Evening star., 1922-03-19
NAVAL EFFICIENCY
URGED AT BANQUET
Many High Officials and Con-
greSSmen Attend Function
of Engineers.
DISCUSS ARMS REDUCTION
America Has Developed Best Fight
ing Ships in World, Says
MIR. Denby.

|
Maintenance of the traditional ef-
! ficiency and morale of the American
, Navy in the face of the ten-year naval
holiday was urged by high officials OF
| the Navy and members of congress
at a banquet of the American Society
of Naval Engineers last night at the
| Willard Hotel Nearly 200 prominent
government officials and ranking
naval officers were in attendance.
| Varied naval problems were dis
cussed by the speakers. chiefly those
resulting from the agreements reacheh
at the international conference on lhs
| limitation of armament. A note Oh
| pessimism, however, was injected I'M"
the discussion by Representative Lem
ueI =. Padgett of Tennessee. who de-
clared that while he accepted unre-
! servedly The results of the arms con-
! ference he did not personally approve
; of all the details arrived at. prlnclpaiiS
those relative to the reduction OF naval
| armament and the scrappinS OF capltai
ships.
! Reverses ScrnppinE Order.
Il do not approve of the scrappins oil
| the best ships" faid Representative
Padgett, land saving those OF the mo
die class, and then scrappinS from the
top and bottom j felt that We should
have saved those at the top and
+; scrapped from the bottom"
The speakers, in addition to Represeh-
| tative Padgett, We're secretary oi tiie
Navy DENLY, Assistant Secretary Roos.
welt, Admiral r. +. Coontz, y :. y
! innS L.,
| Ferguson, president OF the Newpor'
News Shipbuilding and Drydock Soil
pany and chairman of the United states
! Chamber of Commerce; Rear Adinlrh
III. r. Robson. L. ). n. chlel ol 'ns
bureau OF engineering; Senator Ban OF
| Delaware, and Admiral Grlffin CON-
mander Z. j. Cleary, L. 5. NJ WAS
| POSTMASTER.
| Assistant Secretary Roosevelt empha-
sized that he was a strong believer ~
the naval treaty and expressed the
opinion that the arms conference ac
complished its purpose because
| stopped the curse of competitive naval
building of the nations.
Must Observe Treaty.
| 1.-The country must keep up us
treaty Navy" declared Mr.. RooseNeH-
/ Il feel that it is vital TO do that from
4 the standpoint of our defense ana
ideals.
There is some misapprehenslon
among the people of the country IN
general as to the attitude Oh miiI-
| tary men. They are aPt 10 wan VIII
that the military men desire war.
There is nothing more fallaclous than
those who give up their lives to the
service of the country desire to see
war. They don't.
| "Perhaps the people of the country
will not see things the way we see
them at this time. Perhaps theE
do not think we need what we ought
TO have.
This is the time when We must
put on every ounce of steam TO serN
ice and guard the countrys interest,"
l.. :. Ships Superior.
America has undoubtedly developed
the best fighting ships in every class
in the world, Secretary DENLY toid
the naval engineers. he pointed out
that he had great affection LOT tne
destroyers and expressed the beliet
that they are the greatest training
schools for Seamen. engineers anu
officers in the naval service.
Despite the reduction in the Navy
agreed to at the arms conference. MT
DENLY declared that in his opinion the
limited states would always have
Navy to protect the lives of American
citizens and prevent great disaster
from coming to this country.
| Propaganda scored.
| Pointing out that propaganda in
,America is tending 10 undermine tie
morale and efficiency of the Navy.
Representative PadSett said that ne
hoped that sound Judgment Will pre-
vail and that no false idea of econo-
my will destroy" the country's naval
force.
Il want the Navy to be as il was
before the conference met" declared
Representative Padgett. In mill
tary value and fighting efficiency II
stood the highest in the world.
want it to remain the best in the
world"
Discussing the treaty limiting
naval armament" Senator Ball spoke
of the desira bility of that agreement.
but asserted that the utmost efficiency
should be maintained in the naval
establishment under II.
"Unless we have the Navy OF the
United States, as granted by this
agreement" he said. fully manned
with properly trained men. with
properly equipped ships. ana these
ships having sufficient practice 10 CO
operate as one we have not an effi-
lcient Navy"
Urges True Economy.
The conference. he asserted, fixed
definitely the ratio of the navies OF
the world and further disarmament
lis out of place to be considered
teither by the Navy Department or BY
Congress" True economy, he added,
ECONOMY that places in jeopardy our
trade with foreign nations-that
would fail to protect American citi-
!zens and protect us from outside as
igression, is not true economy.
1--WE find the other nations" Senator
Ball declared, accepting the results
of the conference, and granting their
navies proper aid that they might be-
come efficient, though limited in size:
and l do not believe that the United
| States can offord to fail to do IKE
wise. We must not lose sight of the
fact that this is limitation by agree
ment, and we cannot afford to further
disarm. even as an example 10 Inc
world"
Merchant Marine Urged.
Urging a positive merchant marine
building program by the Unitea
States, MIR. Ferguson declared that
unless it is carried out America will
less it's maritime power He also sal"
that merchant ships are potential
.rhe United States" said MIR. Fer
e,uson. sis hopelessly outclassed on
the $3.50 ratio basis unless II mas
. merchant marine. Great brltaih, ne
continued, has H. passenger ships
of twenty knots or MORE Willie 'i''s
Ts that a $3.50 ratio?" he asked
"f,op II he possible for this country
| to forget the lessons OF the late war
II will be impossible for the United
states TO be friendly with any nation
when it depends on another country
TO carry on its commerce. l saw tins
IN ali friendliness to our friends
across the sea
Deplores Closing Yards.
,! Mr. Ferguson deplored the virtual
| tho ldinR wards due