The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-04-26


 thinning the navy now has three ships: The San Francisco and Baltimore. mine layers and mine depot ships, and Ithe Dubuque, mine training ship. The lGeneral Board as early as 1908 reoog- nfzed the need of mine depot vessels and recommended the conversion of two old cruisers for this purpose. T5le l same year, Congress authorized the ieonwsrsior1 of the San Francisco and l Baltimore. Work was started on the I San Francisco JNne 12, 1908, but was lnot completed until December g. 1911. fIVvorlkfon the Egsitanbre was not start cd until April g. 1S13. and was com pleted April 1. 19f6s As to mine sweep iers, q division uf lseHgUing tugs and a division of torpedo boats have recently been equipped with 1ntne-sweeping igear and the destroyer tender carries
 mtne-sweepan gear for division of destroyers operating with the fleet l Additional gear Is being suppHed- At Pensacola during the winter, the San ! Erauctsco ana Ba1bnnarfne ftotflIa have. heen operating Jointly in nzfnsng exer- cises. rhe department has begun the 1 fu1anufacture Of mines and in a short
 time will have s1 mines for avery 1t had two years ago, increasing our mines at a government station in lieu Eof purchasing them, A saving of $a7Ss-
 z5o has been affected.
 sssAs to guY1ss The Bureau of Ord- Inance has developed a 14-inch gun that l will shoot farther, shoot straighter and
 hit harder than any gun now in use or
 known to be designed by a foreign tcountry ased upon former and cu1 l fsnt prices 4n contracts for guns and gun fozz1n9s we have saved $280. .425. 23.= ssAk to powders: Upon nay Tecom-s mendzton, Congress increased the ca pacity of the Navy Powder factory < at Ind3Sn Head When the extsnsion
 now under way is conpletad, the ca- pacity val be nearly doubled. The cost Of rnanE1facture has Incidentally been reduced &7 cents per pound. saving aiready in the cost of powder since l rnanuf factured, $15O,O00
 l As to radio: Eoa11ic has st last been successfully installed on submarines,
 and more than 75 other ships, which l either had no radio or whose equip-. with modern equipment. Three en- IftreIy new shore stations have been
 added to the chain Balboa Canal zone), Great Lakes IIls.s and T1ltutlaLs Samoa.
 As to aircraft The EAzropean war has enphaaized the value of aircraft. The navy has Jagged behind in this Instrument of war. Last year. ap- pointed a Board of Aviation. It re- Icommended the Utilization of the ahan-t doned navy yard at PensacoIa as a training and repair station for avia- ton, and an Aviation Bureau In the Iepa.rtTn e1lt This has been done. Upon my earnest recomme endation. Congress lappropraated a million dollars to be- gin upon an elaborate plan, the real developnaent Of aviation in the navy. It also approved my request to pay aviators an increase or 50 par cent and vre are crs anixing g class of capa- ble aNiators To make immediately lehectfve this feature, three new hydro- aerDpf lanes have Just been purchased. yTfaich is but the beginning of the work of aviation now we'll advanced along the lines of a we'll considered plan regard this as one of the most far reaching steps taken by the SWilson
 AS to savings efrected: All this un- precedented increase In the navy has been secured, too. without large in- crease in appropriati ions How By avoiding l1nnecessary xpenditure ashore, by reducing the cost of work ashore while naintaining its quality and reducing appropriations for en- largernenf of shore stations, by seeur- ing real conpetitfon, and by economy. During the four years of Taft $21 928.- SIP v as appropriated by Congress for the public works alone of shore sta- lions Two naval bills have been passed by the present administration, and they carry together Tor the pub lie works of shore stations, a total of 6, ,920 8s0 We have greatly reduced expenditure ashore and greatly in-S creased them af1oat and the above hg- ures attest tho changes for the better.
 When I became secretary ships could be built in only two navy yards We have equipped or are seq1dpping five additional navy yards for the fcon- structio on of navy craft and this is being done wllile at the same time there is big decrease in appropria- tions ashore. By securing cOmpeti-i ton # saved $1OT7,n0 in one contract f7<sfe rejecting all bids and demanding more reasonable figures, have saved s1.- 110, 900, in the purchase of armor plate, securing lower prices than my 5prede-s cessor secured. Tn two other bureaus alone last year, s1 800, 900 was saved
 more than enough to enable Congress to e-appropriate one million of the savings for aviation and the balance for submarines. There has been the same character Of savi@gs in other Eways-too many items to. enumerate.
 tsSo much for the material and prep aratfon. Of course, we need constant ly to increase the ships and armament, but the increase in the past two years, in the history of tine country, is an earnest of what will come in the reg u1ar and orderly and necessary in crease of naval equipment
 But of what worth is a ship with. out velI-trained naen2 what has the Wilson administration done as to personnel 2 It is pleasure to~telI you that for the first time in years
 the enlistment is up to the limit
 prescribed by law and part of the year we have had a. waiting list. Since became Secretary of the Navy we
 have increased the enlistment 5,s24
 men, enabling us to comrnission fully
 20 submarines four hattleships. four destroyers, six gunboats. one battle
 ship, six cruisers and three monitors, ] increasing the total nunlber of com. naissfoned vessels by Al over the num-
 ber commissioned on March I, 1s13- regard this as a great achievement
 particularly since the navy has not
 formerly been able to secure enough
 men to fill the quota. It has been l secl4rad s too without letting down