The Washington herald., 1907-01-18

and CaIiber "a Guns Divided be-
tween Them larger Types Would
save GOveFnn.ent Millions in Cost.
| The President has taken a hand in the
fight which is going on in the House Com
mittee on Naval Affairs over the increase
of the navy. Lest his position should not
be thoroughly understood, and TO empha-
size his views ne has written a letter TO
chairman FCss, OF the committee, in
(which he recommends the construction Of
frst-class battle ships and submarines.
lOf the former he urges that provision for
two be included I'm the pending bin. and
as to the submarines he declares his thor
Iough belief in developing and building IAN
Iadequate number. leaving this matter
largely TO the discretion of the committee.
The President asserts that unless one
frst-class battle shi? is built every year
the navy viii so backward Whether the
committee will accede TO his demand for
two 6rst-class battle ships in the bin this
year is "a question of much doubt. but the
lmatter Of submarines IS looked upon with
Imuch more favor by some members Of the
lcommittee. their contention being that
this sort Of naval increase can be accom-
plished at much less proporuonate cost
than the big battle ships, and much
quicker.
Submarines Are Cheaper.
There are now pending in the commit
tee bills for the building Of thirty sub
marines all Of which would cost less than
one big battle siip OF the Dreadnought
size. There has been some question in
the minds OF some members of the com
mittee as 20 whether the bill Of last year
actually authorized the building Of a big
battle ship. IN view OF the Senate S
amendment. and there is a strong senti-
ment i'm the committee fin favor only OF
authorizing this year one battle ship.
namely, the one for which the plans
have been submitted TO Congress by the
/ Navy Department
The Presidents letter to Chairman Foss
follows:
Il feel 50 strongly that there should De
two frst-cIass battle ships Of the maxi
mum size and speed. and with their
TO the navy this session, that I desire 20
lay the matter before your committee
through this letter. These two big ships
should include the one provided for last
year and the one provided for this year.
Ii must be remembered that / am not
asking for any increase IN the navy. be-
cause, unless we can provide at the rate
Of Il battle ship per year. our navy will
. go backward
Moreover, am advising that our
money be spent economically. Il has
( / been a waste of money 10 provide for
such ships as the sinslc-turret monitors
and. while the cruisers. and especially the
: great armorcd cruisers. serve some use
/ ful purposes, 10 would nevertheless have
/ been infinitely better 10 have spent the
/ money which was actually spent on them
in the construction of first class battle
ships. Our great armored cruisers are
practically as expensive TO build and
maintain as battle ships and yet, taking
the battle snip all around for the purposes
for which a navy is really needed. its su-
T periority 10 the armored cruiser is enor-
5 NOUS.
Navy's Strength II in Battle Ships
) Il thoroughly believe in developing and
= building an adequate number Of sub.
. marines; 1 believe in building torpedo
boat deStroyers; there must be a few fas
scouts, and, Of course, various auxiliary
e vessels Of different kinds But tn,
strength Of the navy rests primarily upOa
, its battle ships. and in building these bat
5 tie ships it is imperauvely necessary. from
standpoint alike of efficiency and econ.
,
{ their kind In my judgment we are not
to be excused If we build any battle ships
inferior to those now being built by other
nations.
Il should be glad il a limitation could
be put, by International agreement. tc
the size of battle ships hereafter to be
/ built. I have found, however. that il
viii undoubtedly De impractieable to Sc
cure any such agreement in the near fu-
tUre. In the firsJ-class navies, generally
these big battle ships have already been
built. or are now building. We cannot
/ afford 70 fan behind. and we shall fall
behind if we fail to build fiTst-class bat
tie ships ourselves. Unless we intend
to go on building up the fleet. we should
abandon every effort to keep the posi-
tion which we now hold, whether in the
/ racine ocean. OF IN American waters
generally Our Justification for uphold
ins the Monroe Doctrine and for digging
the Panama Canal must rest primarily
upon our willingness 10 build and main
tain a frst-class fighting fleet BE il re-
/ membered. moreover. that such a fleet
is by far the most potent guaranty OF
peace which this nation has or can ever
have
Advantage of Larger War Vessels.
7 therefore desire TO lay before you
the following reasons for my belief in
b the advantages Of battle ships of large
displacement with their primary batteries
all of one type Of big guns. as compared
with all other fighting craft I need
hardly say that in what I am about to
write I speak of one type Of battle shin
when compared with another type on the
supPosition that both are handled equally
well and that the conditions under which
they meet are normal. a great superiority
= Of skill VIII compensate for a marked in
feriority in ship or weapons. and under
abnormal conditions, even an ordinarily
poor ship may be match for shin
which, under usual conditions. is far its
superior.
Much Of the information showinr the
superior value of battle ships of large
displacement. high speed. and great gun
power is OF a very technical nature and
cannot be briefly stated This is especially
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