Evening star., 1925-10-11
ARMY AND NAVY HEADS
FEAR COOLIDGE SPEECH
Think Pacificist Movement Encouraged,
and See Little Chance to Get
Funds Held Needed.

You will find also that 10000 men of
the Regular Army are today living
! In rickety, wooden wartime conton.
| ments with leaky roofs and sagging
| floors, because we have made no ap-
preparation for permanent barracks.
! You Will find that there are not any
where near enough modern gas masks
on hand TO equip the Regular Army
and that there are none at all for
the National Guard or the reserve.
Sees Plane Shortage.
I'VE are fearfully short of modern
airplanes. The aircraft inquiry has
brought that out with tragic clear
ness. Go to Panama or to Hawaii and
any intelligent staff officer can point
out TO you the need Of weapons and
facilities vitally necessary for the de-
fense Of the Panama Canal and our
naval base at Honolulu. Many of
the surplus supplies left over from the
war are nearly exhausted. The Army
cannot live on it's fat much longer.
The fact is that the Bureau Of the
Budget and the Congress itself have
been terribly severe in their treatment
Of the Army. II this severity is in
creased in the form of further reduc-
tion in personnel or the continued
denial Of supplies and facilities, the
whole machine, creaiing and groan-
ing as it is today. will break down"
Congressional believers in naval pre-
paredness will be heard from in the
same strain in which Senator Wads-
worth will oppose inadvisable cuts of
the Army budget. One of the most
prominent Republican members Of the
Senate committee on naval affairs.
with whom the writer has conferred,
holds strong views against Slashing
expenditure on the Navy below pres
ent figures. The senatorial authority
in. question, desiring to avoid unoffi-
cial controversy with President Cool
idge, is averse to speaking for quota
ton. but the following is a verbatim
account Of what he has to say:
THE Navy has already been cut to
the bone in annual appropriations. and
I cannot see how further cuts can be
made without impairing Its efficiency.
While I approve thoroughly of
economy in all branches of the Gov
ernment, 1t seems to me that the pres
ent move to reduce the Army and
Navy Is a move not to cut out un-
necessary eXtraragances, which l per
sonally do not believe exist. but to
save a certain amount of money for
the Government by a reduction In
necessary appropriations. 1t carno.
fail to be hurtful to these two
branches of the service.
Says Navy Cannot Be Cut.
Hearings during the last Congress
showed that the appropriations for the
various bureaus barely enable them
to get along without deterioration and
with the possible exception of the cut
ting out Of the dirigible airship service
In aviation. / can think of no naval
activity that can safely be eliminated.
Whether or not it will be found ad-
visable to keep up this branch of the
service will be brought out by the
Shenandoah investigation.
THE 1925 naval bill worked out at
q total of $3.50, ,000,00 odd. The 1926
bill amounted to $2s7 900 900 odd, a re-
duction Of $43,0O0,00O This means
that we have already made a very
large cut in naval expenditure. The
1927 bill must carry an adequate ap-
preparation for building the eight new
10,000-ton light cruisers, which. under
the act Of Congress, must all be start
ed during the next fiscal year. Fur
ther appropriations must be made for
the two new "N" submarines author
ized and soon to be laid down. The
Presidents aircraft board will prob
ably call for larger. rather than
smaller. appropriations for the Naval
Air Service. The Marine Corps was
cut down 1 500 men in last years ap-
preparations. A further cut in its per-
sonnel cannot but result in the de-
terioration of that service.
"A suggestion will no doubt be made
to cut down the personnel of the Navy.
This cannot be done without serious
damage. The $4,000 men that we now
have are the minimum that we can
afford properly to run the fleet and to
take care of requirements. l have
recently had occasion to visit most
Of the navy yards in the country.
They all show the results of the econ
omies that we have already made and
all are in need of additional appro-
isriationS for maintenance"
ICopYrirht 1928