Weekly journal-miner., 1915-05-05
HE TAXES ISSUE WITH LETTER
 OF DANIELS
VON MEYER POINTS OUT THAT NAVY IS NOT IN CONDITION TO MEET DE- HANDS ON IT.
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 larger, better equipped and in better condition than in any previous year, while experts know that this is i'm possible, since many of the battle ships have been retained so long in Mexico that fleet maneuvering, vital for efficiency, has been terribly ham percd and intcrlered with
 The naval conflicts of the Euro pean war have emphasized the import ancc of speed, range and armament. The Butcher, faster than any of our ships, was destroyed because she was slower than any of the other ships in the conflict. Yet we are building no fast cruisers or battle cruisers. The secretary, in his enthusiasm over our 14,inch guns, which he says will shoot ! farther, shoot straighter and hit hard CT than any naval gun now in use, overlooks the fact that Japan has in commission and building eight naval ships with 14-inch guns probably as good as our 14-inch guns, and that England has the Queen Elizabeth in commission with 15-inch guns, a bat 1 tleship of over 27,000 tons, with d speed of 25 knots, and nine other ships building with 15-inch guns.
 The war has demonstrated the need and value of aircraft. The gen c;al board recommended the appro- priation of five millions of dollars, but only onc-ffth of the amount was ob- tained
 Tn view of the increasing number of submarines and the accident in Hawaii, there is urgent necessity for testing and wrecking docks that may be used for salving submarines oi any size docking submarines and test ing to determine the. resistance to ex- tcrnal water pressuurc. Two docks Oi'this description will be requi-ed for the Atlantic and two for the Pacific.
 Upon the efficacy of the supply ships depends the efficacy of the fleet The importance of supply ships has also been demonstrated in this war. One was authorized in 1913. It would have been nearly completed by this time if built under contract, but it is to be constructed in one of our navy yards and it has not yet been laid down.
 Without ample coal and oil stor- age at distant bases, in the absence of large merchant marine, to insure continuous supply of fuel, the range and efficiency of the fleet will be sci ously impaired in time of war
 The general board in report to the secretary stated: The strength of the fleet is measured too often in the public mind by the number and tonnage of its material units. The real strength of the fleet Is the com bination of its personnel (with their skill and training) and its material, and of these two elements the more 1 important the personnel, is too often 1. forgotten and neglected in making provisions for our fleet One of the ' basic troubles at the present moment i. is the dcmoralization which has been | going on of our personnel and which . is not taken into account. Further, it ] is poor economy to build battleships | without making, as we arc doing now, proper provision for the in crease required in personnel, as is the approved practice in other countries.
 "Thc difficulty in the administra ton of the navy at the present mo- ment is due to the fact that the or ganization in force for four years founded on a plan to a great extent the outcome of Admiral Mahan's ideas. has been disrupted and disor- ganizcd without consulting experts, and nothing has been put in its place Imagine new railroad president re- moving division heads without re- placing them and expecting the opcr- ation of the entire railroad system to be continued with efficiency, economy and dispatch The test of naval or ganization comes when, in an emerg- cncy, it can pass smoothly from peace to war basis. In the present |; condition of the organization it could not be accomplished without the greatest confusion and congestion. to ; the modification of the navy and the possibility of very grave conscquen- ccs to the discrcdit of the country ,
 CHANGE NAME OF CUT
 WASIIT TNGTON Arri1 % prCSi |