Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1914-12-18
OUR
SHIPS FIT FOR
COLD STORAGE
Gardner Denounces Naval
Policy as 'Demented"
and Says Fleet Needs
Men and Vessels,

WASHINGTON. Dec. 1s,-Representa-
tive Augustus p. Gardner OF Massachus-
stts. In a statement before The House
Naval Committee today, said
~ you gentlemen had permitted me
20 present as witnesses few recently re-
tired oficers, In single day the coun-
try would have learned Of our demented
policy Of building warshIps for cold
storage because we are too mean to
vote them crews out OF our 20 COM
pleted battleships, do you know that 12
OF them are unavailable without a long
DELAY on account Of our refusal to pay the
bill OF manning them? But the worst
OF Il ls that we can't get these battle
chips out OF cold storage when we want
thom.
IF we had gone to war with the rest
Of the hrst-clsss Powers early In August.
do YOU realize that no less than nine of
our battleships would not yet be ready
TO hght7 Assistant Secretary OF the
Navy Roosevelt testified Wednesday that
Il takes three months to get a ship In
'reHerve ready to fight, and that It takes
six months for ship in ordinary and
one year lof snip out or commission
to be got ready. Three OF our battleshlps
are In reserve, six are I'm ordinary and
three are out Of commission Further
more, we have Is cruisers, ~ destroyers,
II torpedo boats, i've submarines, and
perhaps dozen miscellaneous fighting
ships kept In cold storage with the bat
tteships.
Eighty lighting vessels Of our modest
navy are not available for battle in an
emergency. Think of 1t, and yet you talk
about being prepared for war.
NAVY SHORT OF MEN.
II charge that our navy is 5000 en-
listed men short and further shortage
Of 1000 men is in sight. In support Of
my charge l call to witness the evidence
Of Assistant Secretary Roosevelt given
al your hearing and the evidence OF
Rear Admiral Charles j. Badger Both
Df those men say that the navy Is 1900
men short. not counting the sailors need
ID for ships now building. Your wit
ness, Rear Admiral Victor Blue. estimates |
BUR navy TO be short for war only sSs |
snlisted men. Yet the general board. |
which has actually made our war plans, |
estimates the enlisted force Of the navy |
Is between $1,000 and $1,000 men short |
or war.
'If any attention has been paid to the
,eneral boards emphatic appeals for our
iational safety Instead of only 81 bat
leships. built and building and author
zed, we should now have A battleships,
uilt. building and authorized; instead OF
) destroyers we should have 1877 destroy
rs. But listen TO this:
"Battlesnlps are sent across the great
leaan highways to intercept the enemys
ieet. How are they to know where the
inemys feet is hound7 Canada is to
he north or us. Mexico to the south.
from the st. CTolx River to the Rio
irande our coast Is 5000 miles long. The
nsmy will surely elude us unless we
eet. II we had needed the advice of
he general board we should have n fleet
+ fast scouts today. How many do
ou think We actually have got2 Just
hree and those were authorized over
on years ago. The general board asks
s to build four this year, but the Sec
etary has refused TO recommend single
cout.
"You kniw that we have Sc submarines
n all built and building, good, bad and
Indifferent. Admiral Badger In his tes-
lmony, quotes the General Board as
aging that we need 100 submarines. Last
ear Admiral Vreeland told us that we
eeded 100 submarines for harbor defense
lone
.The fact Is that we have been daw-
ling. and now comes Secretary Daniels
nd IA a few soothing words recommends
to the paltry number OF eight
. so.
AIR FLEET INADEQUATE.
"Other nations have been developing
Ar craft Before this war broke out,
rance had 1900 aeroplanes; Germany. 1000.
nd other nations close behind. Six
nonths ago, little ssFvia had three times
. many aeropianes as we Altogether.
Inele Sam has q asroplanea, half In the
lrmy and half In the navy. none OF them
rmored and many OF them unable 10 get
ut OF their own way, AS to Zeppelins
nd tie like, we have not a single soli-
ary specimen TO our name
r'rhe general naval board In its current
eport says that we must spend IS, 600 900
IN air craft Captain Bristol says that
le must have 100 aeroplanes for our feet
Iug and 100 more In reserve,
"Secretary Daniels recommends no
eguiar specific appropriation at all. but
le tells US about a volunteer air craft
orce. Captain Bristol says that volun-