The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1894-1918, 1916-04-14

The report that Mr.. Daniels has
gathered about him in the manage
ment of the navy untried and incom-
petent men is as false as all the rest
of the falSehoodS industriously circu-
lated about him and his administra-
ton. Victor Blue is the chief of the
bureau of navigation. He is noted i'm
The Naval Register "for eXtraordi-
nary heroism during the war with
Spain," served on Admiral Kempf's
staff in the Philippines, was a mem
bcr of the first relief expedition which
marched from the sea to Tientsin.
CHINA, was chief of staff of the Pa
clhc fleet was appointed by Secretary
Meyer to the general board and has
hlled every position on modern ma l
of war. The chiefs of the other bu-
reaus of the navy are all distinguished
for eminent ability in the particular
service to which they have been as
signed, and Admiral Benson, chief of
the bureau of naval operations and
Mr.. Daniels right arm in the admins
tration of his great department, is
concededly one of the most competent
officers in the service.
When he went into the office of
secretary, Mr.. Daniels found that the
service was loaded with aides, an
amazing amount of red tape and COR
reSpondence between the secretary and
men in adjoining rooms-a system
which congress has repeatedly re-
fused to sanction-and he Laid off,
the aides and brought the heads Of
the bureaus into intimate and direct
touch with the secretary.
He has been cenSured for recon-
mending to congress that promotion
in the navy be made by merit and not
by seniority. Instead of censure this
action should have been received with
the highest favor by the really deserv-
ing officers of the navy.
He has been criticised by refusing
to permit naval officers to seek to in
fuence legislation by making public
address or otherwise; but this has
been the unbroken policy of the navy
for all time. 49,, In 1Qa2, - resilient
Roosevelt and IN 1909 President Taft
reinforced TIE rule by executive or
ders that established dismissal as a
penalty for violation "No one has
been muzzled; simply the law has been
enforced that forbids officers from
running about the country for pur-
poses of propaganda, practice in
which 80 per cent had no desire to
indulge"
Hitting the Powder Trust.
Under Mr.. Daniels administration
the United States is making its own
powder for "a cents the pound it used
to pay from so to so cents. He saved
the government $1,115,793 on this ac-
count last year. He cut out $1,O77,21O
on one bid alone of a manufacturer of
projection and has asked congress
for money to build a projectle plant
for the government. He reduced the
bids of the armor plate people ST.
1lO,O84 and heartily favors the bill
of Senator Tillman providing for the
establishment of a government plant
where arnor can be made for $3.50
the ton as against $440 demanded by
private concerns. In 1900 congress
appropriated 0,000-the Tillman
bill provides for $11, 0O,OO0-for
tracts could be made at reasonable
and equitable figure" The plant was
not established and under Moody,
Morton, Bonaparte and Meyer, all Re-
publican secretaries, the treasury was
MIXED to the extent of over SIG 6,O0O.-
600 in high prices.
Manifestly, Mr.. Daniels is not to be
ho 4
the navy. He had to take it as it
was turned over to him by his utterly
incompetent predecessor, George Won
l.. Meyer. He found the establish
ment very much run down in men
and material. He has greatly stren2Ln IN
ened 1t In both respects. According to
Capt. j. S. Mexican OF the service,
more progress has been made in
building up the navy in the last two
years than in any previous period of
five years, and there was never time
when Everybody in the service was
working as hard with their heads and
hands"
"The navy today" says Mr.. Daniels,
is finer, better balanced and more
effective first arm Of defense than ever
before in its history"
In the last ten years of Republican
administration the expenditures on
account of the navy amounted in the
aggregate to $1,123,013,8O2. This was
at the rate of $112,301 1850 the year,
and when Mr.. Daniels succeeded Mr..
Meyer he found the navy without men
to man the ships, without ships to
meet the requirements of a modern
navy, without submarines, without
torpedoes, without aeroplanes or avia-
tors, without wireless equipment of
an adequate sort; kind of snug har-
Dor for officers of great distinction;