The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-03-25

| appropriation bill was taken up IN the
house today. and after considerable diff
ficulty an arrangement was made to
close general debate at 1 o'clock to-
Morrow. There was great pressure for
| time. but the leaders decided to limit,
as far as possible, the opportunity for
| infammatory utterances. The debate
| today was not on sensational lines. but
every radical expression was cheered to
/ the echo by the crowded galleries. The
speeches of Messrs. Dayton of West
Virginia and Arnold of Pennsylvania,
both of whom took advanced positions
in favor of aggressive action to stop
| the war in Cuba, aroused intense en-
! thusiasm. Messrs. BoutelIe, chairman
/ of the naval committee, and Myer
! Dem. Lao, also a member of the COM
mittee, confined their remarks closely
to the bill and the extraordinary emer-
| geacy which necesSitated the large in
crease it carried. Several of the other
| speakers discussed political questions.
BILL PRESENTED.
/ Mr.. BoutelIe stated that it was ex-
ceedingly important that the bill should
be passed as speedily as possible. 1t
was the most complete measure for
J the iolNciA
ever reported to the house. The rea-
sons were too obvious to require men
tiOning The committee over which he
presided had been impressed with an
earnest desire to meet completely the
expectations of the house and the coun-
try in providing this great arm OF the
naval defense with all reasonable re-
quirements to meet any exigency that
might arise.
THEATRE OF WAR.
Mr.. Myer Dem, La.), one of the
members of the naval committee, then
took the floor. Mr.. Myer. after referring
to the extraordinary circumstances un-
der which the naval bill came up for
consideration at this time, said that
the theatre of war. if such must come,
would not be on land, but on the sea.
Our army required no addition to place
us in position of defense. 1t is large
enough for peace purposes, and can
easily and quickly be expanded in event
of war.
But" said he, you cannot impro-
wise a navy, even with fifty ozone hun
dred millions placed at the discretion
of the president. You may have an
ample supply Of officers. yet even these
require experience in the handling of
ships and in habits of command. Nor
can you make sailor as quickly as
you can a soldier. Still less can you
improvise a man-Of-wars crew with a
thorough knowledge of all discipline
and training to make them effective in
a sea battle. a battleship or armored
cruiser is not built in a day. any more
than Rome was-not even in the old
days of wooden ships could war fleet
be improvised or built expediticusly.
ACME OF FOLLY.
and to await naval preparations until
war actually arrives, in the hope that
disparity in naval force can be speed
lily corrected, is an idea unworthy of
rational and patriotic men. 1t is the
very acme of human folly So much
has been said in the press and on the
stump about the new navy that the
public Rave grossly overestimated its
fighting capacity. True l may assert
that the ships we have are of the best
and our personnel active keen and
equal 70 TIE highest traditions of their
predecessors. 1t is indeed a powerful
naSy compared with the best fleet of
wooden shiDs that the United States
O.. any ether nation ever possessed, but
it is far inferior to the present navies
OF France. Germany and Russia 1t is
a very small navy compared with that
% Great Britain. 1t is inferior to that
OF Italy, a country nearly bankrupt,
with about one third of our population.
and still more inferior in wealth. and
the interests she may be called on to
defend.
THE NEW NAVY
There are only four battleships of the
first class and two of the second-class.
One Of these, the Maine. now lies at the
botIon Of Havana harbor, the victim.
probably. of an assassin's foul act,
whose instigators, whoever they may
be, evidently took no thought from the
words of the English statesmen. that
assassination has never changed the
history of the world So, then, we have
only five battleships left. We have five
more of the first-class now being built,
and these. the secretary tells us, will
not be ready for service before the lat
ter part of 1899 say IS to 90 months
from now. Even the torpedo boats-an
essential part of our system of coast
defense-will not be ready for a con-
siderable time to come.
OUR DUTY.
Holding these views as to our duty
and the public necessities, I welcome
the exceedingly modest and reasonable /
addition of three battleships and six
torpedo boats and six torpedo boat de- I
stroyers proposed by the bill. With /
tludl SdllSldCllOH lO NAH the steps /
which propose to give our warships adj /
equate docking and repair facilities I
upon the Atlantic, the Pacific and the /
Gulf coast.
THE $5O000.O00 appropriation unani- I
mously voted by congress was not only !
a declaration of our purpose to stand |
by the country in time of war: it was
also a confession by congress that we
are lacking, sadly lacking, in prepara-
and that no
freely voted, would do to atone for our
past neglect and want of foresight.
would be cheerfully, promptly given"
LET WAR COME.
Mr. Dayton (Rep.. W. Va.). another
member of the committee, in discussing
the bill, spoke feelingly of the Maine
explosion. But the blowing up of the
Maine" said he, lis mere incident
with that greater and more
horribly tragedy which is Transporting
1aily before our eyes, and which we, as
1 great and enlightened nation. insist
must stop. Great applause) Two hun
ired and fifty-seyen sailors have gone
Town in Havana harbor: 25O. 900 people
ire dead in Cuba, and 250,000 more,
mostly women and children are being
starved to death. We do not know that
Spain blew up the Maine. but we do
know that she is responsible for the
leadly murder in Cuba. This thing
must cease. l hope without war, but if
var is necessary, let it come" CAP
)lause)
NO ARBITRATION.
Mr.. Arnold tRep., Pa discussed for
few minutes SPANS responsibility for
he blowing up of the Maine When he
declared that arbitration would not be
accepted by the American people there
vas. round of applause. Our flag, he
insisted, had been insuted, and our
lonor was at stake.
Mr.. Tate Dem, Ga.). a member of
he committee, and Mr.. briggs (Dem.,