Evening star., 1924-03-11
CHAPTER XVI.
tOne-Eighth for the Navy.

~. ,one-EiEhth for the Navy.
On February 8. 1922. United States,
Great Britain. France, Italy and Japan
signed the first naval disarmament con-
tract in history As a result twenty
one battleships and battle cruisers of
the, United. States navy have been or
will be scrapped and destroyed. Yet the
navy OF the United States cost the tax
PAYERS FOR the fiscal year 1928 total
OF @23.21S,000. This Is $50, 100000 more
than was spent by all the colleges and
1920. ':H''i ? -,
In the fiscal year 1922 the Navy cost
even even me mere; eco npn The q, ,smount was little
big to comprehend. Still, the Navy has
not always been SO costly.
The American government spent 500
on the navy in 1871. The next year.
just $53 was spent, and 1893 was the
banner year--we spent not n cent. 1t
equaled SIC, 600 900 for any year.
Then came the civil war. Naval ex-
penses rose rapidly. They rose from
SIP, 100000 in 1861 to 1922, 100000 in
$43. 100000. For the next thirty years
$4,000, 600 to $20.00o,000 a year was the
usual amount spent on the Navy. Fifty
million was not again reached until
1898. From that time on the Navy ex-
penses have grown enormously.
Five billions In Six Years.
During the last twenty-fiv years.
the Navy Department has had given to
II by the American people grand total
of approximately $7,75o, ,000. 900. OF this
amount, more than $4,000. 100000 has
been spent on building up the Navy
during. the past six years.,
How much is $1,000, ,0o0. coo? 1t Is
nine times as much as the >$atabftro-
universities in the United States. 1t Is
equal to more. than ons-third of the
valuation of all the railroads in the
United States. It. Is more than the
capital stock OF all the $4,000 banks in
America For that amount ,l,0oo, 900
each, could have been built to relieve
the people Of acute congestion and high
cents.
In plain English. the people Of the
United States have spent moro than
s2,40o,o 900 every day for the past six
$l.6S5 a minute. National preparedness
has been the great slogan.
The state Of Minnesota has at this
time sl2,0ls,0o0 invested in buildings
and dorrnitories for ali the colleges and
universities of that state. 1t includes
the great plant OF the University Of
Minnesota, with about 10000 students.
A modern battleship costs three and
one-half times this amount. And it's
Just junk in fifteen years. Modern civ
ilizatiop!
Perhaps we can better comprehend
this huge spending debacle by COM
pairing the recent expenditures IN this
direction with the early efforts Of the
nation.
We have spent every day for the last
six years more money on the Navy than
George Washington did on his navy
during his entire eight years of Office.
We spent more money in 1923 for the
Navy than we did in all the years from
1871 to 1860 combined. Surely we are
now prepared for every need. We have
not been stinting in our expenses to
make our Navy the first in the world,
but it seems we are not in good shape.
Deficient. Says Expert
Capt McNamee, naval expert, says:
II find that in capital ships. both the
United States and Japan are at present
deficient In offensive and defensive
strength or older capital ships. as COM
pared with Great Britain In
modern cruisers, we are definitely in
ferior. When our ten are completed,
we will have thir1y-seven IessS than
Great Britain and fifteen less than
Japan. In hotilla leaders, Great
Britain has eighteen built and building
while neither. the United. States or
Japan has single one. We are
faced by a condition and not a theory.
IT is a condition that must be met"
Lieut.. Commander R r. NJ. F;mmet
Of the bureau of navigation, United
States Navy, says: $50 long as we re-
main a seCond-class sea power. we re-
main q Second-class commercial pow
er. Another billion Of dollars.
besides the current expenses, spread
over a period Of ten years on our navy,
would be the best and most profitable
investment this country ever made"
Secretary DENLY, in his 1928 report
says: '"The Navy Of the United States
is so Unbalanced and so deficient in
cruiser strength that it would be put
at q serious disadvantage in a major
operation of any kind
The Navy League, a group of dis
tinguished and anxious Americans, says
in a recent circular that the United
States should spend about 800, 000, 600 a
year for several years in order to bring
our Navy UP to the standard of Great
Britain, and We spent only 1923, 900 600
for the fiscal year 1928.
1924 Shows Increase.
1t just seems from these expert opin-
ions that we are in for a long period of
huge spending in order to put us on
par with Great Britain.
Now let us go.into the figures which