The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1914-12-15
DANIELS QUIzzED
ABOUT THE NAVY
Admits lInpreparsdnsss Il War
Broke Gut In the Pacific
PANAMA GAaAL A BIG ASSET

Just About Doubles the Naval Ell
cheney Of the United States, Accord
Ing to Secretary Of the Navy--pe-
c!ares Urgent Military Necessity
Impeled President Wilson to Send
Fleet to Vera Cruz.
Washington, Dec. PA statement
toat urgent military necessity inn
PEELED President Wilson to send eigh-
teen battleships to Mexican waters in
addition to the land forces that occu-
pied Vera Cruz. was one feature of
the testimony before the house com.
mittee on naval affairs Of Secretary
of the Navy Daniels.
In reply to questions Secretary
Daniels said:
I'VE sent battleships, soldiers and
marines to Vera Cruz to carry out
the policy Of the commander-in-chief
and the question of what should be
sent there was for him to determine.
There were about five or six emergen.
cies that could have arisen in Mex.
leo. The wise policy was to have all
Ct the fleet IN Mexican waters in case
there was need for it. Under certain
circumstances it might have become
necessary to blockade all of the Mex
lean ports. II the army had gone into
Mexico we would have sent half of
the men Of the ships with the army"
Secretary Daniels testimony took
wide range. He admitted that the
Cnited States is in a state of unpre.
paredness on the sea II war broke out
IN the Pacific. He insisted that with
the completion of the Panama canal
and the facility with which the feet
could be sent from one coast to an
other through that water, the naval
efficiency of the United States was
just about doubled He defended
vigorously the "sea university" a sys-
TEN that he introduced In the navy
to educate enlisted men, arguing that
this plan had made the navy more
attractive to young men of the land
Representative Stevens of Califor-
mia brought UP the question of the
preparedness of the country to resist
assault on the Pacific side.
"One Of the reasons we built the
Panama canal was to enable us to
transfer the main battleship feet
from one ocean to he other" said
Mr.. Daniels, in reply to questions put
by Mr.. Stevens. I'VE can now keep
the feet first on one ocean and then
on the ether, but Of course we VIII
keep the entire fleet where we be-
lieve 1t is most needed. An enemy
would be DELAYED great deal ii ap-
preaching the Pacific coast by our
present Pacific feet and the subma-
rines and other defenses at Manila
and Honolulu. 1t would undoubtedly y
be delayed until our main fleet could
get to the scene Of operations. 1t
would require about eighteen days for
the fleet to go from New York to
San Francisco or Los Angeles II the
canal were open and unobstructed."
1t was suggested by Representative
Butler. that an invading feet in the
Pacific would have hard time max
ing the journey across because coal-
ing stations and naval bases are
about 5000 miles removed from the
California coast.
"Has the war college determined a
plan of battle approach" asked Mr.
Roberts. "All possible mapeuvers
have been worked out and Admiral
Fletcher is going to Guantanamo
soon to perfect the details" respond
ed Secretary Daniels. He added that
1t was the purpose of the government
to increase it's defenses in the Pa
c.fc, but asked to be excused from
details.
Secretary Daniels stood pat on his
program of two battleships and eight
or more submarines