Semi-weekly herald., 1915-11-15


wider favor in the navy that is gem
orally supposed. The more thoughtful
officers, while they perhaps resent
ed the secretarys ruling as an inn
Piled slight, nevertheless sincerely
approve the elimination of strong
drink, and have been informed by
naval officers that since they have
stopped drinking aboard ship there is,
for some reason. less drunkenness
among the men.
"Curiously, too, for all the criticism
that is heaped upon Mr. Daniels,
there has been more new construc-
ton under his administration than
under other secretaries, who have
been regarded as more able men. The
temper of the country accounts for
this to considerable extent, but
also Mr.. Daniels seems to be able to
get along with congress. In this
he is unlike both former Secretary
of the Navy Meyer and the present
very able Secretary of War. Mr.. Gar
rison. Both of the latter gentlemen
have attempted to buck congress and
the pork barrel-with unsatisfactory
results.
"Apropos of this it is a curious fact
that, though the United States de-
veloped the first practical aeroplane,
the first flying boat, and was the first
nation to launch an aeroplane from
the deck Of a war vessel, neverthe-
less we are now immeasurably be
hind in aviation How important this
is may be judged from the fact that.
because of aeroplanes, the old sur
prise tricks are no longer possible.
That is, they are not possible against
an enemy properly supplied with
aeroplaneE. They would, however.
still be possible against us. The
radius of action Of our scouting YES
selt would be enormously increased
lsupposing for moment that we
we're equipped with scouting vcsselsD
were they fitted to carry aeroplanes,
AS recommended by Lieutenant Com
mander Muslin of the navy aviation
corps
with regard to submarines the sit
uation is much the same; we Great
ed the submarine; other nations have
developed it. 1t has been the same
with the Hotchkiss guns, manuftc.
tured in France and England, and the
| Maxim gun, manufactured in Eng
| land-both the inventions of Ameri-
cans. We have let go of our inven-
tons, precisely as we let go the very
modest program of some years
iince, which would have given us
fleet Of forty-eight battleships, with
balancing number Of lighter YES
sells, by 1920.
"a fleet of scouts of commerce de-
| stroyers-oil burners of high speed
and wide cruising radius, capable of
performing such feats as were lately
| performed by the German Emden-
would almost guarantee US against
war with England.
"Of large, swift battle cruisers such
as have cut an important figure in
the present war we have none. The
hastic cruiser must, however, come
as surely as the old battleships of the
type Of the Oregon must go, in max
ing reckonings Of our naval strength.
"The power Of single battle cruis-
er in the right place is perfectly il
| ustrated in the case Of the Goeben.
| 1t is no exaggeration to say that the
Geoben is a match for a fleet of
twenty-five or thirty Oregons, since
She could sink them without allowing
them to get her into range, and run
| away from any she did mott sink.
Thus,in the Black sea, the Goeben
is said to have held off a fleet of
fifty-eight Russian war vessels,
among them eight earlier battleships.
Being able to hold them off, she has
prevented the attack on CONSTANT
| nople from the rear. She has bonn
barder the Russian Black sea ports.
Her effect upon the war has been
more profound than some of the great
battles in which thousands of men
have been lost, since beside the
above mentioned performances, she
has caused England to guard the
Suez canal, thereby OBTAINING thou
sands Of troops from the European
front
"Mr Meyer, for example, recon-
mended. among other things, the
closing of all but two navy yerds
on the Atlantic coast. Naturally,
certain congressman with local in
terests very much at heart opposed
the measure. 1t failed We now
have nine navy yards in operation
on the Atlantic coast, including the