The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1907-12-03
LARGER NAVY NEEDED.
Appropriation For Four New Battleships
Strongly Recommended.

might deal with the question of the
Limitation OF armaments. hut even be.
fore II had assembled Informal In.
quiries had developed that as regards
naval armaments, the only ones In
which this country had any interest 1t
was hopeless TO try to devise any plan
Tor which there was the slightest pos
sibility OF securing the assent of the
nations gathered at The Hague. No
plan was even proposed which would
nave had the assent of more than one
nrst class power outside of the United
States. The only plan that seemed at
all feasible, that of limiting the size
OF battlcships, met with no favor ut
all IL Is evident, therefore. that it h
folly for this nation 10 base any hope
OF securing peace on any international
agreement as To the Limitation of nrma.
ments. Such being the fact IL would
be most unwisc for uS To stop the up.
building of our navy. To build one
Z battlcship OF the best and most ad.
vanccd type year would barely keep
our fleet up 10 It's present force. This
is not enough. In my Judgment. we
should this year provide for four bat.
/ teships But it is idle 10 build battle.
ships unless in addition to providing
the men and the means for thorough
training We provide the auxiliarics for
Them, unless we provide docks. the
/ cOallng stations, the collicrs and supply
ships that they need. We are extreme
~ deficient In coaling stations and
D docks tho T..
cy should not longer he permitted To
exist Plenty of torpedo boats aud de.
stroyers should hc built. Both on the
Atlantic and Pacific coasts fnrtinca-
tons of the best type should be pro
Nided for all our greatest harborS.
We need always To remember that
In time Of war the navy is not To lie
used to defend harbors aud scacoast
cities. We should perfect our system
OF coast fortiiications. The only eii-
cient use Cor the navy Is for onense.
The only way In which IL can efficient
~ protect our own coast against the
possible action OF foreign navy Is by
destroying that foreign navy. For de-
Tense against a hostile fleet which ac-
tually attacks them the coast cities
must depend upon their forts, mines,
torpedoes. submarines and torpedo
boats and dcstroycrs. All of these to-
Sether are efficient for defensive pur-
poses. but they In no way supply the
place of a thoroughly efficient navy
capable OF acting on the offensive. for
parrying never yet won n fight II can
only he won 10y hard hitting, and an
aggressive Scaguing navy alone can do
this hard hitting OF the offensive type.
But the forts and the like are neccs-
sary, so that the navy may he foot
loose In time Of war there Is sure TO
be demand under pressure of fright for
the ships 10 he scattered so as TO de-
fend all kind Of ports. Under penalty
OF terrible disaster this demand must
be refused. The ships must be kept
together and their objective made the
enemy's fleet. II fortiiications are suf-
fciently strong no modern navy viii |
venture TO attack them so long as the |
Zoe has In existence hostile navy OF |
anything like the same size or elIicien- |
cy. But unless there exists such n |
navy then the fortifications are power |
less by themselves to secure the vic. |
tory, for OF course the mere deficiency |
means that any resolute enemy can |
at his leisure combine all his forces |
upon one point with the certainty that
he can take It,
Until our battle fleet is much larger
than at present IL should never he split
into detachments so far apart that they
could not In event OF emergency be
speedily united. Our coast line is on |
the Pacific Just as much as on the At
lantic. The interests of California,
Oregon and Washington are as en-
the interests of the whole
Union as those of Maine and New
York, of Louisiana ana Texas. The
battle fleet should now and then be
moved TO the Pacific, just ns at other
times 1t should De kept I'm the Atlantic.
When the isthmian canal Is built the
transit of the battle fleet from one
ocean to the other will be comparative
" easy. Until II Is built | earnestly
hope that the battle fleet will be thus
between the two oceans every
year or two. The craftsmanship on
all our ships has improved phenome-
nally during the last FIVE years. Until
within the last two or three years II
was not possible TO train n battle feet
IN squadron maneuvers under service
conditions, and II is only during these
asst two or three years that the train
ng under these conditions has become
'eally effective. Another and most
necessary stride In advance is now be-
ng taken. The battle fleet is about
starting by the strait OF Magellan to
ilsit the Pacific coast. Sixteen bat
leships are going under the command
" Rear Admiral Evans. while eight
lrmored cruisers and two other battle.
hips will meet him at San Francisco.
shither certain torpedo destroyers are
iso going No fleet OF such size has
Yer made such voyage. and 1t viii
e OF very great educational use 10
IL engaged In It, The only way by