The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-04-20

appropriations, to do this character of
work. They were trained in surveying
and navigation, and in times of peace they
might just as well be thus employed.
Surveys of the Great Lakes.
Mr.. Corliss asked if the surveys of the
Great Lakes were not being duplicated by
the Army and the Navy at an unnecessary
expense.
Mr.. Foss said that these departments
were working in unison and that they did
not duplicate each others work.
Mr.. BromweIl of Ohio supported Mr.. Foss
in his position. Mr. Burton asked if the
section under consideration did not operate
to enlarge the sphere of the Navy by Civ
ing to it's officers duties which they had
never before been called upon to perform.
Mr.. Foss said that every navy in the
world, except those of Portugal and the
United States, conducted the surveys of the
coasts. The American Navy should have
the right, he said. 10 survey uncharted
seas. over which its ships had to sail. He
said that the merchant marine used the
Mercator chart and not the Polyconic chart.
In this statement he was corrected by
Mr. Moody.
Mr.. Foss paid tributes to the gallantry,
ability, adaptability, and versatility of the
American naval officer. The survey of the
Philippine coast. he said, could be done by
the Navy with greater economy than by
the Coast and Geodetic Survey He did
not favor the abolishment of that survey.
He would confine 1t, though, to its legiti
mate sphere. the survey of the coasts of
the United States. That branch of the
Treasury Department had all the work 1t
could do. Only recently had 1t completed
its first survey of the Atlantic, and Gulf
coasts. Mr.. Foss read from President
Cleveland's message concerning alleged
abuses and neglect in the Coast and Geo.
detic Survey.
This service" wrote Mr.. Cleveland
has never been regulated, excepting by
the most indefinite and unsatisfactory
rule" Mr.. Foss said he did not want the
Jurisdiction of the Coast and Geodetic
Survey enlarged.
Mr.. McRae followed Mr. Foss in oppo-
sition to the section on surveys. He said
it was not wholly true that ocean surveys
in the main had been made by naval Off
GERS. He referred to the present scarcity
OF naval officers. The Coast and Geodetic
Survey was transferred from the Navy
Department to the Treasury Department
because the charts produced under the
naval administration had not been satis-
factory to the merchant marine. As a
rule warships were not adapted for sur
veying purposes. The cost would be in
creased if those insular surveys were
committed to the navy.
Mr.. Bromwell of Ohio followed Mr.. Nc
Rae. He spoke of the vast commerce of
the Great Lakes. The surveys of the har-
bors had been made by the Engineer Corps
of the Army. This had been the province
of the Army for sixty years. All the Navy
had done was to take the Army charts
and republish them under authority of
the Navy Department. He opposed the
transfer of the lake work to the Navy, as
contemplated in the bill.
Mr.. Berry's Argument.
Mr.. Berry of Kentucky took the floor
in defence of the section under debate.
He said the Coast and Geodetie Survey re-
minded him of an old hen that had hatched
out dozen duck eggs and cackled in great
distress when its little ones went into the
water. The Navy had the ships and the
men and it was the duty of the Navy to
survey the seas. Mr.. Berry criticised the
Treasury Department for extending itself
over too great territory.
What has the Treasury Department, or
what ought it to have, to do with the
Life Saving Service or the Light House
Service?" said Mr.. Berry in conclusion.
Mr.. Cummings of New York spoke in
favor Of the proposition contained in the
appropriation bill. He said he would con-
tradict the impression which it was sought
by some to scatter abroad that the bill
was aggressive to the Coast and Geodetic
Survey. 1t was aggression on the part of
the Coast Survey to seek to defeat the
Mr.. Cummings characterized the Coast
and Geodetic SuIve. as political bureau.
run by civilians Hho put on uniforms more
ornamented than. those worn at the battle
Of Manila The superintendent of the
bureau had, on his own account, adopted
flag that very much resembled the official
flag Of Admiral Dewey. He said the su-
perintendent was neither q surveyor nor
a seaman.
Mr.. Hepburn of Iowa replied TO Mr. |
Cummings. He declared that the aggres-
sion in the case under discussion came
from the Navy Department, which sought
10 rout the Treasury Department. He
that the adoption of the provi |
sion attacked would involve a ruthless !
waste Of public money. Why" he asked |
'if you have the trained men, the ships. |
and the appliances, do you need a hun
ired thousand dolla,s?''
Mr.. Foss said this was needed for the |
publication of the rssults of the survey.
Mr.. Littlefeld of Maine said, being |
neither a member of the Appropriation |
Committee nor that on Naval Affairs, he |
could look upon the question with disin- !
terestedness. He reviewed the history OF |
the American Navy. He said it had come |
through two years of war without |
breath of scandal Mr.. Littlefield gently |
rebuked Mr.. Moody for his assault on the
naval administration o! the Naval observ-
atory.
Mr.. Moody-Has not member of this
House the right on this floor to criticise
,r commend the Navy? If he has not, it
S about time that We should know 1t.
Mr.. Littlefeld-I will admit that. but /
lain the right also to call attention to
hat criticism.
Mr.. Littlefield said he thought $780, 900
o the Navy would not be such an extrava-
yance as one or two millions of dollars to
he Coast and Geodetic Survey.
Mr.. Cannon Takes the Floor.
Mr.. Cannon then took the floor He said
ne wanted TO get rid of Mysteries, pyro-
echnics. grandilocuelce, defamation,
oose statements, and firebTands, and get
iown to a few hard facts II was a busi-