St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1914-05-09
strongly supported by our Navy

| 1I6dkue.
This League stands for battleshlps
sufficient in number to defend ou
coasts and possessions, to make eff
fective American policies, such a,
the Monroe Doctrine, the Restriction
of Oriental immigration, the Ope1
Door of Trade and the Neutrality O
the Panama Canal, and finally, suf
ficient in number to meet any DOS
sible military opponent. With the
above policy, Secretary Daniels
agrees heartily, but what constitutes
a sufficient number of battleships:
The secretary does not believe with
the League that this sufficiency can.
not be gained, unless we rank first
or second in the size of our navy.
Secretary Daniels supported by the
General Board of our navy advocates
an increase along conservative lines,
as follows: Two dreadnaughts, eight
destroyers and three submarines, an
nually. This increase. he proves,
would neither become financial
burden to the country, nor could our
navy become obsolete. At the same
time it would prove adequate pro-
lection for our $1,000 miles of sea
coast and would insure us against
war and its financial burdens, one
of the principal features of which
in the long-standing pension list.
This rate of increase is claimed by
the Secretary to be enough to give
us that national prestige of which
Washington spoke when he said,
If we desire to avoid insult we must
be able to repel 1t. If we desired
to secure peace it must be known
that we are at all times ready for
war" This statement needs no
other verification than our present
experience with Mexico.
The second point of value in the
Secretary's policy is the educational
benefit to the individuals enlisted,
and thus tosthe country at large.
At present there are four ira n
ing schools and eight tech:nc
schools for recruits maintained by
the government. 1t is the ambition
of Secretary Daniels to make every
ship a school. The majority of the
instructors On shipboard will be
young officers fresh from Annapolis,
who will have value of this work i'm
pressed upon them. Such a school
for academic, vocational and techn:-
cal instruction has already been in
troduced on board the DesMoines and
the results are promising. 1t is con-
to etablish these schools
upon the ships and at the shore sta
tions by the first of January, 1915.
Already, men who leave the navy
after receiving the training offered,
are eagerly employed by business
men. What a much more crafty
ing result will the additional train
ing bring about, and how many
of useful individuals, who
would otherwise have been neg
lected, will our country possess?
And surely an educated populace al
ways accrues to the best interest of
D nation.
The last item In Secretary Daniels
policy deals with the economic ex-
penditure Of government money. He
appropriations for a
government owned armor-plate fac
tory, an increase IN the gun factory
powder factories and torpedo works
and that the navy should become the
producer and refiner of oil for its
own use.
1t has been conclusiveiy demon
,trated that the department can save
money by making it's powder. guns
and torpedos. 1t Is not open to
doubt that it can save large sums
when it can make it's own armor-
plate and gun-forgings.
Tho fhrao ormnr.n1ofo foctnr oc
now in existence in the United States
have acknowledged the formation o:
! combine among them, because, SO
hey say, when one gets the bid on a
government contract the other two
share its profits. 1t has been prov
an by expert Investigators, that if
The government owned a ten thous-
and ton armoF factory, it could save
upwards of one million dollars a
year.
Under our present system of get
ing armor-plate from private COM
panies any improvements IN the
or composition of the
armor becomes the property of all the
world. Only recently the Bethlehem
Steel Co. embodied some of our i'm
VI OVOmculS III luO w al SAl ~ VI duOLuCl
lation. For this reason Japan.
among other nations, has erected
is own armor-making plant and has
it with secrecy.
AS to the fuel on board battle
ships, the superiority of oil over coal
has been fully demonstrated and is
10 longer matter of experiment
Mr.. Daniels recon-
nends in his policy of economy that
he government produce and refine
is own oil. At present the United
States navy is paying twice as much
'or its oil as it paid in 1911. This
S wilful waste of government mon
~ and can be avoided by the pro-
luction of this fuel from the petrol
,um reserves, and by the erection of
! refinery.
In reviewing our subject we notice
hat the policy of Secretary Dan els
agrees with his opponents in the
points that they consider for the
pest interests of the country, namely
he worldwide peace policy of the
,ne, and the equipment and main
.enance of an adequate navy of the
,ther. However, in the statement
# his own policy, he enlarges on
.hese principles and says that world
wide peace can be secured only