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


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.
MIR Foss said that these departments
were working in unison and that they did
not duplicate each others work.
Mr. Bromwell 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 its 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 lie
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
.
the Navy with greater economy than by
the Coast and Geodetic Survey. He did
not favor the abolishment Of that survey.
He would confne IT, though, to its legiu-
mate sphere the survey OF the coasts or
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
| CIeveland'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" MIR. Foss said he did not want the
] jurisdiction Of the Coast and Geodeuc
! 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 salts
factory to the merchant marine. As a
| rule warships were not adapted for sur
]
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 Nrmy. 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.
MIR. Berry's Argument.
Mr.. Berry Of Kentucky took the floor
in defence Of the section under debate
He said the Coast and Geodetic Survey re-
minded him Of an old hen that had hatched
out a 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 itseli
over too great a territory.
What has the Treasury Department, OF
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. It was aggression on the part Of
the Coast Survey to seek TO defeat the
proposition.
Mr. Cummings characterized the COas
and Geodetic Survey as political bureau
run by civilians who put on uniforms mOr'
ornamented than those worn at the battle
Of Manila. The superintendent Of th'
bureau had, on his own account adopted ;
flag that very much resembled the ofticia
flag Of Admiral Dewey. He said the su
perintendent was neither a surveyor 70
a seaman.
Mr.. Hepburn OF Iowa replied TO Mr.
Cummings. He declared that the aggres
! sion in the case under discussion cam
from the Navy Department, which sOugh
10 rout the Treasury Department. II
contended that the adoption OF the proyi
| sion attacked would involve a ruthles
waste Of public money. Why" he asked
If you have the trained men, the ships
: and the appliances, do you need hun
5 dred thousand dollarsg'
Mr. Foss said this was needed for tn
publication Of the results Of the survey.
Mr. Littlefeld OF Maine said bein
neither a member Of the Appropriate
/ Committee nor that on Naval Affairs, h
- could look upon the question with disin
( terestedness. He reviewed the history G
8 the American Navy. He said It had com
- through two years OF war without
y breath Of scandal. Mr.. Littlefeld gentl
/. rebuked Mr.. Moody for his assault on th
e naval administration OF the Naval Obsery
{ atory.
\ Mr.. Moody-Has not a member of hi
e House the right on this floor to CRITICS
d or commend the Navy? II he has not,
- is about time that We should know It.
Mr.. Ltueheld-I will admit that. but
! claim the right also TO call attention
{ that criticism.
E Mr. Littlefeld said he thought $4,000
o to the Navy would not be such an extrava
1 gance as one or two millions Of dollars [
= the Coast and Geodetic Survey.
Mr.. Cannon Takes the Floor.
/ Mr.. Cannon then took the floor He sal
he wanted to get rid OF Mysteries. pyrC
: technics, grandnoquence, defamation
i loose statements. and frebrands, and g,
4 down to a few hard facts. It was a bus
\ ness proposition that confronted the Hous
4 Il was not a new contention. For nearl
4 a century the survey Of the coast an
4 waters Of the United States had bee
Z under the Coast and GeOdetic Surve.
Lnainly under civil authority. He said II
demand for the transfer did not come fro'
the Navy but from certain officers in tt
! Navy. who desired 90 absorb civil at
thority The naval officer was educate
to fight. He admitted that they wei
literally educated but primarily they wei
4 educated in the laws Of force. In Il
i matter of cost Mr. Cannon cited the SUI
s vey Of the harb0r OF Guam by the BeI
Z nington After spending two OF thr'