The Penn's Grove record., 1919-04-18
BY JoSEPHUs DANIELS,
Secretary of the Navy.

During the war the business Of the
Navy Department expanded, but the
end of the war will not see us go
back to the small navy which we had
when the war began. The pending
bill in Congrass carries, and n Dill
that passes must carry, for the pres
ent and future needs of the navy, a
hve-fold increase of navy personnel
and naval expenditure over that which
prevailed in the early part of 1917.
This means, of course, that we sha
not return, in employment OF labor, III
the repair of our ships, in the construc-
ton of our ships already authorized,
or any other agencies of a peace navy,
to the conditions of two years ago.
In 1917, or the early part OF it, 36,ooo
skilled men were employed in our ma
w yards. When the armistice was
signed, there were employed S6'oo5,
and today $1,000. We are employing
more men in the navy yards today
than at any time during the war, and
necessarily so.
You may ask why is this, with the
end of the war. There are three rea-
sons. The first is the imperative ne
cessity of repairing and altering and
equipping and keeping in repair for
constant service the older types OF
battleships and cruisers which we are
employing to bring soldiers back from
France. Not only that, we have htted
out and helped TO keep In repair scores
of transports of the army and the Ship
ping Board. Ships have returned with
many accidents, minor, to be sure, and
this has imposed a heavy burden upon
the navy yards in keeping their ships
In repair.
When the war began there was a
lack of enough ships of smaller capa-
city In the navy to engage in the new
warfare against submarines, and we
took over yachts and all kinds of small
craft with the contract that, at the end
of the war, we would return them to
their owners in the same condition as
we received them. We had to make
changes in these ships, and they have
had a rigorous service, and that is a
large work which, for months, will give
employment to skilled men.
With all speed, we are completing
the ships already begun, and beginning
work on those authorized by the last
Congress. So that with the navy, for
the next few months. there will be no
unemployment. and the men who are
skilled in shipbuilding have jobs al
their hand at high wages, and we are
enabled, by these reasons, to tide over
the DAYS before normal conditions will
return.
When the armiStice was signed
there was a drastic necessity to annul
contracts or to make such readiust-
ments as would save many millions of
dollars. At the same time there was
the compulsion upon us, the strongest
in America today, that every returning
soldier should have his job when he
came back home. And in the naval
service we have seen to it that every
man who left our service at navy yards
or stations to go into the war shOuld
have his job when he came back and
then there was the compulsion not to
discharge men who had rendered faith
full service in the war. And how have
we done this?
We have sought to give naval work
so it will be a stop-gap in the months
before normal conditions shall return.
For example, we have in these last few
days made it possible for every manu-
facturer in America with a small ma
chine shop to bid on contracts for the
small parts of %torpedoes. We will as
semble them, and instead of giving a
contract to a manufacturer of torpe-
does-all of them-to a single concern,
we are making it possible for any small
machine shop in the country to make a
part of these torpedoes, assembling
them in our new plants. So, in other
ways, we are giving work to small fac
tories and keeping the work going.
Now the duty comes to us in these
ulNS VI lIolioiliOh " otdlC SoNCi
ments to enter upon the work of pub
lie Improvements; for city govern
ments and for county governments, so
that employment may come to labor
until conditions in individual enter
prises make a demand for labor.
l am not one of those who have
fear of the future employment of la
Dor. l am n of those who believe
that as soon as we tide over the pres
ent conditions the demands of the
world for what America makes will be
so great that, with ships to carry our
products, there will be abundant labor
for every man in America who wishes
to work. AS Don as the terms Of peace
are signed and the country of Bel
GUM and that portion of France which
was devastated, begin their work OF
upbuilding, there will be demand for
almost everything that America makes,