Norwich bulletin., 1915-04-26
Details of the
 Work of the Navy
GIVEN BY GENERAL SECRETARY
 DANIELS
225 VESSELS IN SERVICE
Personnel is Composed of 4,355 Line, Staff and Warrant Officers and 53,171 Enlisted Men-There is Now
 Waiting List. ..

Washington, April 25.-Secretary Daniels tonight made public a letter he has written to President Garfield of Williams college detailing the work in the navy during the last two years. MT. Daniels wrote in reply to MT. Gar fields request for material to meet statements that the United States is unprepared for military emergencies The letter follows:
 My Dear President Garfield:
 T am in receipt of your recent favor asking for an authoritative statement concerning the present status of the navy equipment of the United States and take pleasure in complying with your request as far as is compatible.
 225 Vessels in Commission.
 There are now in active service, fully commissioned, 225 vessels of all characters, which is 36 more than were fully commissioned when I became secretary. There are also 101 vessels of various types, in reserve and in ordinary and uncommissioned, capable of rendering service in war. We have under construction and authorized IT vessels @ dreadnaughts, 23 destroyers, 3S submarines and auxiliaries). as compared with 54 vessels (5 dread naughts, 14 destroyers, 23 submarines, 8 guniboats and g auxiliaries) which were under construction on March 1. 1913
 "All the vessels enumerated, those in active service and those in reserve are supplied with munitions of war No navy makes public the quantity of ammunition and torpedoes, mines and other implements of naval warfare which it keeps ready. It may be said however, that within the last two years the quantity of all has been steadily and greatly increased. For example we have increased the number o1 mines, on hand and in process of man. ufacture, by 244 per cent. With refer ence to torpedoes, the increase in tow years has been 90 per cent. By the enlargement of the naval pwoder fac tory, we shall soon be able almost tc double its former capacity, and like enlargement of the torpedo works ana the equipment of plant to construct mines will still further increase. a decreased cost, the quantity of sucf stock, and the possession of these plants in times of emergency will en' able the department to be in a better state of preparedness as regards tht supply of ammunition than ever be- fore. Personnel of the Navy. "The personnel of the navy is a l present composed of 4,355 line, staf and warrant officers and 53,1 enlist ed men. Increase in the number O. officers is dependent almost entirel! upon the output of the naval academy | admission to which is restricted b! l statute. The number of enlisted mel | also Is restricted, and the navy is to | day recruited to the maximum strengtl | allowed. There are now with the col | ors 5.824 more men-an increase of | | per cent.-than there were on Marcl | 1, 1914.
 1 My professional training as a jour
 nalist has always inclined me to tn | conviction that any officer, within tn l prescribed limits recognized in tn navy, should feel free to express hi
 opinion in regard to matters in tn | service: and there is not an officer wh
 commands a ship today who could O would say that his ship, without O | within, was not as good as 1t was tw l years ago, or that the officers wh command it and the crews who man il l are not as thoroughly disciplined, so | Der, loyal and efficient as they wer l two years ago, or as they ever ha l been.
 '-The Atlantic fleet has just returne | from Guantanamo, where it has fo
 many years held it's annual winte
 practices. This year more battleship
 and destroyers have participated in tn 1 manoeuvres, and for a longer perio(
 than ever before.
 Fleet Busy in Tactics.
 Under the direction of Admirs
 Fletcher, upon plans evolved at tn
 navay war college and approved by tn
 department the fleet has been busie
 in tactics to try out it's efficiency an
 readiness. All reports tell of the en
 thusiasm of officers and men in thi
 practice and the splendid record mad
 by the ships. The fleet Is now in Tan
 gier sound and on the southern dri grounds, where 1t will be busy in tar get practice until May, when 1t move to New York for a weeks we'll earne leave. Then will come the review ( New York, followed by manoeuvres i
 Narrasansett bay region, and f1nall ! the review in Hampton Roads prior 1 sailing through the Panama canal 1 the Pacific en route to the expositio at San Francisco.
 '1These spring practices followe close upon the heels of valuable mar oeuvres and tactics in October, Noven
 Der and December last. This was ir deed strenuous practice, but 1t is th way the navy Is kept fit and read and the new admiral in command
 the fleet and the department planne | such extensive evolutions because tt
 only way that the navy can be alway
 prepared is by practice and practic and then more practice. This simp statement of the operations of th ] fleet since October is one of the be.
 answers can give to your question g to the navy's preparedness. The nc
 cessity of keeping ships in Mexico la, year denied Admiral Badger the or portunity for as long practice as | had wisely planned, but the sudde call for the expedition to Vera Cru demanded and exacted unusual servie
 to which the fleet responded with a alacrity and readiness which ampl justify the faith of the country ths there exists today no more efficiel | institution than the United State f navy. Some critics have said the ei l hciency of the fleet was reduced , reason of going to Vera Cruz. To oi , regret. certain manoeuvres and targ, practice of value were necessaril omitted. The emergency experienc l hoWeyer. of a year. of stresa and straj