The age-herald., 1900-04-20
Question of Navy Making Sur
 vey of Our Foreign Coasts.
CANNON WAS OPPOSED TO 1T
Coast and Geodetic Survey as Before the Islands
 Were Ceded

| practically the entire day debating prop l sition in the naval bill designed to turn | over to the navy, the survey, and charting | of the waters of Cuba, Porto Rico and the | Philippines MT. Cannon, chairman of the 1 appropriation committee, led the fight against 1t, arguing that this duty be per l formed by the coast and geodetic survey In the end the house sustained his view, adopting an amendment to appropriate l only the regular $10,000 for ocean surveys l The chairman of the committee of the whole, MT. Payne, overruled the point of order against the appropriation for the new naval academy, but an amendment l offered by MT Cannon was adopted prov 1 ing that before the money appropriated l by the bill for the academy be expended on plans of the whole improvement not to cost exceeding $6,OOOO0O, be submitted and approved by the secretary of the navy.
 Mr. Moody of Massachusetts advocated 1 the amendment, which he said was design 1 ed to create rival of the coast and geo. detic survey in the navy department. The navy had sought many times to control l it. To place portion of the work under the control of the military, he said, would l be the first step in the wrong direction, and should be resisted to the end. Danger of Miiitarism | To yield would be to incur the first dan l ger of miltarism so much dreaded. He cited the case of the naval observatory to prove that there was not proper admin | stration of scientific work under naval of- | fcers. He contrasted the cost of the work | at the Greenwich and Harvard observa- l tories with that of the naval observatory | in Washington. The work of the naval ob- | servatory was, he said, the laughing stock of the scientific world. Every man to his own trade.
 MT. Foss replied that 1t was not the pur. pose of the committee to abolish the coast and geodetc survey but simply to confine it to the jurisdiction originally given un- der the revised statutes. He contended | that the navy from the days of John Paul | Jones had always conducted the ocean sur | veys, and called attention to recent naval surveys of Guam and Porto Rico Several small vessels were engaged in the work in the Philippines. Why should not the ships on these stations do the work?
 MT Corliss of Michigan interrupted to say that the navy had been duplicating the | work of the war department on the great | lakes.
 MT. Foss said he was not much concerned with the great lakes as he was with the waters of the islands of the seas, where our officers were compelled to take our big battleships and be responsible for their safety. Was it fair to hold officers respon- sble for ships sailing over chartered by civilians? A lively debate followed.
 Poxed Fun at Survey Bureau
 Mr. Cummings of New York argued that the proposed surveys should be made by the navy, not by a semi-political bureau l like the coast and geodetic survey. He | poked fun at the superintendent of the sur vey, who, he said, flew his own flag while afloat like flag officer of the navy. He | read letter from a man now in the sur | yey, who had served twenty years at sea. | The letter described the work as pie" Nobody knows anything but me-, it said
 q am commanding officer I was only boatswain in the navy.'
 | MT. Cannon concluded the debate in favor of the amendment. The officers of the navy were educated to fight, he said, not to per- form civil duties.
 | Tn the performance of civil duties said he, with great emphasis. they are | the most incompetent and the most expen- sive." In the burst of applause that fal- lowed this utterance some one cried out l something about Dewey"
 "oh, am not talking politics." respond ed MT. Cannon "I am talking dollars and cents and efficient survey. I am a l a6uoirer of 6poir n the other officers and men who served in the Spanish war. I love them so we'll that when see men trying to set them to work at something at which they cannot sus- tain themselves, call halt" Oaughter | and applause.)
 MT. Cannon's amendment was adopted | finally, Ill to 40.
 The chair then overruled the point of | order pending against the appropriation of $35O,00O for the new naval academy at Annapolis.
 MT. Cannon thereupon moved an amend ment to limit the total cost of proposed improvements at Annapolis Qncluding the l money already expended and appropriated in this bilD to $6,OOO,OOO including a re- duction in the cost of the cadet barracks. which were to house 245 boys, and, as de- | oi6ucu was lO cost 10 $l,UUO, ,OOO He said the entire plans called for s120Oo,- 0OO
 After considerable debate as to the ex- travagance of the proposed expenditures, Mr. Cannon offered a substitute for his original amendment to appropriate $350,0 for the cadet barracks providing that be- fore any of the money was expended plans should be approved by the secretary of the navy, which would keep the cost of the whole improvement within ss,OOO,OOo The substitute was agreed to, 76 to A.
 Without completing the bill the commit | tee rose.
 The house at 5:20 adjourned | THE ,E>ATE
 Washington. April 19.-In accordance with the recommendation of the president l in his message sent to congress yesterday