The Sentinel=record., 1914-02-03
ACCORDING TO CHARGE MADE ON FLOOR OF THE HOUSE OF
 REPRESENTATIVES,.
ITS SIZE WAS BELITTLED
1t Is Alleged for the Purpose of Sc. curing Greater Increase in Appro. priatIons for New Battleships and Other Craft.

Washington, Feb. 2.-That experts Of the navy department juggled the statistics in the navy year book for 1913 to make the American navy ap- pear inferior to the Germany navy and thereby set the United Etates down from second to third place as naval power was charged today by Representative Witherspoon of Ms sissippi and Hensley of Missours, members of the house naval affairs committee
 With Secretary Daniels before the committee to explain the naval pro- gram for the coming year the two congressman, who are strongly oppos- ed to "a big navy" questioned him at length on what they declared were omissions and fSlnty comparisons in the year book. The secretary ex- plained that he was not an expert Ain comparing navies and said he had relied on what experts in the navy had advised him ahout the facts.
 In their questioning the congress- men brought out that three Amerf- can battleships, the Oregon, Massa- chusetts and Indiana. which are of the same tonnage and of heavier ar mament than ten listed German bat tlsships- are left out of the United States list altogether; and that the year book, instead of giving the Unit ed States thirty-six battleships built
 and building compared with Ger many's thirty-sx, should have cred. ited the United States with thirty. nine battleships of heavier total ton mage and armament than Germany. They also developed that the navy statisitcians this year for the grst time have taken out of the dread- nought class the battleships South Carolina and Michigan, which have dreadnought armaments, and have put into the Germany dreadnought ciass four ships of 11-inch gun ar- mament The year books compari- son gives Germany thirteen dread noughts and the United States seven. while the congressman insisted that the correct figures should give Ger many and the United States nine dreadnoughts each
 Detail results of their investigation of the year books comparisons were announced by Representatives With. erspoon and Hensley in the follow ing statement:
 Tt was developed that the United States appeared to have three less battleships than Germany because three Of the American battleships were omitted from our list, namely, the Oregon. Massachusetts and the Indiana. The reason suggested by the secretary of the navy for the omission of these three battleships was that they were old and obsolete, but it appears that in the German list is included ten battleships, to- wit: Kaiser Friederik HI, Kaiser Wilhelm II, Kaiser Karlder Crosse. Kaiser Wilhelm Der Crosse, Kaiser Barbarossa, Wittelbach, Zapringen, Wetteh Macklenburg and Schwaben, each of which has tonnage of 10,- 974 built at the same time as the omitted American hattleships, and each having armament of four 3-t0 inch guns, while the Oregon, Massa- chusetts and Indiana have a main armament of four 13-inch guns and a tonnage of 102SS tons each.
 "A high English authority was pre- sented to the secretary of the navy showing the inferiority of the ten German battleships with their 40 inch guns to battleships armed with 12 or 13 inch guns
 Tt was further developed that ac- cording to this comparison in the navy year book the toonnage the German battleships was from 10,97f. which was the smallest, to 12991. which was the largest, of twenty Ger man battleships, and that of twenty seven American battleships, the smallest was II ,346 and the largest was 16,000 tons. The secretary ad- mitted that, so far as the tonnage of the battleships was concerned. tho American navy was greater than that of the Germans, as well as an excess of seven battleships in favor of the American navy