East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1915-12-07

one repair ship tt is proposed that
of his number we shall the fha
Year provide for the construction oil
two batt.eshIps two battle cruisers
three Scout cruisers, nnecu de troy
ers, five fleet submarines twenty
i've coast submarines. TWO gunbOats
and one hospital ship. the second
year two battleshlps, one scout CRUZ
ser ten desroyers, FOUR fleet suOma-
rines fifteen coast submarines. one
gun boat and one fuel oil ship. tie
third year, two battle ships. one bat
tie cruiser, two scout cruisers five
destroyt"s two fleet submarines, and
fifteen coast submarines; the fourth
year. two battle ships, two battle
cruisers, two scout cruisers, ten de-
stroyers, two fleet submarines, fif-
teen coast submarines, one ammuni-
tion ship, and one fuel oil ship; and
the fifth year, two battle ships. one
battle cruiser, two scout cruisers, ten
destroyers, two fleet submarines, fif-
teen coast submarines, one gunboat,
one ammunition ship, and one re-
pair ship.
The secretary Of the navy is ask
! ing also for the immediate addition
to the personnel of the navy Of sew
en- thousand five hundred sailors,
twenty-five hundred apprentice sea
men, and fifteen hundred marines
This increase would be sufficient to
! ff.r h., Oh
completed within he fiscal year 1917
and also for the number Of men
which must be put In training t.
man the ships whicn Will be com
pleted early in 1918 II is also ne
/ cessary that the number of midship-
men at the naval academy at An
napolls should be increased by at
least three hundred in order that the
| force Of officers should be moro
rapidly added to; and authority Is
asked to appoint, for engineering du-
ties only, approved graduates of en-.
| gineering colleges, and for service in
the aviation corps d certain number
of men taken from civil life.
II this full program should be car
ried out we should have built or
building in 1921. according 10 the
estimates Of survival and standards
Of classification followed by the gem
eral Board Of the department, an ef-
fective navy consisting of twenty.
seven battleships, of the first line. six
| battle cruisers, twenty-five battle
/ ships Of the second line. ten armor-
ed cruisers, thirteen scout cruisers,
| five first class cruisers three second
| class cruisers, ten third class cruis-
ers. one hundred and eight destroy
ers, eighteen fleet submarines one
/ hundred and fifty-seven coast subma-
rines. six monitors, twenty gunboats.
four supply ships, fifteen fuel ships
four transports, three tenders to tor
pedo vessels, eight vessels of special
| types. and two ammunition ships
This would be a navy fitted to our
needs and worthy of our traditions
But armies and instruments of war
| are only part of what has to be con-
sidered II we are to consider the su-
preme matter OF national self-suffi.
cheney and security in all It's aspects
| There are other great matters which
will be thrust upon our attention
whether We will or not. There is,
| for example, a very pressing question
of trade and shipping involved in
this great problem OF national ade-
quacy. II is necessary for many
I nj
and development that We should have
great merchant marine. The great
merchant fleet we once used to make
Us rich. that great body of sturdy
sailors who used 10 carry our flag
into every sea- and who We're the
pride and often the bulwark Of the
nation, we have almost driven out of
existence by inexcusable neglect and
indifference and by a hopeless blind
and provincial policy or so-called eco
nomic protection. 1t Is high time
we repaired our mistake and resumed
our commercial independence on the
seas.
For it is a question Of independ-
ence If other nations go to war or
seek to hamper each others COM
merce. our merchants, 1t seems are
at their mercy, to do with as they
please. We must use their ships and
us them as they determine We
have not ships enough of our own.
We cannot handle our own COM
merce on the seas. Our independ- I
ence is provincial. and is only on !
land and within our own borders. !
We are not likely to be permitted to /
use even the ships of other nations
in rivalry Of their own trade, and !.
are without means to extend our
commerce even where the doors are
wide open and our goods desired |
Such situation is not to be endur-
ed, 1t is Of capital importance not
only that the United States should be
its own carrier on the seas and en-
JOY the economic independence
which only an adequate merchant
marine should enjoy a like inde-
pendence and self-sufficiency if it is
not to be drawn into the tangle of
European affairs. without such in
dependence the whole question of