The Washington herald., 1906-12-20

The increasing need Of this country for
u larger and more powerful navy was
brought out strongly by Representative
George Edmund Foss, Of Illinois, chair
man Of the House Naval Committee. la
his address before the Sons Of the A'ueri-
can Revolution at their monthly meet
ing, held at RaUschers last night.
America, he argued. must not permit
itself to be lulIed TO a false sense Of Sc
curity by present conditions and cease
the present work Of construction 20
splendIdly begun; she should prepare IN
time of peace for the war into which "ny
nation OF her prestige and power Is IN
danger Of being precipitated. Mr.. F0ss
paid tribute TO the recent Secretaries OF
the Navy for their tireless energy ia re-
building the American navy and raising
it from the twenty-hrst Cwhere II stood
soon after the close Of the civil war; 10
the third greatest fighting power IL TIE
face Of the globe to-day.
Some people think" he said, that we
should stop this work Of reconstruction
that the time is soon coming when AL
disputes viii be settled by arbitration
Nobody hopes for that time mere than dc
l. But that time is not yet here The
people who would use the Golden Rule in
settling all disputes under he sun seen
10 forget the fact that soon after the
adjournment Of The Hague Peace Con
ference the instigatcr of that conference
Russia. was engaged in one Of the blood
lest struggles known 20 history, Jnat
4 an EsrF
death with the Beers. and that all Of the
civilized nations made preparations, and
are yet making preparations. for war, the
like OF which has never been in the his
tory Of the world
Must Be Ready.
we must be prepared. The war be-
tween Russia and Japan showed clearly
that the nation which is prepared for tho
struggle may cripple the other az the out
set IN such a manner that 81 will never
recover In my estimation fl was the
fact that the japanese were prepared
more than any other one thing. that en-
abled them to so overwhelmingly defeat
their opponents.
We have too many interests which de-
mand the protection Of war ships to stoT
the building OF war vessels yet. our pos
sessions are not confined 20 one continent
We have far-Off Alaska 10 guard. The
Philippines 10 watch, and the Panama
Canal 60 protect We must be in a posi-
ton 10 enforce the Monroe doctrine. W,
must defend our foreign policies, and. per.
haps the most important Of all. we should
be ever ready to lend aid 20 our citizens
\ government that is not able TO protect
its citizens Is not worthy Of the name OF
government"
Takes I'D Marine Question.
Mr. Foss then discussed the question OF
the expenses Of building and maintaining
an efficient marine service
Many" he continued. are prone "a
object TO the building Of large navy on
account of the increased cost It is true
that the cost is large. one hundred mil
lions Of dollars are expended annually in
the work. But after all. this is little
more in proportion than our forefathers
spent. one hundred millions represents q
cost Of about 81 10 every man. woman
and child in the United States each year
and a little more than per cent Of the
total commerce Of this country"
At the business meeting. which preceded
Mr. Foss' address. the following newly
elected members were installed. NJ J.
Jones. r 3. Sergeant r. II. MCNEIL. +
Kessler. II. n. McGruder. Z. c. Garvin
and r. ". Wells.