Evening star., 1914-05-03

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VI oa1lors. is the tribute paid by
authorities who have seen the men OF
other navies at work 1t is said IN "ash-
ington that their craftsmanship is not
| eQualed anywhere and that the almost
marvellous Improvement in their work
with the big guns dates from the Span
| ish-American war.
The American navy is composed oi
81 800 enlisted men and 3,435 officers. Inc
apprentice seamen at the training sta-
tons, where they are received after en-
listment. are each allowed $50 for cioth-
ing and get SIG a month and raions.
When they go aboard ship they are
made ordinary seamen and receive from
80 to $50 a month and rattons. Al eacn
| training station there is a school IN winch
the young men are given an elementary
education, and since last January there
have been similar schools on every snip,
the idea being to fit the men for advance
ment through the various grades OF petty
officer and warrant officer. The real OBJ
ject Of tho navy is to increase the gen.
eral efficiency Of the men who make tho
navy q life career.
In addition to all this, 500 Of tho sailors
are now taking courses in correspondence
June. 1914. to June. 1915. the federal
government will distribute among the
men $4,000 in money. badges and tro-
phies for expertness in gun practice. ana
therein. It is said. lies the reason for the
work. For years the navy has given
prizes for rifle practice and small arm
practice, but 1t was not until after the
Spanish war that prizes were awarded
for efficiency in great gun marksman-
ship.
According to the officers OF the navy.
the efficiency of the men with the
monster guns has increased 1,0OO per
cent since 1898. The contests which
are held yearly involve ship against
ship, and the turret crew that makes
the best record in the fleet at target
practice receives substantial rewards
for excellency in gunnery- In adoi-
ton the men EN-. wear upon h,ch aneis is h aso
painted upon the turret. on the guns
and during steaming exercises on the
smoke pipe Of the winning ship. the
men are said to be exceedingly proud
the men on all the other ships.
The testimony of the officers OF the
navy before the House naval commit
tee showed that in their opinion the
navy has. for several years. been get
much more satisfied with their treat
ment. In the year 1908 the desertfons
amounted to 9 per cent of the number
enlisted and now It is but 8 y per cent
The percentage Of men re-enlfsttng in
1918 was IS. which Is the greatest In
the history Of the navy.
The navy is being recruited at the
rate Of 1900 men a month. 1t was
Joined the navy because they were out
Of work. but this has been disproved
by records kept by the officers. Every
man who enters the service is asked
why he wants to enlist and from the
answers given during the last few
reason the opportunity for foreign
travel The next reason given was
that they Joined upon the recommenda-
ton OF friends in the navy. The third
reason given by the fewest, 31s out of
5.3S1. was because they were out of
work.
Secretary Daniels. who is enthusiastic
over his task Of directing this big
fighting machine. has plan in view
that will make the navy even more at
tractive for enlisted men. 1t has been
claimed that the enlisted man does
not have an opportunity to rise, which
is true. Daniels has asked Congress
to authorize him to select twenty five
men from the navy. not over twenty
one years old. who. after examina-
ton, shall be eligible to entrance to
the Naval Academy at Annapolis. This
Is the most progressive step ever at
tempted by the American navy.
While the present difficulty with Mexico
has temporarily put the soft pedal upon
the peace advocates in
The Peace Congress. lest they be
rr..4 misunderstood by a pa
@oSe0e4t. triotic constituency, there
is every evidence during recent years that
the white-dove movement is growing
among the representatives from all parts
Of the country. and that, unless sentiment
changes. it is going to be increasingly
diflcult to obtain for the United States a
greater navy.
Four members Of the House naval COM
mfttee, all acknowledgement
Witherspoon of Mississippi, Hensley of
Missouri, Buchanan of Illinois and Gray
of Indiana-have come out with a vio.ent
attack upon the amount of appropriations
proposed in the naval bill for the next f1s-
cal year. In their minority report, which
has met with much harsh criticism since
the feet was sent to Mexican waters, they
say: I'VE regard the amount, S139. 30, ,353,
as inexcusably extravagant and crimi-
nal waste of the public funds. Within
the past thirteen years We have spent on
our navy more than a billion dollars IN
excess Of the sum spent by Japan, and
500, 10000 in excess of the sum spent by
Germany, and during this period we have
spent about $11.OOO,O0O per annum more
than Germany and Japan both together.
and about $6,UOO,GOO per annum more than
France and Japan put together
The minority of the committee charges
the Navy Department with plain viola
ton of the statutes through alleged
manipulation Of the appropriations. The
members saw that the act of 1912. which
authorized the construction of the bat
tleship Pennsylvania, expressly provided
that it should have ''as heavy armor ana
as powerful armament as any vessel OF
its class" and that the act which
authorized the construction of battle
ship No. 50 used the same Language
with reference to that vessel, but that
the Navy Department ignoring the
wishes of Congress, constructed both
with a much heavier armor and a much
more powerful armament Of its class,
and, therefore. at much heavier cost.
The armament of these two ships they
say, exceed the armament of any Ameri-
can or German vessel OF their class %
per cent, and that of any English vessel
Of its class 20 per cent. :,
"The manifest object OF Congress
say the committee members in refusing
to authorize two battleships In each OF
the last bills, was to effect reduct1on
in the public expenditures, and by build
ing the Pennsylvania and No. ~ with SO
much heavier armor and SO much more
powerful armament than any vessel OF
the;r class in violation of the acts Of
Congress, the Navy Department has TO
a large extent defeated the legislative
uyi1l. and this explains why the hrst item
in the bill is 100000 or $5,OooooO