The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1910-03-17
MUCH OPPOSITION
TO BIG WARSH|P
Plans Of Secretary Meyer Are
Not Generally Regarded
with Favor.
TAWNEY IS CHIEF oBJECToR
Claims Made That It Means Immense
Expenditure of Money and Is
Merely an ExperIment-Fight
Over Amendment to inter
state Commerce Act.


Misunderstanding of the Navy
Meyers plan for a S2,OOO-ton Dread
nought to be authorized for the Amer
lean war feet at the next session of
congress is meeting with strong op-
position. The friends Of the plan are
Just as energetic as are its enemies,
and 1t is likely that there will be
fight worthy of the traditions of the
American navy when the bill for the
big ship gets before congress next De-
cember.
Representative Tdwney, who Is
chairman of the house committee on
appropriations, objects to the Dread.
nought, first, on the ground Of its
cost, and second, on the ground that
such a great vessel will be largely
experimental and It might not be
found really serviceable after 1t Is
built. In the contentious that the
ship may not prove all that might
be expected, many line officers of the
navy have part.
1t is maintained by many of the old
timers Of the service, that the expe-
rience of the years which have passed
since the first modern battleship was
built goes to show that there is a
liAnit \of efficiency which is marked
by limit of size. There are officers,
also, who are opposed to the increase
in the caliber of the great guns which
are used on warships. Some Of them
say that the 12-inch gun is just as
serviceable as the 14-inch or the 16-
inch gun, and that any increase of
caliber from the 12-inch model is a
waste Of money and tends in no way
to improve the fighting qualities Of
the ship that carries the big weapons.
RooseVeIt's Naval Program.
It was Theodore Roosevelts idea
that at least two battleships should
be added to the navy each year. The
former president wanted the United
States to keep pace with foreign ma
tions in the matter of battleship
building and to retain its relative rank
In naval strength. In order to insure
that two battleships at least would
be authorized in one year, Mr.. Roose-
Velt asked for four of the ships, know
ing that in all human probability con-
gress would compromise the matter
and give him the two ships that he
really wanted.
It was said at the time that If Mr..
hoA FN Ill Z,
would have been given only one. For
some reason or other congress did
not give the former president the sup
port that apparently the country was
giving him in his various fields of
administrative endeavor. When the
Panama canal is opened, the voyage
from the Atlantic coast of the United
States to the Pacific coast will be a
comparatively short one, and there
fore 1t will not be difficult in cases
of emergency to send huge feet to
the western waters. AS things are
now, of course, the voyage has to be
made around Cape Horn, following
the track which the battleship fleet
took two years ago in making the first
part of its journey around the world
Some naval officers say that it
might be good plan to build a $4,000
ton Dreadnought and put into its tur-
rets guns Of the largest caliber for
the purpose of testing the sailing
qualities and the fighting efficiency Of
such a boat. If Dreadnought of the
size planned by the secretary of the
navy should be built along the most
careful lines and should prove to be
inefficient, the lesson taught might be
worth the IA or Is million dollars that
1t would cost to construct 1t, for If 1t
were shown that such a vessel were
impracticable, there would be no more
experimenting, and all the energies
Of the department would be exerted
to perfect vessels of the size that It
was known could be built and oper-
ated safely and with high offensive
efficiency.
Dispute Over EIkIns Bill.
The senate has taken hold in ear
nest of the bill introduced by Sena-
tor Elkins and which provides for
amendments to the interstate COM
merce act. One feature of the bill, as
is well known, is that providing for an
Interstate commerce court. whose duty
it shall be to hear cases that are car
ried on appeal from the decision of
the interstate commerce commission
One of the main reasons advanced
for the creation of the interstate COM
merce court was that it would expe-
dite final decisions in cases in which
the great carrier companies of the
country were interested. OF course