The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1903-07-31
VIII WHAT 7; : ::A GREAT Navy MEANS:
ffesid & ent Re9seyeIt.s p Eg'eryid orntory ?:
81 Boiled Down to Hard Fa cts. ~

President RooseVelt's Fourth or July
pronouncementl that Eve need a. navy
equal, ship forship, to the navy Of any
other nation, = must mean, OF course,
that an American navy equal to the
Brltishis a national necessity. If the
president is right it is worth while to
to count the cost. The British navy,
according to the latest official return.
made al the beginning Of the current
year, included GAG vessels OF 1,401,OI
tons already built, and IS vessels build
Ing, of 40G, 1856 tons. Against this
total OF 624 vessels, OF !, ,807 1874 tons,
comprised in the Kings Nayee,n - the
United State had on the same late lO9
vessels Of 278,259 tons already built,
and 444 vessels, OF 200, 4S4 tons, build
ing; in all 1853 vessels Of 57S, 743 tons.
From this it plainly appears that to
realize Mr.. Roosevelt's ideal navy we
must build at once battleships, armor-
ed cruisers and other varieties Of the
ship militant aggregating the little
trifle OIL ,229, 13l tons. lisl = z
Now, whatlwould this cost?
The shortest way to answer the
/ question is to reduce it to battleship
terms. a first-class battlcship aver
ages 10000 tons displacement and costs
at least s5, 100000 to build. To get
even In the matter of ships built and
building with the British navy, as the
account stood on Jan. last, we must
therefore build the equivalent Of more
than 80 battleShips at a cost OF 4$4OO,-
100000. Admiral Melville has stated
the actual first cost OF our navy as it
stands today, including the vessels
now building, and the auxiliary ex-
penditures indSpensa BILE to maintain
Ing 1t afioat-doclls, coaiing stations,
training ships, etc.,-at $3.50, 600, 900.
The. same authority says the actual
cost Of creating a navy is double the
mere first cost Of building the ships.
On the basis of this expert testimony
Dir. Roosevelt's navy, equal ship for
ship" the Great BrItain's, would cost
US $500, 900, 00O plus what we have al
ready spent just to call it into ex-
istence. Meanwhile the ships we
have are becoming obsolete or worn
out. The New York, Indiana and
Iowa are laid up for repairs" that
will cost S500,0OO for each.
Furthermore, Great Britain IS year
by year increasing the pace of naval
construction. She has increased her
naval expenditures nearly threefold
during the pastl years, and they now
exceed $3.50, 100000 annually, At our
present rate Of construction, unless the
British pace is lowered, we shall never,
catch up with her, but shall grow rel
atively weaker We must seer her
$3.50, 1000, 900 a year5for naval purposes
and add at least s70, 900, 600 a year to
it IN order to oyertalSe her within / 3
years. y !, Sls
This Is in fact tansund nderestimateEb be-
cause it costs US 30 per cent; mole to
build a Warship ip tina "a + docs GreatpBri-;
tian and 30'pef3 cent: sfnore to mains
tain IL In service. III ence nearly one
third must be added to the vast totals
of cost above given for the realization
of our fighting Presidents naval dream.
Naval appropriations aggregating not
much less than $500, 900, 900 yearly,
and containing for 13 years to come,
is the unavoidable price to be paid for.
the whistle Of q standing navy as big
as Great Britain's.
But what for? Do we really need
it? Who threatens us? Or whom do
we desire to threaten? What is the
the worldwide game Of war for which
Mr.. Roosevelt would have us 20 into
training? And would the game,
whatever it is, be worth so costly
candle.