' 7 i",frwJ5ii
The Gomnioner
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VOL. la-'NO.'l'
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Daniels Bares Naval Report
From tho Washington Post, Doc.
25, 1015.
Secretary Daniels made public last
iijght tho original special report of
tlio nnvy general board prepared in
reply to u quory addressed to tho
board when tho administration de
termined last July to take up tho
question of national preparedness.
Critics of the administration nvo-ycur
building program for the navy have
doclared this roport was suppressed
In part by tho navy department, and,
if .published, would disclose tho in
adequacy of the government's" plans,
v The. board's statement of policy,
holding that the American navy
should equal the strongest afloat by
1025.-was published some time ago,
bufep o flrst year's building program
advovutcd under that suggested pol
icy la now rovealed for the first time.
It showti i recommendations for four
dreadnaughts and four battle cruio
ora,0,w.itln an equally largo program
for.tothcr, craft,, and contemplates up
expenditure roughly estimated at.
$000,000000 tho flrst year, as com
pared with $500,000,000 to be spent
for now ships in Ave years under the
administration plan.
' 'Jfi'cilvlei' lOxpciMUtui'cs Tinfcr-
The board does not say that tho
British fleet could bo equaled by 1925
by 'Continuing tho flrst year program,
but indicates that heavier, expendi
tures would follow if shipbuilding
i'acllitios wore increased in accord
ance, with its recommendations.
1 In giving out tho roport Secretary
Daniels said th t all statements from
the' goiioral board as to building pro
grains 'made during the present year
hud' now1 boon made public. He called
attention again to the fact that he
luVd"'sdt a precedent for publishing
tho' hiVrtual reports, as-they had been
regarded as confidential by previous
secretaries of tho navy. Tho roport
under discussion, and tho publication
O'wlilch some members of congress
hnVd 6trttod they, would demand, ho
siWtM Vas' a special report, tho sub-
iWi uuimi CLAIM NO. Oft : - '
biur'H. Ross Hitohcook was, a well
known attorney located -at Sterling,
Nebraska, He was also one of the.
)lioy)iolders of " THp MtDr
atltPJS, . his poliey. being, No,
J'lPf'IJ .' 1 .'.. .. ,'iil' l
' 1 ...
l4.0;8lt- wtls dated Fobpiary 9
?r. V "IW " ' , i'.V '
i,yu.ytnu ,was.v tor ?,uvu.'i ms
It? .ll .
t ftfylMitchcock, paid jtijie;tcAniiaiy
2 g&Vi'n pt'bnvf link Xnd jHhoomi
.w.i- .
. I. . .N 1
party has paid hl& wife' as beneficiary
$1,000,' or about' $4.00' for every
;'. :. ""''. v ' : . , 4
$1..0Q. received, by tt By the'expendl-
; ,
ture of a small sura each year, Mr.
. '.'-.,
Hitchcock created this estate- for his
"widow. '. It was a wise and thought-
..Kit ici' on. his "port as it is' on'.,'the
-parU'dC anyone who has others de-
but upon him lor support.
TheMidwestLife
of LINCOLN. NEBRASKA
A STOCK COMPANY SELLING
SOWMITEED COST LIFE INSURANCE
stance of which, already had been dis
closed. ' ' -Full
Text of tho Report
Following is the report:
"Confidential. July 30, 1916.
"From: President, general board.
"To: Secretary of the Navy.
"Subject: Naval policy with pres
ent requirements.
"In compliance with the oral or
der of tho secretary of the navy to
express its opinion at tho earliest
practicable date as to a policy which
should govern the development of
the navy and a building program, the
general board reports as follows:
Depends on Nation's Facilities
"Policy Tho navy of the United
States should ultimately be equal to
tho most powerful maintained by any
other nation of the world It should
be gradually increased to this point
by such a rate of developmerit, year
by year, as may bo permitted by the
facilities of the country, but the. limit
abovo defined- should bo attained not
later than 1925.
"2. In pursuance of this policy,
ahd having'in mind the present facil
ities of this country, the board is of
the opinion that the. following, addi
tion to tho naval establishment
should bo authorized this year and
recommends the .same for your con
sideration; this addition is believed
by the board to be. within, and prac
tically at. the limit of, the facilities
at present existing.
Craft That Aro Recommended
"Four battle cruisers, four dread
naughts, six scouts, 30 coast subma
rlnes, sevon fleet submarines, 28 de
stroyers;' six gunboats. .
''Auxiliaries: One. destroyer, tender,
two fleet submarine tenders, four fuel
oil ships, one supply ship, one trans
port, one hospital ship, one repair
ship, one ammunition, ship.
