The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-02-26
NAVY BILL BEFORE HOUSE Building Program PrOyOk-
 cd Debate.
 -s FEWER SHIPS SUGGESTED Amendment to Annul Ordered
 BattleShip Lost.
FEWER SHIPS SUGGESTED
Russian-Japanese War Cited by Many of Orators of House Bat
 tleships and Cruisers Have Friends.


 gram of the navy as contained in the pending navy bill occupied the attention of the House throughout the day and the fight is by no means over. The mi- nority members of the Navy Committee, under the leadership of Mir. Meyer Of Louisiana, first gave their endorsement to the measure, are campaigning for a reduction of the number of ships to be authorized. The amendment to strike out the ordered battleship yesterday made by Mr. Burton of Ohio, was defeated. The cruisers were then put to the test, and enough friends for them were found for their retention. The construction of the ships in Government yards proved to be fruitful topic for discussion and an amendment by Mir. Bell of California, le- quiring one collier to be built in a Gov ernment yard was amended
 A proposition for preferential of, ,4 per cent. in favor of bids from the Pacific Coast was defeated after Mir. McDermott (N. J.). had delivered humorous speech in which the shipbuilding trust and the State of New Jersey were put forwa d for the charitable consideration of the House.
 Japanese War a Lesson.
 Mir. Gillett tMass.). said the present
 
 justified the building program in the bill We see Russia" he continued, ''that enormous power. menaced and humillated by power not quarter or a tenth her size. Is not the only clear reason for this because Russia's power on the sea is not commensurate with her power on land? what would Russia give today II she had followed another program for her navy during the past ten years :. asked Mir. Gillett. Tn chances which la. pan had to win in this war, he declared to be about even.
 Mir. Fitzgeraid (N, Y.9. declared that before the war between Japan and Rus sia broke out. Russia's navy was mol than double that of Japan.
 Tn ships. continued Mir Fitzgerald. al the scene of action the two powers were declared to be about equal. But. he add ed. 1t was the efficiency of Japan's men behind the guns that counted.
 Tn concluding the debate on the Bur- ton amendment. Mir Foss pointed to t&s scurrying to the interior of the country of the frequenters of summer resorts by the sea during the Spanish war. T1e rich. he declared, paid a visit to the banks. got their strong boxes and fled into the interior
 Mir Burton's amendment was lost on a rising vote of 6 to 12s.
 Mir Burton (O.), and Mir. BishoT (Mich.) were the only Republicans tc support the amendment. while fully twen- ty Democrats voted against the measure Mir. W. W. Kitchen moved to strike from the bill the provision for two arr mored cruisers. Defeated-65 10 126.
 Mir. McNary CMass.l offered an amend. ment for the construction of ten torpedo boat destroyers of which five shall be built in government navy yards. Mir. McNary called attention to the great work of torpedo boats at Port Arthur. He said that the United States stood far be- hind other nations in this respect.
 Mir. Dayton CW. Va.) said the United States navy consisted of 4s ships of the larger class. such as battleshlps and cruisers; 49 vessels of the messenger class; 6S of the gunboat or "pop-gun'' class; and 61 in the guerilla warfare" or torpedo boat and torpedo boat destroyer class. He held this was an ample num- ber of the latter classes. These boats were easily and quickly built If needed for an emergency.
 No New Torpedo Boats
 Mir Foss. in opposing the torpedo boat destroyer amendment attributed the suc- cess of Japan at Port Arthur to the fact.
  not been declared. The Japanese Minis ter had not left St. Petersburg and the Russian Minister had not left Tokio The Russians, he said. might have been car- rying out this alleged peace policy of which so much was being said. It was not wise course. he said, to form poli- cies on the reports of the hour. The prop CT time to draw a lesson from the Japa. nese- Russian war was after 1t had been terminated. The amendment was defeat. ed, 56 to S1.
 An amendment by Mir Rixey tVa.) lim- iting to a maximum price of s39S a ton the amount to be paid for armor plates and should arnor not be obtainable at this price that a government armor plant be erected was ruled out of order.
 Mir. Bell (Cal.) offered an amendment providing that the two collieries author ized by the bill should be built in govern ment yards. one on the Pacific and one on the Atlantic coast.
 MT. williams (Mlss.) favored construct ing all of the smaller craft for the navy in government yards. The Bell amend ment was modified to provide that one col- Her should be built in government yard and was adopted.
 Mir Humphrey (Wash.), offered an amendment granting a preferential of 1 per cent. in favor of Pacific coast bids for the construction of the ships author ized in the bill. MT. Williams also de- clared himself greatly astonished that such a provision ever had been carried in naval appropriation bill. It was de generation of reason and disease of im- agination" developed by the Republican policy of protection. he declared, which could extend that protection to a local industry in one part of the United States against another part of the country.
 Messrs Cushman and Jones (Wash. ] spoke for the amendment. Mir. Cushman asked MT. Williams to reconcile his oppo- sltion with his own vote of million dol lars to destroy cotton worms" in the South.
 McDermctt on New Jersey.
 MT. McDermott (N. J.9, entertained the House by a five minute speech proposing that all the ships provided for in the bin be built in the State of New Jersey. New Jersey. he said, was one of the original thirteen States and therefore more enti- fled to consideration than California. 'It - ,S1-.As,,,,ad o., nors, Hnv,