Navy Department from 1872 TO 1877. we are
called upon, he said, to appropriate money TO oe-
cin tie buiding of two new cruisers. How and BY
whom are they to be bult9 Mr.. Whitthorno op-
posed the proposition to give the Secretary OF the
Navy so much power in rcorganizing IFS personnel
Mr. Wmtthorue then turned his attention TO the
unfinished ronclads and declared that hls " Repub-
Gcau friends were asked by the cunning iramer OF
this bill to approve and ndOrse his administration
of the Navy Department"
The Tennessee statesman then entered upon
long dgression and brought loF-
nidabIe array of statistics to prove
his position. that Secretary Robeson had squan-
dered 49,. 900 900, for which the Government had
almost no,hipr 10 show in the shape of vessels of
war DO Won realize how much $50. 900 600 lsT
exclaimed Mr. Whitth0me. 4" Your Naval Commit
Tee has brought in the estimates OF an advisory
hoard. which show that 10 build thrty-eight ne~
ships of war-three OF them ifteen-knot steel crus-
ers five fourteen-knot steel cruisers and ten thir
.e..-knot steel crusers-will cost only
S9G1lOOOOr Mr. Wmtthofne reached the con-
cuson that Mr.. Robeson Secretary of the Navy
"deliberately squandered from $l5,O0O,O0O to
S2OO00000."
IurjDg he delivery Of this speech Mr. Robeson
a
notes and the other part in moving about from one
seat t. another. He did not interrupt Mr. Whit
thorne but several times his rosy countenance
flushed deeper red the vehement Tennesseean
uttered accusations of dishonesty and Maladninis
tratIOn against him.
Mr. Bowman. OF Massachusetts,, who IepTescnts n
navy yard district, made vigorous assault upon
that feature of the bill winch invests the Secretary
OF the Navy with authority to close
the navy yards and also upon the
provisions which forbid the appO intmcnt of any
except graduates of the Naval Academy as officers
of the staff OF rine in the Navy. Mr. Bowman paid
ahgh compliment to the administration OF oecre-
tary Robc>on and spoke of him as the father Of
the American Navy"
Mr Dezcudorf. of Virginia also represents navy
yard dlstnct--Norfck-an therefore be yigOr-
Ously opposed the idea Of giving the Secretary dis
crcIOndry power to suspend work at any navy
yard 10 prove that his opposition was diSatercsed,
Mr. Dezeudorf asserted that he is "tabooed" " by
this Administration. which is doing all In its
power to crush hun. Mr. DczendOrf wants new
Navy, and he wants the ships built IL the various
navy yards, that the money expended Will " ben
ent the various sections" He Is anxiou, tha some
OF this money shall be spent at Norfolk, notwith-
standing that the more money spent tho worse it
vii! be for me politically" Mr Dezeudosf is a
stIaight-out Republican, and has from the first op-
po.ed the coalition movement III Virginia. His
speech attracted mach attention.
lne tone If comment among Republican Iuem-
beIs Ol the House tins Afternoon lnGIra'c tDat most
Of them think II very unfortunate that 30 attempt
To rrOrgauize the Navy shouG have bcon luade IL
a. appropriation bIIl prepared 10y ex-SccIc,aiy
EoOesou, aud many OF them expressed surprise
int Nil Rpbeson should have invited attack 10y
seeking q place Oh the Appropriations Committee
and tlIe chairmsusiup Of Tho sub-cocnuitee 20 pre-
pare this particular OIL. Under the circumstances
+ u not very mprob,blr tIat tie liIl w!I bc
O. 1 pef ftlf
u-un n LlN -hu-- ~ ...1 ..lunl.-. Mr