"Air craft service (lump appropri
ation), $5,000,000. ,
"Further Increase in Personnel
APorsonnel, 11,000 ' men. This
number will provide for the needs of
the present ships of the navy, in-,
chiding those Hearing completion, but
it inus't be bornd in mind that the
personnel, commissioned warrant
and enlisted, will have to be further
Increased as the new construction
progresses.
"increased facilities for the navy
yards r d shore establishments gen
erally,, such as dry docks, berthing
places, building slips, structural
shops, cranes for' handling heavy
weights, shop machinery, ammuni
tion and other storage facilities, civil
personnel, &c.
' ' "GEORGE DEWEY." .
BaScd "On BluG's Report
'Secretary Dtlriiels'' recommendation
to congress" that the enlisted person
nel of the navy be increased by 7)500
bluejackets, 2,500 apprentice sea
men and 1,500 marines' during the
years 191G-17, in order to man ships
lieumig completion, was based, it was
disclosed last night, upon the annual
report of Rear Admiral "Victor Blue,
chief.. of the' "bureau of navigation,
now made public. The figures have
been criticised in congress and else
where because they were below those
of the 'general' board. "
TllWo Wrirfi R.n'Sfi 1llin4fiMraf,4 I
.the service October 1, 1915, Admiral
.mue's report snows, and with" his
proposed increases, including the ap
prentice seamen, 'the force would
number 02,636 in 1917, or about
4,4t)0'less than recommended by the
general board: Admiral Bluo states
that he bases his estimates on a re
port from the board on November,
1914, which holds that all battle
ships nnder 15' years old, all de
stroyers and submarines under 12
years old, half 'the cruisers and all
gunboats and necessary auxiliaries
should .be kepi in full commission,
tho remaining ships to be held in re
serve with nucleus crews.
.In Commission July J, 10J7 .
Should congress authorize an in
crease "of 7,500 men, he says, there
would be in full commission July 1.
1917, 22 battleships, 5 armored
cruisers, 12 cruisers, 52 destroyers,
26 gunboats, 56 submarines and the
requisite auxiliaries. In reserve
would be 17 battleships over 15 years
old, 5 armored' cruisers, 11 cruisers,
16 destroyers, 19 Old "torpedbboats
and 4 tenders. ' ' .
The difference between the gener
al board's figures of the necessary
minimum strength for 1917 and
those of Admiral Blue probably lies j
in the fact that Admiral Fletcher,
commanding the Atlantic fleet, has
urged an increase in the complement
of each battleship. Admiral Blue
says this has not been done becau&e
it would necessitate putting more
ships in reserve for lack of men.
1 CAPITALIZING PATRIOTISM 3
From the New York Commercial.
Maxim munitions, the Inventions of
Hudson Maxim, now being manu
factured by the Maxim Munitions
Corporation, New York, daw their
duo share of inquiries these days
of' urgent demand from' belligerent
nations for arms, aud materials' of
war, In response , tq a f request, re
garding the , scope,' and ' purpose nr
this qorporation,. 'Mr J ' Maxim,' the
president, says: ....
"The objeqt. of, the corporation, is
td manufacture munitions of all
'kinds, except .explosive 'materials. Wo
have signed a contract lor tue man
ufacture of 30,000,000 ( 8 SIM" cart
ridges, and .are expecting to close an
order for Maxim automatic 'machine
giis; in ftfc't, 'e; aVe" pVanhirig74
make automatic, machine guns in'
large numbers.' The' type; of gun is
that known, as. 'tlie i 0 4 model", els
adopted and purchased 'by the "United
States, government? "Nin'e-teritiVs of
the automatic giibsT used in' thep'res1
ent cdnfllct'ha've tieen guns 'of essen
tially this'type. K ..,'
"The 'Maxim- Muiiitlbris Corpora
tion has purchased ,tf plrtht in 'New
1 j
dicate in New Yorlc, 300,000 shares
off our treasury fstock. ; nde.rstarid
that the syndicate contemplates mak
ing a market for the stock on ,the
New York Curb."
-
Haven, formerly the property of; the
Fuller "Mf'gV, Co.)1 maliiiy br' assem
bling, it being our: plaiV'tb' have 'the
different parts' of the' gliri m'a'd'e' at
various factories.' These -pahs' will
be' made to" jigs aild ' gauges With
great accuracy. In other "words, the
gu'ns will be made perfectly" inter
cha gertble. . . - . - ,
"We have already acquired tire
services of ah efficient, scientific' and
mechanical staff.'
