Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1907-07-20

PLANS READY FOR
TRANSFER OF FLEET
Tsg ~ .- fp
Rear Admiral Evans 10 Transmit
Needs Of Command to Navy
Department Next Week.
WORK ON THEN BEGAN WEEKS AGO
Verbal instructions Given to Naval
! Chiefs Following a General Con
terence on the sublect-Trip to Pa
ciHc Coast Not Considered as In
volving Unusual Work.

WASHINGTON, ID. c., July 10
Rear Admiral Robley ID. Evans. IT,.
S. ~ commander In chief of tho At
i,niic fleet. who Is now Mt Lake Mo
honk, N Y, will return to his flag
ship. the Connecticut. Mt tho New
York Navy Yard early next week,
ana soon thereafter will be prepared
to transmit to the Navy Department
memorandum Of the needs OF his
command in It's forthcoming cruise to
the Pacific Rear Admiral Evans has
been considering the problems of the
voyage since he was informed moro
than two weeks ago that President
IoosevcltS purposod to send the bat
tleship fleet to the Pacific not lator
than n certain set date four OF five
months hence.
The effort made in certain quarters
to put the administration In false
position of vacllnting by laying mn
warranted stress upon the fact that
no orders have been Issued for the
fleets departure fall absolutely flat
here, whore the fact liz appreciated
that governmental policies arc init
chiefs necessarily having to sign and
seal orders directing the change.
While all the details by which tho
change of policy was worked out can
not be revealed at this time. IL may
be stated that tho policy Of sending
tho hnttlcship fleet to the Pacific war
most carefully considered. and thai
While no written orders were issued
president Roosevelt informed Sccre
tary Metcnlf of tho purpose to change
The policy and that Rear Admira
Evuns, commanding tho Atlantic
fleet, and Rear Admiral Willard II
Brownson, chief OF the Bureau oil
Navigation, were also informed. This
having been done, there arose no no
,cessity for written orders.
Move Was Kept Secret.
X At that time there was n studied
purpose to keep secret the fact thai
u change of naval policy had beer
determined upon. Few surcr ways
exist of causing a secret to become
known that to conildc 1T to nm ON
ciai document which, IN compliance
with red tape methods. must be
copied many times, Endorsed by many
different persons and transmitted
through many different hands. Rear
Admiral Evans was notified In n man
ner sufficiently official to cause hin
immediately to give his earnest
thought and attention to the prob
lcm.
When the fact OF tho contemplated
cruise of the battlcships to the Pacific
did become known through ohlcia
sources there remained no reason fol
,concealmcnt of orders, hut, on tho
other hand, there was presented nc
occasion for them.
Tho decision to transfer tho fleet
was reached at time when all the
ships were in dockyards undergoing
the annual repairs. which arc con
Quoted on II scale which fits the shiI
for any kind of service. whether II
he cruise from tho New York Navy
Yard to Tompkinsville. Staten Is
land, or to San Francisco via Ma
gellun.
The idea that Immediately 1t was
decided to transfer tho battleships tc
the Pacific there must he n great
hustle of preparation, prcdicatcd up
on the assumption that the Atlantic
fleet is ~ collection of inefficient junk
and that the naval figures which
credit the ships with ability to cruise