Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1914-12-23
SHORT IN SHIPS,
MEN AND SUPPLIES
"A. p. GARDNER
Advocate of Greater Defense
Measures Makes Startling
Statements to Naval Com
mittee of Congress.
HE URGES INSTANT ACTION
Says Even Adoption of General
Boards Proposal Would
Have Left Navy Ranking
Poor Third In 1920.
HE URGES INSTANT ACTION

Washington. ID. c.. Dec. 19.-Repre-
sentative Gardner was the principal
witness today before the House naval
committee. He read a long statement
in support of his proposal for investi-
cation Of the national defenses by a
special commission.
II am here to ask you to appropriate
for the full number of new ships, rec
commended by the general naval board
for this years construction" he said.
Il am sorry To say that Secretary
Daniels in his recommendations to
congress has cut the naval boards
building program for this year almost
exactly in two.
IF you gentlemen had permitted me
to present as witnesses a few recently
retired officers, in a single day the
country would have learned of our de-
mented policy of building warships
for cold storage. Out of so completed
battleships, do you know that 10 of
them are unavailable without a long
delay on count of our refusal to pay
the bills for mannir rhem?
Few Ships pared.
IF we had gone to war with the rest
of the first class powers early in Aug
ust do you realize that no less than
nine of our battleships would not have
been ready to fight?
have Is cruisers. % d~estroNers,
Is torpedo boats, five submarines and
perhaps a dozen miscellaneous fighting
ships kept in cold storage with the bat
tleshlps. Eighty fighting vessels of our
modest navy are not available for bat
tie in an emergency.
L charge that our navy is 1S,O0c men
short and a further shortage of 40. 600
men is in sight. The general board.
when a actually made IL war plans.
m the enlisted force of the navy
as betweent $4,000 n so, 900 men short
for war. If any attention had been
paid to the general boards emphatic
appeals for our national safety. in
stead of only q battleships built and
building n authorized, we should
now have ~ battleships, built. build
ing and authorized; instead OF 81 de-
stroyers we Should now have 1877 de-
%stroyers.
IF we needed the advice of the gem
eral board we should have a fleet Of
fast scouts today. How many do you
think we actually have got? Just three
and those were authorized over 10
years ago.
You know that he have Sc sum-
marines In all, built and building. good.
bad n Indifferent. Now comes Sec
rotary Daniels and in q few soothing
words. recommends submarines to the
paltry number of eight or SO.
Not Equal To Germany.
we have just q dozen aeroplanes in
the navy. Last year the %aeropiane
board recommended an appropriation.
81 100000 Instead of that sum. ac-
cording to Captain Bristol, we let the
aviation service spend only $3.50, 900 or
100000. The general naval board in its
current report says that we must spend
$5,OO0,00O on aircraft. Secretary Daniels
recommends no regular specific ap-
preparation at all, but he tells us about
a volunteer aircraft force. CAPTAIN
Bristol says that that volunteer force
does not amount to Hannah Cook.
Rear Admiral Straus tells us that
all battleships in commission now or
Which will be in coinission before he
Nevada and the Oklahoma are complet-
ed are equipped with u short range tor
pedo which may be considered obso-
lete for the battle fleet"
Some persons have quoted Rear Adj
miral Fletcher rs saying the American
navy ranks ahead of that of
l have searched h admiral's evidence
and find that he said nothing of the
sort. l don't believe that any wen, in
formed man believes our. fleet to be sll-
perior to that Of Germany. A year ago
Read Admiral c. E. Vreeland testified
that we are third in the race. and
moreover, that we are a pretty bad
third. for he said that we should still
be third in 1920. even If we adopted the
building program of the general board"
~eaaa, A.,,-~