The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-10-19
BILLION DOLLARS
 FOR U. s. DEFENSE IS WILSON PLAN
President Has Mapped Out Program of Expenditures
 for Six Years.
ADDRESS SOON TO
 EXPLAIN BIG PLAN
Army Will Number 1,20O, ,000 and Navy Will Be Large
 " Increased


 defense program that probably means an expenditure on the army and navy of upward of a billion dollars in the next six years will be laid before the people by President Wilson on. Nov. a,twhen he goes to New ork to make his first public address since the scope of the policy upon which his Administration has embarked became known. He will speak before the Manhattan Club of New York on na- 1ional defense and the reasons which have impeIled him to approve plans to almost double the navy and quad xuple the trained fighting forces ashore within few years M
 With the estimates of the War and Navy Department submitted for the coming year, the breadth of the Ad- slairistration's policy as to prepared ness is being realized. It shapes up in totals as follows:
 Navy-F'or new ships and increas- ed personnel in five years, $50o.OOO.- 900.
 and ammunition within four years, Tor new coast defenses and mod ernization of old forts within four gears $81. .00o, ,o0o.
 For the new continental army and 4he proposed inorease in the regular army $26; ;000, 0o9- This amount probably will be d continuing and. if anything increasing appropriations through the first six year period, which would make the total expendi- 4alre at that time $156,OOO,000.
 The grand total expenditure thus actually planned would be $842,O0Os- 900.
 An Imuregnable Defense
 AccordiI,g to plans laid out by ex- perts. of the Navy and War Depart naerlfsy these exp endftures would pro- x1uce by 1925 a first line of dread- noughts and battle cruisers number 4ng 4S: a fleet of coast defense sub rr1Sarif1es that would fEinge the Atlan- tic and Pacific Coasts with an almost aolid line Of interior defense against attack; a fleet of nearly 175 destroy7 CTS. and sduadrons of huge sea-goIng Fleet submarines to operate with the asf43e.Ns sss51a.elrous at great distance from shore.
 For tl1e army theEe would be at the end Of six years 9 trained force or POO GOO men, including a regular army of 10000, and the proposed Continental t army and reserve ves,s a ring of fully manned coast defenses, equipped with the largest and most powerful guns yet built and a vast reserve of field guns, machine guns, h6witzers and big gun anamunition.
 In addition, tie enormously increased capacity of private rnunitfon plants would give assurances of ample sup plies of small arms and field gun am znunition.
 Neither the war nor Navy Depart ment estimate for the cotning year has been made public as yet in detail It was learned yesterday however. that of the $72. 100000 increase over last years bill to be asked by the War De- partment, $46, ,00O. GOO would go toward reserve material and coast defense ovvr7xs the remaining $26, 100000 to be
 
 regular and Continental Part of this E46; 600 900 would be used for building and arnfug the new forts to guard the entrance to Chesapeake Bay.
 Moro Forts for New York. It is proposed to spend more of the anoney in building new foIts to guard kgsw York, San Franeisco and other great harbors from attack. Gigantic 16-inch rif1es will be mounted in all khese defenses of the first class, where khei enexny craft with modern guns would bel dangerous from great dis Rance,
 Anot7ler expenditure eoH4AnDlated Is 9Or httang the present 1z and 14-iheh Hif1es with carriages that will give khem greater range. Af51eh already has been accomplished ia that way, and the work will Be eaFF5ed on until every fort is modernized. No 16-inch rifles, wilI be installed ia places of smaller guns, however, 1t is said, beeasase te make all the changes ia magazines. hoists, 1naehineFy, and the like would be more expensive and less satisfae~ Eery then to build new e9apzaeeHaeats For these huge weapons.
 Aside from the awards made yesteF- day. the navy has still to award con- tracts for the major portion of the building prograna authorized by the last Congress Contracts will be let next month for four fleet subHaaFtnes
 
 any sEbmarine craft eyer designed The SchIey, nosv Bszi7diag, will disp1aee thousand tons and make t4e4aty knots on the surface. The new boats will dispiaee 1,2e0 tons and make 25 knots Next Ea0AkA also contracts will be let for two s2,08e-tea suRerdread- thoughts, ships which will carry a round dozen 14-inch rifles each and which will have new protection against submarine attack, the nature ef which Is being closely guarded.
 Four Big Ships Next EeaF,
 of the s6s.0os. zee Increase te be asked for the navy next year, the bulk will go into four big ships, twe super dreadnaughts and two superbatt1e cruisers. They would be the first of the sixteen capital ships te be laid down within five years, under the ad- ministration program, the last of which would not be in commission until 1925.
 The building of these four ships would tax the capacity of American private yards. There are only five companies nov equipped to construct such vessels, four on the Atlantic and etzae on the Pacific. The government ssseIf has only one yard, the Brook lyn navy yard, wheRe battleships can be constructed, although it is planned to equip the Philadelphia yard also, and possibly the Bremerten plant for this work Development of inc new Building program must follow these restrictions.
 The present program of not more than four big ships year also gives giate from year to year. This is one treason why it is proposed to build only tEo battle er4lisers tiae first year