The Washington times., 1915-01-03
GARDNER OENOUNCES
"DAWDL|NG" POLICY
Says Public Is to Blame for In.
prepare d Condition Of the
United States Navy.

[ IN the first of a series of articles On
-the unpreparedness Of the army and
navy for warfare, Congressman Angus
tus P. Gardner. Of Massachusetts, de-
c!ares today that the whole navy has
got into a rut. It's dawdle, dawdlc,
dawdle. oil along the line from voter TO
President
Congressman GaIdners first article
relates to the navy, and he announces
that he is gathering additional material,
To be published from week to week.,
showing that there is something radi-
cally wrong with all branches Of the
military service
'pont blame it all on poor old Sec
rctary Daniels says MIR. Gardner. 1T
is only partly his fault, even IL he did
deprive the seadogs Of their grog and
enter the sailormen in the lowest grade
Of the kindergarten" (This latter ref
Z erence being to the Daniels idea OF
"Of course, Danicl>, with his super
peace ideas. ought not to be Secretary
nf the Navy any more than liquor
dealer ought to he chairman Of a tenn
perance rally continues the Gardner
statement. but that is a small matter"
Weakness in Aero Branch.
In epigrammatc style. Mr.. Gardner
continues to discuss the deficiencies of
the navy. some Of his m6re striking
statements being as follows:
But IL you are SO skcptical as to DO
dubious lest the school history book and
the Chautauqua lecture may not 'he
adequate to repel the attacks of the
etfete monarches of Europe and Asia,
then the .tou parnse the, the hearings for the last
Committee on Naval Affairs. and you
may be comforted. A more complete
docket of experiments about to be made
md contracts shortly to he entered into
ind reports to be ordered in the hear
'uture and boards soon to be appointed
cannot be found outside the records Of
NE circunllocution office about which
Dickens wrote.
The American airman, Wright. was
The first in the wide world to build an
;ieroplane which would actually fly, and
DerimentinS and inspecting and report
ing and contracting and considering-in
Tact. we have been doing everything
except BUILDING aeroplanes. On July
while Uncle Sam owned twenty three.
all of them out of date. However We
recently ordered from abroad an up-to-
date French acroplane. with two Salm-
son motors, and an up-to-date German
1sroplanc, with two Mercedes motors.
We were in hopes that at last we were
IN fair way to establish little brood
var broke out Ve Wica .,if fseirners sf con.
mandeered our purchases, SO here VIC
are again just where We started.
we have as many as twenty sutma-
rines Oh the whole Atlantic coast. TO
nc sure, no one has accused the outfit
OF being any too new-fangled: but thel,
pray remember that VIC are still arsu-
ing about the best type with which TO
experiment. MeAnwhil the modest pro-
portion OF nineteen out OF these arorc-
mentioned twenty divers were not in
living trim when Commando Stirling
lave his evidence before tho Naval
committee in December.
Where the Blame Lies.
There is just one party who ought
to bear the blame, and that is the
sreat American public. whose exact
mirror we Congressman are. Six
months ago if l cared to empty a room
aN I need do was to discuss our mo-
tional defenselessncss. Today il 1 am
%nxious to fill a hall, l have but to
SAY that our army and navy will be
my topic Six months ago. I should
l'aye been a mighty poor politician il i
Lad preached about our lack of ma
,ional defense. Today. should be a
mighty poor politician If were to drop
he subject.
'If l were a real hero. I should prom
iae to keep up this crusade as long as
ne Lord might grant me grace. Not
''cing u real hero, I content myself
" With q promise to keep on shouting so
long AS the press will grant me space.
"Onc disease from which both out
irmy and navy are suffering is mort
i'iain. especially Inortnaln OF ideas
Mortlnain is all old Engrish law term
Which signifies the rule OF Il dead ard
s,one hand We ought to have this case
commission Of inquiry with some new
blood and no arterio sclerosis Of tho
intellect among the commissioners
What we need is definite plan for the
for In
national defense can we get out Of foul
different full committees and four dir.
ferene subcommittees Of the House and
Senate?'
Conflict in the Testimony.
Congressman Gardner refers to con-
tiicting testimony before the House
committees as to the actual needs of
Tho navy. and the shortage of mon, the
'atiTnates regarding the latter ranging
from 5000 to 1900 lie adds:
"Let us sec what all this Juggling
nd countcr-iuGglins of figures means.
lucs 1t mean that these adrnirals differ
- TO the number Of men needed to
nan any particular vessel" Not a bit
"f it. 1t means that they differ as to
low many vessels We need, and how
nany vessels We have which arc worth
'ucnning. The next time that you hear
bout our feet of thirty-three battle
'Atl'Ss ooh INV tldIty VI tilcSc Dtttp-
hips are in cold storage today, with
;ragmentary crews or no crews at all.
You will find that no less than twelve
It them are launched on their wav TO
hat bourne whence no traveller returns.
Naval authorities cuphoniously term the
hreo stages OF a warship's road to
oblivion as in reserve in ordinary,
and out of commission TO be sure,
hose same naval authorities gravc1y
inform us that our cold storage feet
AN be got ready for battle in from
three to twenve months, but they are
put to 1t to explain exactly what the
resuscitated veterans would be good for
when ready for battle. l5y the way.
Tor fear that these twelve battlesi ps
,fould feel lonely, there are nearly
lightly more Of our lighting craft out of
commission, lin ordinary" or i'll re
crve' to keep them company"