New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-12-23
Henry A. Wise Wood
Attacks Prepared
ness Plan.
CALLS DANIELS
INCOMPETENT
Administration Accused of
Gripping General Board
for Political Reasons.

for Political Reasons.
Indignant st the inadequate and
dangerously weak" military and naval
policy of the President, Henry A. Wise
Wood resigned yesterday from the
Naval Consulting Board, which is meet
ing here for subcommittee confer
ences.
In giving up his position as chair
man Of the subcommittee on aero
rautics, Mr.. Wood, in letter to Seere-
tary Daniels, says that he feels he
must relinquish this connection so that
he will be free 10 prosecute without re
straint his campaign for adequate pre-
paredness.
Following the meeting the board is
sued the following statement:
"Mr. Woods resignation is an entire
ly personal matter with Mr.. Wood,
with which the board is not concerned"
". l.. Saunders, who gave out the
statement, said: THE board is non
partisan, scientific body, organized for
the purpose Of improving the capacity
of the country through its navy in
peace and war The question of pre-
paredness is a relative term. We have
nothing TO do with any particular
scheme of preparedness or with the
policy of any administration.
81 have done this" Mr.. Wood says
in his letter, ain order that ! shall be
free to attack the thoroughly made
quate and therefore dangerously wea'i
naval and military policy of the Eresi-
dent as expressed in Secretary CART
sons and your own recommendations
and to urge publicly that the recon-
mendations OF the General BosrG O.
the navy and General staff OF the
army, as contained in their original re
ports, be substituted therefor"
Mr.. Wood then accuses the admins
tration Of crippling, for political rea-
sons, the military policy advocated by
the General Board OF the navy and
the General staff OF the army.
Daniels incompetent.
Where the General Board recon-
mends," he writes, that our navy be
made the equal Of the most powerful
In the world by 1925, and offers a pro
gramme for 1917 withheld b. you
from the public which the board says
will accomplish this if continued in
subsequent years on similar scale
you have arbitrarily limited the board
to q given sum for new construction,
and thus have forced ii TO substitute
for this a programme which in reality
is not it's own, but that Of yourself.
a civilian. who as such is wholly in
competent TO judge how large or OF
what our naval forces should be. Fur
thermore, even this restricted pro
oramme which you have forced from
the board YOU have further weakened
by eliminating from its first wear two
dreadnoLghts and one battle cruiser.
The former member OF the Naval
Consulting Board then attacks Secre-
tary Garrison for not having the cour.
age to support the recommendations OF
the General Staff OF the army, and crit
icises his proposal, in the face OF ad-
vice given by trained experts. to limit
the mobile force Of the United States
TO $4,000 men.
"This, notwithstanding the General
Stats statement that one nation can
~ Il.
600 troops in forty-six days. and an
other upon our Pacific coast 23S,OOO
troops in sixty-three days"
Points 80 Dangers.
Following Mir. Woods criticism or
the unprepared condition Of the United
States. the subcommittee on Ordnance
and Explosives of the Naval Consulting
Board announced last night that IN the
event OF war q hostile nation could.
merely by blockadinE Chill. break tho
back Of all attempts az resistance 20
invasion on the part Of this country.
Professor L. II. Backelan. Chairman
Of the committee. pointed out last night
that the United States depended entire
T. for its explosives upon the nitrate
fields OF the South American republic.
and once cut of from them would be
dENOIukPiN HfiE press 'UhFT JlNN'... WV"
ditions, 70 matter what other steps he'd
been taken toward preparedness.
From Chill come the nitrates. From
the nitrates is manufactured nitric
acid an absolute necessity in the MAX
ing Of smokeloss powder and other high
explosives. without access 20 these
nitrate beds the United States IL utter
IS unable 10 make nitric acid.
Germany" Professor Backelan said.
as making nitric acid synthcticallv
from the air The process is not her
secret. II was first discovered b. two
Americans. Bradley and Lovcioy. but no
further experimentation had been made
with the process in this country.
Nitric Plant Urged.
"Wi.h Chili's nitrate fields cut off.
the air process would be the only one
left to save the United state from
disaster. II would take two years 10
erect a suitable plant for is manu-
facturc and 10 train corps OF men 70
run II.
"W urge that the United States at
once prccmpt the necessary water
Continued ON pake 2, column 6