The American issue. [volume] (Westerville, Ohio) 1912-19??, 1918-07-05

Tile Jones diitHulitlll, looNiiiS " ~
hibition of the whisky, beer, etc.
We will be very glad to have your
views, and your experience or obser-
walton relating to government ship
ards, where beers, etc, are sold, and
where they are not sold.
Have you any information upon
that point, or any related subiect9
MR.. DANIELS: The experience Of
the navy, speaking first as to the en-
listed personnel and as to the officers,
is that the so-called dry order i'm
proved the efficiency in every par
ticular; and whereas there were many
officers in the navy who did not APP
prove the order when it was first is
sued, / dare say there is very small
per cent who would ever want to go
back to the old rule. 1t has demon
started it's efficiency and its wisdom.
As to ship construction, the great
bulk Of men who are employed in the
shipyards are capable and sober, eff
fcient men. wherever they work.
SENATOR THOMPSON: That
applies whether it is in dry territory
or in wet territory?
MIR. DANIELS: 1t applies every
where. A great proportion of the men
are skilled and capable and patriotic
and do their work WE'LL whether there
are saloons around them or whether
it is dry territory. But in every case,
where we have had shipyard, or a
community. go from open saloons to
Prohibition, there has been increased
efficiency and marked Improvement.
Perhaps | might illustrate that by
the case of Newport, Rhode Island,
and Mare Island, California. At Mare
Island we have one Of the largest
shipyards. where we are now building
the california" great dreadnaught,
and destroyers and other craft.
In Newport, Rhode Island, we have
large plant, where we make torpe-
does. They are both very important
places and very efficient.
Mare Island Commandant Recon-
mends Dry Zone
Some time ago the Commandant of
the Mare Island Navy Yard, Captain
Harry George, very capable officer,
recommended that Mare Island be
placed in the fve-mile zone district.
His primary purpose was to protect
the enlisted men, who were under
training, but also to make better
condition for the men who were
working in the shipyard.
When this recommendation reached
Washington and it became known,
there were not few protests from
Mare Island against such an order;
and there were not few people who
said that if this order was put into
effect the men who were employed in
the shipyards at-Mare Island, would
resent it, and the product would be
decreased.
| looked into the matter very thor
oughly and took some weeks to do So
After an investigation made by naval
officers and others, the order was is
sued. Today the very men, or many
of them, who protested against this
order, approve it. The efficiency of
that yard has steadily improved. 1t
was excellent then, and the great
mass of men who work in that yard
were sober and temperate men. But
the temptation of saloons at the door
of the yard did cause some of the
young men to drink, whose efficiency
was thereby impaired.
We have increased our men at
Mare Island in the last four months
by 400. The other day we launched
destroyer from the Mare Island Navy
Yard, which broke the worlds record
in time of construction, much of the
work on which has been done since
Mare Island became dry district.
Navy Yard Employees Patriotic
l think it is a serious mistake, and
an unjust reflection upon them, to say
that men employed in our navy yards
are less patriotic than men who wear
the uniforms. Congress passed law
that under no conditions can any man
sell drop of Intoxicating liquors to
a man in uniform in America, and has
prescribed heavy penalties if that law
is violated. 1t was wise law and
time has demonstrated its wisdom.
Now in my judgment, the men who
are building ships and making tor
.pedoes are just as ready to make a
sacrifice of their habits, or of their
tastes, as the men in uniform, and
there is no more reason why you
should say that a man who is going