New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-04-26

grounds, where II will be busy In target
practice until May, when II moves U,
New York for weeks we'll earned
leave. Then will come the review ~
New York, followed by man@uvres IN
the Narragansett Bay region. and hnal-
ly the review In Hampton Roads prior
70 sailing through the Panama Canal
TO the Pacific en- route to the exposition
at San Francisco.
"Those spring practices followed
close upon the heels of valuable
maneuvres and tactics in October, NO
vember and December last. This was
indeed strenuous practice, but u Is
the way the navy is kept fit and ready.
and the new admiral in command OF
the feet and the department pianned
such extensive evolutions because INC
only way that the navy can be Always
prepared is by practice and prac'ice
and then more practice.
This simple statement OF tne OPP
erations OF the feet since OCTOBER Is
one Of the best answers | can give TO
your question as TO the navys pre-
paredness. The necessity OF keep.ns
| ships in Mexico last year denled hu-
miral Badger the opportunity LOT hS
long practice as he had wisely pianneu'
but the sudden call for the expeoitoh
TO Vera Cruz demanded and exaetea uh-
usual service, to which the meet ie
sponded with an alacrity and reaoih ',r
which amply justify the ialth OF inc
country that there exists TO-DAY ~
more efficient institution thah inc
! United States navy.
"Some critics have said the efficiency
going TO Vera Cruz. To our regret
certain maneuvres and target pIacIl,1e
Of value were necessarily omitted. me
emergency experience, however, OF
( wear of stress and strain was OIL Tar
| Greater value in one important respect
| than the well planned routine, because
i cave a demonstration of the readl-
/ ness of the navy in every department.
aAoat and ashore, to meet an urgent
/ coll Its hexibiity was shown IN aa-
( iusting itself to entirely new and IN
/ cxpected situations, as well as ITS re-
markable adaptability in handing
every problem presented to II.
Under War Conditions.
"It must be conceded by all that the
/ hest school and preparation for war Is
war itself, and it was almost uIueI
tbis condition that our feet acted IN
nroceeding almost in day 10 Mexican
Waters The stay at Vera Cruz, now
ever did not prevent practice, Tor the
sbips. individually or in divisions, our
ing q great part of the time held tac'I-
cal maneuvres, torpedo-provlng prac-
tice and subcalibre drills in preparation
for target practice. -;.
For many years, officers have VIII.
ten and talked about the formation o.
advance base material and the pIacVIC'
of exercising landing parties OF sea
men and marines in the use OF thlS III
portant adjunct to naval warfare vi
eress appropriated money for TINS I'M
Dortant plan of campaign, but never
until January Of last year was inc navy
thus exercised. There had oeeh PiTnSy
of talk. but not until January OF IasV
vsor was il undertaken. Then, under
Instructions from the department. al
miral BADGER carried out d comprehen-
sive exercise in which the professional
advantages gained by officers and men
we're inestimable. Three months after
this extensive practice had been given
for the first time in our navy, the same
fleet and the same men were called
upon to land at Vera Cruz, and IN the
taking of that city the navy carried
out under fire what had been learned
at CulebTa.
AS to ships: During the last two
wears Of the Taft administration, Con.
gress authorized the construction OF
two dreadnaughts TO cost about $751;
100000 each. During the first two
wears Of the Wilson administration,
upon nv recommendation, Congress au-
thorized the construction Of five dread
naughts 10 cost about Sl4,OUO,UUO each'
Stated in dollars, the wilson admins
tration in it's hrst two years author
lied SS7O,0O0,0O0 to be spent on the
chief fighting force Of the navy, as
against S26,000,000 authorized during
the last two years Of Taft's; stated in
numbers. II authorized five dread
naughts instead Of two; and stated in
effectiveness, the five dreadnaughts au-
thorized under Wilson will mount
thirty-six more 14-inch guns than the
two authorized under Mr.. Taft.
"As to submarines: These wonderful
agencies of war have astonished the
world i'm the present European conflict.
The 63d Congress, elected with Mr.
Wilson, adopted my recommendation TO
give US all the money it could for sub
marines 1t ordered the construction
| of three seagoing submarines, the larg-
/ est ever authorized by any country, and
/ twenty-three submarines OF the same
size and type which have done such
/ fearful execution IN the present war.
These submarines will cost $l6,260, 600.
Now, what was done during the last
two years under Taft? Twelve subma-
rines, to cost $7,958,93G, were author
lied.
"Some Of our submarines are not as
perfect rs they should be, nor are the
submarines of any other nation. Under
this administration, however, the Board
Of Inspections has adopted stricter tests
before accepting submarines from con-
tractors. Nobody has as yet perfected
a satisfactory engine or satisfactory
battery for submarines. Upon my in
yitation Mr. Edison last year at the
New York Navy Yard went down into
a submarine and closely studied its
every feature. lie thinks he has bat
terry that will meet the need. Our tests
at the Brooklyn Navy Yard cause US 10
believe Mr.. Edison has the right princi-
pie. Without waiting for the compile
ton Of his battery, he has been given
an order for twO--One to be put into
an old submarine, accepted before
March 4. 1913. whose battery does not
give satisfaction, and one for new
submarine which ! have ordered built
i'm the Portsmouth y. H. Navy Yard.
Private firms building submarines have
not given entire satisfaction. We have
equipped the Portsmouth Navy Yard to
build submarines, and by competition
between private and government con
struction 1t is hoped that every OBJ