The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-12-10
GENERAL PORTER
 PRAISES THE NAVY
FORMER AMBASSADOR TO FRANCE AND ADMIRAL DEWEY GUESTS AT A BANQUET GIVEN IN CHl- CAGO.

Chicago, December 9-Three hundred members of the Merchants club and numerous invited guests were in atten- dance at the banquet given tonight by the organization at which Admiral George Dewey and General Horace Porter were guests of honor. The chief address or the evening was delivered by General Porter, who spoke on the subject of The Old Navy and the New"
 Admiral Dewey was persuaded to speak few words, although he declared upon his arrival in thS city that he had only accepted the invitation upon the assur- ance that he would not be expected to make a speech When President Charles Wacker of the club introduced General Porter in felicitous speech. r which ne alluded to the services of the general lh war and the excellent record he had made as ambassador to France, the guests rose to their feet and cheered Justify.
 General Porter spoke in part as follows
 My purpose Is not to give you the his- tory of the United States navy That would compel me to carry you through all the incidents included in record or heroism from Paul Jones to his legitimate successor, George Dewey. l will only speak generally of what the navy has ae- COmp1Sned, US I1ldtcHltSS 6nhaheiS "HN its necessity to the country.
 The speaker then briefly sketched the condition of the old navy at the out break of the revolution and It's condition at the commencement of the war of 1512, and told of the neglect that has been the part of the navy for twenty years ago, when the building of the new navy was commenced.
 We cannot afford, said General Por- ter, to rest on our laurels while rival na- tions are steadily increasing their naval armament It must remembered that some foreign countries continue to build up not only powerful naval vessels. but at the same time swift commercial steam CTS constructed under government super vision. and subject to service as auxiliary cruisers in time of war we must not deceive ourselves as to our relative weak ness in this respect.
 "The entire world Is today naturally looking to peace. The only question Is how to secure 1t. It has been fully dem onstrated that strong navy Is not menace, but a conservative force. It may be dangerous when wieded by an arbitrary sovereign, but never when di- rected by the just sovereign We have shown that government may be pro- gressive without being aggressive; that people may be military without being warlike. We have verified our belief that war should be undertaken only in tho interest of peace, and that a nations prosperity depends upon public tran quillity.
 "One of the reasons why l have ac- cepted the presidency of the Navy League of America is because there Is most useful field for rapidly increasing or ganization, designed to promote the cause of maintaining competent navy, and to encourage those who enter that honor- able service"
 In closing. General Porter paid an elo- quent tribute to the men of the west who have enlisted in the navy. declaring that it was no longer necessary to depend upon enllstments offered at the seaboard. President Wacker then introduced Ad- miral Dewey, who was given most en- thusiastic greeting. and spoke briefly