The Red Cloud chief., 1910-03-17

Meyers plan for a 32,000.tOn Dread
nought to be authorized for the Amer.
lean war fleet at the next session OF
congress Is meeting with strong op-
position. The friends of the plan are
and 1t is likely that there will be II
fight worthy of the traditions of the
American navy when the bill for the
big ship gets before congress next De.
cember.
Representative Tawney, 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 II Is
built. In the contentious that the
ship may not prove all that might
be expected. many line officers of the
navy have q part.
1t Is maintained by many of the old
timers of the service, that the cxpe.
rience of the years which have passed
since the first modern battleship was
built goes to- show that there is n
limit 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 1i-inch or the l6.
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 lighting qualities OF
the ship that carries the big weapons
Rooseveit's Naval Program.
II was Theodore Roosevelt's idea
that at least two battleships should
be added to tho navy each year The
former president wanted the United
States to keep pace with foreign ma
tions i'm the matter of battleshir
building and to retain its relative rank
in naval strength. In order to insure
that two battleships Mt least would
be authorized in one year, Mr.. Roose
welt 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.
1t was said at the time that IL Mr.
Roosevelt had asked for two ships, he
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 II 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 II
might be a good plan to build a $4,000
ton Dreadnought and put into its tur
rets guns of the largest caliber fol-
the purpose of testing the sailing
qualities and the fighting efficiency oil
such boat. II Dreadnought of the
size planned by the secretary of the
navy should be built along the mos,
careful lines and should prove to be
inefficient, the lesson taught might be
worth the ID or 10 million dollars that
II would cost to construct II, for II II
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 II
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 fol
amendments to the interstate com
merce act. One feature OF the bill, as
is well known, Is that providing for ar
| Interstate commerce court, whose duty
| II 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 tho interstate com
morce court was that it would expe
dite final decisions in cases In which
the great carrier companies of the
country were interested. or course
appeals will lie from the interstate
commerce court to the supreme cour
OF the United States, but II Is urged
by friends Of the new court plan tha
parties to litigation will be satisfied
in many instances with the decision o.
the lower court and that anyway. In
asmuch as II has only one class o.
cases to hear, the new courts worl
will be done quickly and that the route
TO justice will be much shorter thar
It has been In the past, There Il
strong opposition to the interstat,
commerce court amendment among
some of the Republicans of the senat,
and among considerable number als'