The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-02-22
HIGH PRAISE FOR
 AMERICAN NAVY
Senator Perkins Defends Policy
 of Pacific Cruise
BENEFITS OF GREAT NAVY
MT. Perkins Emphasizes the Prestige That the Navy Has Given to the United States and Still
 Maintains.

Washington, February 21.-A defense of the policy of sending the American battleships to the Pacific ocean, and maintaining that the vast expenditure
 on the new navy was fully warranted
 was made in the Senate today by Sen ator Perkins. His remarks were directed to the resolution which he had read at the desk as follows:
 Resolved, That it should be the
 policy of this government, while not adopting a continuous programme fix ing the number of naval vessels of any
 type to be built in future years, to maintain it's present relative position in comparison with the navies of the ! other great powers"
 The policy" he said, which sent
 the fleet to the Pacific is wise and nec-
 essary, if we are to maintain on that ocean the prestige that will give a fair and open field to our sea trade This was in no way an indication of any unfriendliness on the part of the United States towards any other nation The reception the fleet had re- e.,
 was an indication of the friendlness of those people toward the United States.
 When the fleet, now on it's way to San Francisco, is joined by the other effective vessels on the Pacific" Mr Perkins said, we shall have a fleet of IS battleships, eight armored cruisers 13 protected cruisers, 13 destroyers fiye fOrnpdO br1a ari The battleships and crusiers alone ag- gregate 423,172 tons, while the other naval power on the Pacific-Japan-ha only 734,701 tons in all classes of ves- sels The Pacific fleet will be amply able to protect our interests in that ocean,
 Attention was called to the unbroken , record of bravery which the navy pre- |, sents from its earliest beginning and on the Pacific those war vessels have the example of Commodore Sloat, Admiral Kimberly and Admiral Dewey for in spiration. The senator sketched the growth of the new navy from 1883, when the vessels of the famous White Squadron were auth horized to the pres ent day, when the United States has become the second sea power in the world, surpassing France by a small margin in the strength of our fighting force and far outstripplng Germany, Russia and Japan. And this lead, he said, the United States is able to main tin, by authorizing only two more bat tleships of the big gun type.
 Reference was made to the change in the character of battleships which re- suited from the lessons of the naval engagements during the Russo Japan ese war, which taught the importance of big ships carrying big guns, so that a greater weight of metal can be brought within shorter battle line. ''The cost of the vessels of the new navy built building or authorized, is s3O925919O while the total expendi- lures on account of the naval establish ment since 1883 is $1 244,651.019," said MT. Perkins "but this vast expenditure is not. as may be claimed by some un- productive. The construction of the ships of our navy gave such stimulus to the iron trade that now we are the greatest iron and steel manufac- turers in the world. In 1880 there were only 14O,OOO wage earners in the iron and steel industries of the country. earning $55, 100000, and turning out nroducts worth $296.000,000. In 1905, there were S57000 wage earners, earn ing s4s2,o00,0O0 an dturning out prod nets worth $2 2,196, 100000. And there is hardly an industry in the land that has