Arizona republican., 1912-12-06
NAVY MUST BE INCREASED
Continued from Page One)

Continued from Page One) 1 sovereign rights and interests" he says, and without doubt the time is remote when a comparatively unarm- 1 ed and helpless nation may be reason i ably free from attack by ambitious,
 we'll armed powers, especially in a | commercial age, such as the present. ; The economical system of a great com
 mercial nation is so delicately balanced
 that even a threat of war is very dis i turbing and harmful while a war with | any other great power would cause in | calculabe damage.
 l 'TO avoid war and insure peace the l country must be prepared for war No person of intelligence who has studied ] International policies can be blind to | the fact that the possession of great l wealth. resources and population, does not carry with it immunity from at 1 tack should the nations interests clash
 with those of another better prepared" The opening of the Panama canal will in no sense double the American | fleet, according to Secretary Meyer. 1 While it will increase it's efficiency by l facilitating it's passage from one coast l to the other, this condition has been | fully considered in calculating the
 naval program. Without the canal,
 says Secretary Meyer, eperts figure
 that the United States would need a fleet double that of a country whose coast line is continuous.
 The secretary estimates that total
 of fl battleships. with a proportional
 number of other fighting and auiliary l vessels, is the least that would place | this country on a safe basis in it's re- | latiOns with Othed world powers. This fleet should be secured as soon as prac | ticable, he said, and it's strength should
 be maintained by replacing obsolete l vessels with new ones by uniform
 annual program. While the navy de- partment would welcome more torpedo
 boats and submarines, the secretary l epresses the belief that until ore of the
 old battleships are replaced il is wiser
 to build battleships than smaller ves-
 sels.
 As to the need of battle cruisers, the
 swifter ships of the irst line of de
 fense, Secretary Meyer quotes the nav
 al general board.
 "The United States has no vessels of
 this type. They have a military value
 rot possible to obtain from other types
 or combinations of types. To further
 neglect their necessity is to deliDer-
 ately weaken our naval strength. Ire paramount need of the navy, is how
 ever for battleships, and the board does
 not recommend any modification of the
 building program by which preference
 in building is given to battle cruisers ' or other fleet units, and auXiliaries which will interfere with the ultimate battleShip strength"
 Battle practice has brought the ex- l isting fleet to a state of complete read mess for instant service says Secretary Meyer in commenting on the navy's condition. Reserve as we'll as active vessels are kept in condition for an! : contingency; and the navy's gunner: have during the year made records Q that more than sustain the high stand a ards of the service.
 , Aeroplane equipment is entirely in . 1 adequate at the present time according f l to Secretary Meyer He points ou , 1 that while the United States spen onl! Q $140.000 or this purpose last year, Ja v ] pan spent $e00,0 ,000 and five European : nations spent individual sums rangin f from $2.O00,O0O to $6,OOO,O the latte a being the expenditure of France. Sec |, retary Meyer says there should be n l. limitation upon the progressive devel
 opment of naval aviation.
 q He recommends the creation of ;t naval reserve of about 50,00O men, 25, = 900 to be sucured from the honorabl l. discharged men of the navy, the maya l. militia and various mechanical trade n of civil life; the other 25,000 frOr e among sailors of the merchant marine n The application of the eight-hour la1 l. to all shipyards says Secretary Meye d will probably cause an increase in tn st appropriation necessary to build ship e of a given type. As to small America e navy yards, Secretary Meyer makes n e definite recommendations for thei l. abolishment, but suggests that if tn is American fleet is to spend part of it
 time on the Pacific coast after tn
 Panama canal opens some of the nav
 yards on the eastern coast will auto
 matically close from lack of work A le to the first-class yards he adopts tt T. recommendation of the general boar y that all their channels be dredged { > a depth of at least forty feet and le minimum width of 75O feet