The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-01-22
APPROPRIATION BILL FOR ARMY DEBATED Reading for Amendment
 Begins Today BE PUSHED THROUGH Feature of Debate Is Speech by Hay Declaring Not Single Additional
 Man Is Needed for
 the Army
BE PUSHED THROUGH

Washington. January 21.-After an all day discussion of national defense. the House tonight completed general debate on the s1o1, ,0oo,OOo army appropriation bill. Reading of the measure for amendment vii begin tomorrow. both majority and minority leaders urging that action on this and other appropriation bills be expedited to avoid a special session of Congress.
 The feature of todays debate was a speech by Representative Hay of Nir- ginia. chairman of the military commit tee. deprecating war talk and declaring it was not necessary to add a single man to the standing army. The pending bill makes no provision for additions for the army. but measures before the Senate committee with the approval of the ad- ministration, would increase the army by about 25,O00 men.
 Representatives Gardner of Massachu- setts and Kahn of California vigorously insisted that the countrys present de- lenses were inadequate, though they agreed with Mir Hay that there was no immediate prospect of the United States being involved in war.
 To Maintain Peace
 "How people can claim said MT. Hay that these great nations now at war; who are exhausting themselves financial ly and physically, IS soon as the war is over, are going to turn arour1-h t attack the strongest nation on be beyond my comprehension. The onited tn mai i1f with all the world. That is the policy of this country, not only of the admins tration but of the entire citizenry.
 "Nobody wants war. We are not go- ing to do anything to bring about war. All this talk of our not being prepared for war and of conditions having arisen in Europe which makes it necessary Tor us to go in for large military expendi- tures is absurd. l am utterly opposed to A large standing army to adding single man to the present standing army
 MT. Hay said that to cope with the European armies 1t would be necessary to maintain no less than 6OO,O00 men as a standing army, which would cost the country $700,000,00O yea".
 Reasonably Prepared
 "We are reasonably prepared he said. q find that owing to the Euro pean manufacturers of small arms have increased the capacity, so that today we are turning out 100000 rounds of ammunition a day, or could 1T we de- sired to do it. We have on hand I0O,- 900 service rifles of the new model and BOG, 900 of the Krag gJorgenson, making 1, 00O0 900 rifles we have on hand. It would be folly for us to lay up too large a reserve, because these models change and things become obsolete. We have 96,000,000 rounds of small ammunition in reserve"
 Representative Gardner declared the Monroe doctrine appeared to tho na- tions of central Europe like flaming sword guarding against their entrance into the terrestrial paradise of South America" He suggested that inpov erished nations teeming with popula- ton would not respect the Monroe doc Urine unless this government has power to defend it.
 Representative Greene of Vermont declared the military reserve question never will be satisfactorily reached un- ill some of the AS states of the union consents to surrender its exclusive Jur- isdiction over it's quota of the so- called national guard" He said the states should undertake the moye- ment to this end.