The Monte Vista journal., 1916-01-01
BY EDWARD HEATING.
ongres,man from tho Third Colo
In n@nfraCf

(SOuBICUYxA0A AkVAAA NAo AAAAA - SOe~
RADIO District.)
Washington, D. C.-1n consider
ing the question Of National Pre-
paredness, the people of this coun-
try need FACTS moro than anything
else. II they can get hold of the
facts they may be depended upon to
reach sane judgments. Unfortun-
ately they are being supplied with
almost everything but plain, every
day, reliable facts.
BY way of illustration, permit me
to give one of my own experiences.
Some time ago 1 sent several
thousand letters to my constituents
asking for their views on National
Preparedness" Among other things
l said in that letter:
Our navy is probably equal or su-
perior to that of any other nation,
except Great Britain. Experts differ
on the question of naval strength. l
am giving you my opinion based on
careful study"
Among the replies 1 received was
the following:
your statement in regard to the
present strength Of our navy is so
tetlandish that 1 will not comment
maroon. We all know about how
thaty ships of the different classes
=, 40 Iiow possess and something of the
gun power of each and we have some
notion of the power of the other
navies of the world. Furthermore,
we are inclined to give some weight
to the opinion of the trained ex-
perts who have studied naval mat
ters all their lives, and who are, no
doubt, infinitely better qualified to
pass upon the strength of the navy
than those who have had no expert
ence in such matters.
"Our navy is by no means the
equal of either Germany or France,
not to mention England"
READS JINGO LITERATURE.
The gentleman who wrote the
above is sincere, educated, intel
ligent American. He probably reads
some of the big magazines-with
their stories of "The Fall of Ameri-
ca" and 1.-THE Overthrow of the Re-
public" - he has absorbed the
speeches Of Congressman Gardner
and Captain Hobson and he may be
on the subscription list of one of the
big yellow city dailies.
He believes that what he has read
is Gospel truth and is supported by
the testimony of trained experts
who have studied naval matters all
their lives"
But he is mistaken.
/ have before me a volume entit-
led: Hearings before Committee on
Naval Affairs, House of Representa-
tives, 1916" This is the very latest
publication containing expert infor-
nation about our navy.
Beginning on page 463 we find the
testimony of two greatest naval ex-
perts on this side of the Atlantic:
Rear Admiral Chas. ]. Badger, men,
Der Of the General Board of the
Navy, and Rear Admiral Frank F.
Fletcher, commander-in -in-chief of the
Atlantic Fleet.
EXPERTS OPINIONS.
What do these experts say concern
ing our fleet?
Admiral Badger was on the stand
for two days. At one point he had
the following colloquy with Congress-
man Witherspoon.
Witherspoon.-''Now, Admiral, in
your first statement I understood
you to say that our navy, ship for
ship. was as good as the navies of
other eountries?"
Padger.-"Yes, sir"
Witherspoon.-"T Then you modi-
fled that little by saying they were
as good as, If not superior. ship for
ship?"
Badger,-"That is right"
Witherspoon.-"I want to ask you
II 1t is not fact that, ship for ship,
they are better?"
Badger cannot answer that,
absolutely. l believe they are as
good or better. They are not infer
ior."
At this point 1t developed that, ac-