Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1915-04-26

n
division of seagoing tugs and n d.
vision Of torpedo boats have recently
been equipped with rnine-sweepipp
gear and the destroyer tender carries
gear for a division of
dcstroycrs operating with the door
additional gear Is being supplied At
Iensaco!a during the winter, the San
francisco and submarine Eotilla have
Dcen operating Jointly in ,nlainp eyer
ciSeS. mo department has begun the
manufacture OF mines ana in Il short
time viii have thIrty-one mines for
every nine 1t had two years ago, in
creasing our stock Pa per cent. By
mines at a government
station In lieu of purchasing them, a
saving OF Si7S.75o has been effected.
NEW FOURTEEN-INCH GIN
MOST POWERFUL IN USE
AS to guns: The Bureau of Ordnance
,,.is, "tNeiopcd fourteen-inch gun that
VIII shoot farther. shoot straighter and
mt harder than any gun now in use or
known TO be designed by foreign
country. Based upon former and cur
rent prices In contracts for guns and
1888.
AS to powder: Upon my recommen-
datlon Congress increased the capacitv
OF INC navy powder factory at indian
Head When the extension now under
way is completed, tho capacity will no
nearly doubled. The cost of nanufac
ture has incidentally been reduced .
cents per pound, saving already in tho
cost of powder lsince manufactured
$4,000.
AS to radio: Radio has at last been
successfully installed on submarines
ana more than seventy-five ships. which
e'ther mad no radio or whose equipment
was obsolete. have been supplied with
modern equipment. Three entirely new
shore stations have been added TO tho
chain: Balboa Canal Zone), Great
Lakes. ILL.,. and Tutu!la. Samoa
AS to aircraft: The European war
mas emphasized the value of aircraft.
The navy has Jagged behind in this in
strument of war Last year l appointed
board OF aviation. 1t recomme ndcd
the utilization OF the abandoned navy
yard at Pensacola as n training and re-
pair station for aviation, and an avia-
tion bureu In the department. This has
been done. Upon my earnest recon-
mendation. Congress appropriated ST.
100000 to begin upon an elaborate plan
the real Development of aviation in the
navy. 1t also approved my request to
pay aviators an increase of so per cent.
and we are organizing class of capable
ariators. To make Immediately effec
tive this feature. three new hydro-
aeroplanes have just been purchased,
which is but the beginning OF the work
of aviation. now well advanced along
the lines of a well-considered plan.
regard this as one of the most far
reaching steps taken by the Wilson adj
ministration.
AS to savings effected: All this un-
precedented increase in the navy
has been secured. too. without large in
crease in appropriations. How? BY
avoiding unnecessary expenditure
ashore, by reducing the cost of worl,
& U-h oi,,t TIT,
and reducing appropriations for en-
largement OF shore stations, by secur-
Ing real competition, and by economy.
During the four years of Taft, s21,92S,-
5I2 was appropriated by Congress for
the public works alone OF shore stations
TWO naval bills have been passed by the
present administration. and they carry
together, for the public works OF shore
stations total OF S3.a2O.SSO. We have
greatly reduced expenditure ashore and
greatly Increased them afOat, and the
hove figures attest the change for the
better. When ] became secretary ships
could be built in only two navy-yards
We have equipped. or are eQuipping five
additional navy-yards for the construc-
ton OF navy craft, and this is being
done while at the same time there is
big decrease In appropriations ashore
By securing competition, ] saved S1,077,-
30 In one contract for projectiles Up
to date. by first rejecting all bids and
demanding more reasonable figures, I
have saved S1.1l0,0O0 in the purchase OF
armor plate, securing lower prices than
my predecessor secured. In two other
bureaus alone last year s1.SoO,0O0 was
saved-more than enough to enable
Congress to Inappropriate $1,000. 900 of
the savings for aviation and the bal
ance for submarines. There has been
the same character OF savings in other
ways-too many items to enumerate.
SO much for the material and prepa-
ration. OF course, we need constantly
to increase the ships and armament but
the increase in the past two years,
larger than in any previous two years
in the history of the country. is an ear
nest of what will come in the regular
and orderly and necessary increase OF
naval equipment.
ENLISTMENT UP TO LIMIT
PRESCRIBED BY LAW
but Of what worth is ship without
well-trained men? What has the Will
son administration done as to person.
mel? 1t is a pleasure to tell you that
for the first time in years the enlist
ment is up to the limit prescribed by
law, and part of the year we have had
a waiting list Since / became Secre-
tary Of tho Navy we have increa sed the
enlistment 1924 men. enabling us to
commission fully twenty submarines.
four battleships, four destroyers. six
gunboats. six cruisers and three
monitors, increasing the total num-
Der OF commissioned vessels by forty
one over the number commissioned
on March !, 1913. I regard this
as great achievement. particularly
since the navy had not formerly been
able to secure enough men to fill the
quota. 1t has been secured, too. with
out letting down the standard for adj
mission, which has been maintained and
even raised. For every recruit accept
ed five were rejected because they did
not come up to our high standard To
what Is the Increase OF our enlistments
attributed? The answer is easy: To the
establishment Of schools. opportunity to
see tho world. and for promotion afford
ed enlisted men hitherto denied them.
In these two years thirteen enlisted men
have been appointed as assistant pay
masters; five as midshipmen at Annap-
oils, and twelve as cnSigns 1t Is true
that prior to the Wilson administration
Is was possible for an enlisted man to
be promoted to be ensign, but In the