The Owyhee nugget. ([Silver City], Idaho) 1905-1984, 1909-06-11

instead of about sloO,OOo,oO Had it
not been for the conservative element
in Congress, we would have long since
been meeting these enormously in
creased expenditures with the proceeds
from the sale of bonds. During the
eight years previous to March 4, last,
no effort or recommendation of the ex-
ecutive branch Of the Government was
the cause of the people being saved
from that unfortunate situation.
The evil of this practice of asking for
more than is actually needed is mani
fest IL entails upon Congress the bur
den, with little, if any aid from the ex-
ecutive, of threshing out the good from
the bad, of differentiating between the
indispensable, the necessary and the
desirable expenditures that should be
provided for. 1t encourages, if it has
not in fact, begotten, disposition in
many of the departments to send in es
Inmates for all manner Of expenditures
that may be pressed upon their atten-
tion, without reference to their merit or
to the fact that the sum total of drafts
upon the Treasury, thus made through
Congress, enormously exceeds the an
nual revenues.
In speech in the House of Repre-
sentatives on April Is, 1908, l had occa-
sion TO call attention to what believed
to be a danger signal in the form of a
proposition to huild four batteships a
year instead of one. There was much
talk by members on both sides of the
chamber OF the danger of a war with
come foreign nation, but if such dan
ger existed, the legislative branch Of
the Government had not heeu apprised
of the fact. Instead our noble fleet Of
sixteen battleships, with foreign auxil-
larry ships, was about to sail away from
San Francisco for a trip around the
world leaving both the Atlantic and
Pacific coasts absolutely unprotected
Yet we we're asked to appropriate on
account of the Navy for the fiscal year
1909 more money than ever was ex,
pended for similar purpose by any
other nation in a single year
had carefully analysed the Army anc
Navy budgets of the United States
Great Britain, France, Germany anc
Japan, and was able, by a comparison
of the expenditures for these purposes
by each country named, to show that
in proportion to tile size of our Army
and Navy we were expanding for thai
year more than 100 per cent. in exces:
of the expenditures of any other nation
in tile world, and that no nation ap
preached our expenditures on account
of wars past and wars to come. The
House was treated to vivid pictures o.
what would happen if the Yellow Man
were to land his armies in California
Oregon and Washington and was
warned in ringing phrases that tn,
United States would have to build bat
tleships apace with the other great ma
tions of the world or patiently avail
her fate-invasion and partition b!
foreign powers.
How ridiculous! The transport ser
vice of no European nation is sufficient
even without opposition, to land upoI
American soil an army of 100000 mel
at given time. There is no countr
in the Orient that has naval base with
in striking distance of of our Pacifi
coast, and no Oriental nation would b
so reckless of it's own interests as t
risk the loss of it's Navy or its feet b.
attempting to send it past the Hawaiian
Islands for the purpose of attacking u
upon the Pacific coast. Not a ship O
such an expedition would ever return
Men talk about the thousands of mile
of American coast line and the DANCE
! which threatens us in consequence {