"We have made one automatic-"gun
of this type. 'The gun was actually
made inside of two weeks and fired.
We have five iriore which will be
completed 'itf a few days.
" "This corporation has rto 'connec
tion whatsoever with Sir Hiram Max
im, of London, Fnglantt, the original
inventor of. 'the gun. Am'dng our
technical staff a're'Cap't. E'dward H.
Becke-V'who has had wide experience
in successful manufacturing enter
prises; Capt. Laurence Angel, re
cently of the staff of General Wood;
Hiram Percy Maxim, inventor1 of 'tho
'silencer,' and son of Sir Hiram
Maxima and his business partner, M.
H. Haysler.
"Edwin B. Hotchkiss, who has had
charge of large munition works here
and abroad, and J. S. Conradi, for
some time superintendent of the
Vickers Gun Works at Dartford and
Erith, England, is under contract to'
do similar work foi us.
"George H. Graham, inventor of
the postoffice ' stamping machine
which cancels POO letters a mfnnto'
has charge of the drafting depart-
Miuiii, uuu iie aas standardized the
operation of the guns.
!'We have sold to a financial syn-
HJEARING FROM HOME :-
(Speclal correspondence by Louis
Ludlow, in the Florida Metropolis) :
Florida Metropolis Bureau, Mun
sey Building, Washington, t. CV, Dec.
28. Congress will recqnvene , after
the holidays with the., revenue sltua-.
tion, and, in , fact, ,the, entire "pf e
paredness" situation, very muchs in'
the air. ,. '.
Developments since congre.ss adr
journed for the Christmas recesshave
made two facts obvious.,
1. That the number of k.persons
throughout the country actively .en
listed against the. bigger army . and
navy program is increasing every day.
2. That congress in all probabil
ity can not be induced by any : influ
ence that can 'be-brought to. bear to
levy additional direct -taxes on such
articles as automobiles, gasoline, bank
checks, pig iron and- fabricated steel-,,
as suggested in the.. President's.. mes
sage. ' . .-., .
William J. Bryan's first-page ex
hortation in The Oommoner to j his
supporters to "write write ofteji?
to members of congress, in opposition
to the "preparedness'' program ' is
bearing fruit, especially his- naive
suggestion to each person 'whonV'he
addresses that the program means 'ad
ditional taxes for him. The mails that
are coming to senators and repre
sentatives from all of the interior
.states during the holiday recess show
an active awakening of opposition. ,to.
the greater army and -.navy . mover
ment., The mails are get,tng heuvy,
qnch th.e writers are insistent t)iatf)no.
such steps' should be talceii'. "'.The
positive character of the opposition
to "preparedness," as well as its ex
tent, is proving a surprise to a good
many members "who" are 'showing a
disposition to waver in proportion ;as
their mails are becoming' heavier' with
this sort' of correspondence.' r
' There Can be lib dOuht that' tire
President's hold' on ;Coiigress has b'fe
cotne weakened somew'hat by ' tlie
faqt that'he conies'u'p for re-election
simultaneously with" the' next' 'con
gressional elections' ' Memheis. who
are inclined to "show their 'independ
ence" of. the executive know iie will
hot have the' 'came opportunities
to' punish" 'them. if 'fitfr -drorA
so disposed, '.at ' hO' 'would have:
in art 6ff-yearV Fo'deral patronage is
practically all disposed 'of, so 'far- as
this' administration is concerned, "and
that, ordinarily cohesive influence is
not as potential as formerly': Cloak;
rooni 'defiance of President Wilson 'hi
becoming an every-day OccurreiiceV
THE BURDEN OE, PREPAREDNESS
An, immense military burden' "is "to
be fastened onto the backs' of .'the
American people,' if the' jingo-munition
interests n'aii Rnnra Uam " s
The din of their noisy -clamor for
iJABiiurttuness" is being heard' in
every part of the United States. ' Any
kind of preparedness is acceptable,"
whether the present war shall prove
it right or wrong, so that it leads to
embarking the United States on a
course that inevitably wi.ll insure ,tho
spending of huge slims for '.armament-.
The most modest' amount the' jingoes
have yet mentioned" for Such yearly
expenditure, is 450 million dollars,
a sum eaual fro tlm--Anti. .
j all the people in fifteen states .of the
wmuu. ai lease naaiyt -we better
wait a few months" that we may .'know
better what we should prepare for
and how we should prepare for it
instead of being stampeded . into
some colossally expensive folly ?
Oklahoma Farmer. -. , .
M
.VI
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