The Cordova daily times., 1922-08-04


 navy second to none in strength of material and personnel, trained to the highest efficiency and maintained in readiness, is the surest support for the decisions of our statesmen and the best guarantee for the predominance of justice, declares Admiral Robert E. Coontz, writing i1 the current issue of the American Legion Weekly.
 The various treaties concluded at the Washington Arms Conference, Admiral Coontz asserts, were made in the interest of peace, and the United States can "ill afford at this time, either in our own interest or ill the interest of the world at large to withdraw from a position where we can speak clearly and with author ity in world councils.
 '"The primary object of the Wash ington conference was to discuss W'Vs and means of reducing and, if possible. eliminating navy building competi- tion," continues the naval official. 'The naval treaty drawn up at this conference establishes, for the first time in the history of our country, a naval policy fer the United States. This policy, as established and con- firmed by the ratification of the treaty by the Senate, declares that the naval strength of the United States shall be equal to that of Great Britain and superior to that of Japan in the ratio of 5 to 3. The treaty applies to this pol icy by placing tonnage limitations upon two types of vessels. The Unit ed States will be required to scrap thirteen capital ships upon which more than a third of a billion dollars has been expended.
 "Perhaps you will not grasp imme diately what connection this has with the matter of efficiency and espe cially with the plea the Navy has been making, in the name of eff ciencv, for an enlisted personnel o1 not less than S6,000 men. There seems to be a general impression that the treaty Navy consists of eighteen bat t1eships, with little else. As mat ter of fact, the treaty Navy consists o1 eighteen battleships, at least five plane carriers, and all the cruisers destroyers, submarines, mining ships and auxiliaries we choose to build provided the specifications are kept within certain limits. A fleet, to be a well-balanced fighting organization consists of several types of weapons of which the battleship is the most i'm portant. This ship is the backbone ot the fleet. but must be effectively sup ported by many other types of sub, sidiarv weapons, from airplanes to submarines.
 THE COURSE OF FOLLY
 "While it is true that with 67,OOO men - the number the House Com mittee reported as, in their opinion adequate to maintain the treaty Navy We could man eighteen battleships with this number of men we could not man efficiently the other types oi ships necessary to make up balanced fleet. And it would be sheer folly tc provide for anything less than a 10C per cent efficient fleet.
 Germany spent millions to builC navy 80 per cent as strong as the British. When war was declared ir 1914 what happened? Germany was compelled to withdraw her fleet tex cepting submarines) from the high seas. The great German merchant marine was forced to seek refuge in home ports or in the ports of neutral powers. The British, having control of the seas, were thus able to rush to the Western Front troops from their distant possessions from Australia from New Zealand, from India, from South Africa, from Egypt, from Can ada and from the British Islands in the Caribbean"
 NAVAL BATTLE NOT ABOLISHED
 Naval battles of the future were not abolished by the reductions and limitations placed upon naval build, ing programs by the conference at Washington, Admiral Coontz asserts flor, of course, naval battles can be fought just as well with small fleets as with approximately larger ones. Competition among the navies of the world was not eliminated by the con- ference, he continues, pointing out