Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-12-13
SAYS AMERICAN NAVY
MUST EQUAL ANY.
Admiral Badger Urges Second
Three-Year Program be Con-
tinued; Time to Build Now.

Washington. Dec. 13.-Rear Admiral
Charles j. Badger, Chairman of the
Executive Committee OF the General
Naval Board, appeared before the House
Naval Affairs Committee yesterday and
urged the building of navy which shall
be the equal in 1925 of any navy in the
world. He advocated the continuation of
the second three-year building program
along with the uncompleted portions OF the
first three-year program.
1t developed that the naval authorities
desired navy as large as Great Britain $
because these navies will enforce the peace
of the world if the League of Nations Is
created at the Peace Conference.
In explaining his reason for asking
for navy the equal of any, Admiral
Badger said:
NEVER IN BETTER POSITION TO BUILD
I'VE do not want the United States
to be in fear of any nation IN the world.
Owing to the expansion of our ship
yard facilities for the building OF a mer-
chant marine, this country was never
in better position for naval expension.
The General Board recommends that as
shipyards are released from work on the
merchant marine, they be employed In
building for the navy in order that 1925
shall see us fully preparedin all important
partic. lars
"The NAVY of the United States should
ultimately be equal TO the most powerful
maintained bv anv other nation. 1t
should be gradually increased to this
point by such a rate of development year
by wear as NAV be permitted by the
facilities OF the country, but the limit above
defined shouldb be attained not later than
1925
POLICY APPROVED BY PRESIDENT.
This policy, the Admiral said was
advanced in July. 1915, by the Secretary
of the Navy and approved by the Prcsi-
dent later in q speech at st. Louis, and was
now the policy of the General Navy Board.
"Navies must be the principal sup
port of League Of Nations" he CON
tinued, "and he United States, from
It's wealth, influence. and power, will DC
called upon to contribute q very large
share of the international police force 10
render such league effective
GUARD AGAINST INVASION:
Admiral Badger said The United >tates
mas building great merchant marine
and that the duty OF the navy would Dc
TO protect it as well as to guard against
invasion.
The great naval lesson Of the war.
he went on has been that the nation
possessing the most powerful navy was
able in a few weeks 10 drive the Ger
man merchant flag FROM the seas and to
keep open her own trade routes, and vet,
when the war commenced Germany
possessed the second best navy in the
world 1t proved to be not good enough
The blockade which Sne was not able to
ireak was the greatest contributing
cause Of her ultimate collapse 7
Discussing the three-year building pro
gram, authorized in 1916. Rear Admiral
Badger said tnat SIX battleships, six
battle cruisers, two scout cruisers, nine
heet submarines. two destroyers tenders
and one feet submarine tender had not
yet been commenced. and that the Cen
eral Board approved their completion.
War construction caused the stoppage Of
al purely naval construction Of large
size and the lack OF shiTs of this type
would have been fatal if we had been
lighting the war alone.
URGES 1920 PROGRAM.
Tine 1920 building program adds six
teen battle cruisers to the six already
authorized continued Rear Admiral
Badger making q total bv 1925, of
twenty-five. Great Britain has now
thirteen of these vessels, built or build
ing, and II IS estimated that if sne con-
tlnues building on the annual average in
the last twenty years she Will have nine
teen or twenty battle cruisers in 1925.