El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-12-02
AMERICA is READY
FOR FOREIGN WAR
Continued from PAGE -


says. is far in the rear Of the leading
naval powers in projected naval con-
structiOn, even on the basis or Two
new battleships a year.
Mr. Meyer submits estimates Tor Two
! battleships and two Golfers only. rms
is in line with the policy of several
years standing of building two oatIle-
ships q year In addition to this the
secretary indicates that the navy would
welcome one Of the new type OF pat
tleship cruisers, such as Great Britain
Germany and Japan are building. ds
further points out that there is
great deficiency in the number Of
cruisers, scouts, destrOyers, supma-
rines and auxiliaries for the matnte-
nance and protection Of the battle
fleet.
He suggests that all of these auxil.
iaries need not be ordered at once, Dut
that the appropriation could De
stretched over number OF years DIS
4 turbances in Asia and Central America,
necessitating the protection or inter-
ests Of this country, also have SHOWN
the need for more light draft gunooats
for river use.
ships 20 Years Old Useless.
The secretary declares that ships 20
years old are obsolete and worthless
even for the second line or reserve. His
list shows the famous old Oregon ana
her sister battleships, Indiana enc
Massachusetts, as having reached the
fatal period and should be replaced I'M
medLately as well as the Iowa In
p
ships that can no longer be regarded
as available for the first line of bat
tie, and which should be replaced by
1920 Aside from those already lndl-
Gated they are the Kearsarge, Ken
lucky Alabama, Illinois, Wisconsin
Maine, Ohio and Missouri The young
est of these has turned II years.
"A total Of 40 battleships with
proportional number OF other fighting
and auXiliar vessels, is the least that
viii place our country on safe basis
in relation with other world powers,
says the eseCretary.
The secretary regards the creation
of the reserve fleet as a most i'm
portant development Of the year since
it viii insure the readiness for war
Of practically every vessel OF military
value.
The report touches sparingly on the
subject Of the eight hour law, reciting
the experience Of the department dur
ing the past year in placing contracts
for ships and winding up with the
statement What the effect will be
on the bidding for the battleships pro-
vided for by the last act is problemat-
icaL"
At the close of last year % ships.
from battleships to Golfers were tied
up at navy yards under repair. AS a
result of the new policy. by next March
every one Of them viii be ready for
active service.
Not Worth Improving.
Ine secretary regards 1t as waste
Of money to endeavor to improve old
ships and bring them Up to date and he !
cites a case Of the New York, now the ]
Saratoga where 81 percent. Of her
original cost was spent on alteration /
without making the ship equal in value !
TO modern vessel Of light type.
Foreign Powers Busy.
Dealing with foreign building pro-
grams, the report says that England is /
laying down four battleships and one /
armOred cruiser, Germany three battle /
ships and one armored cruiser and
Japan four armored cruisers and one 1
battleship. All OF the battleships are /
being increased in size and so are the I
cruisers, destrOyers and submarines
Secretary Meyer proposes a new office /
the director of navy yards. He makes /
strong recommendation for the Gre
alton Of the rank Of vice admiral; the i
graded retirement Of enlisted men, the /
increase Of the enlisted force by 1000.
and the commissioning OF nidshfpmen
envy.
Touching the abolition Of navy yards /
secretary Meyer promises to present /
the whole matter afresh to congress /
when he receives the report Of the
Joint board Of the army and navy next |
January. Meanwhile he sees no reason .
TO change his views already expressed 7
as to the propriety Of closing a num-
per OF yards or changing their fUnc-