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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 1916)
mWw-"V' " ""TPP"! 'H h The Commoner 12 VOL. 16, NO. 10 r -' T " ""7' U J boon increased slna'llio Civil war. Recent legislation provida "sufficient number tlfat eaon largo ship ran)' 1)6 provided with one Tho creation s Ho ofllco of naval operations has placed the na, ''a organization upon a basis equal to that of another in tho world and has resulted in a remarkabib perfection of the navy's Avar plans. The study of strategy at tho naval war collogo has been revived and is being car ried on by actual attendance at tho college and by correspondence on a scale never heretofore realized. Admirals Knight, Winslow, Captain Sims and others have testified that the war col logo has found an unexpected friend in Secre tary Daniols. Tho administration has established and con gress lias legalized the naval consulting board composod of the most eminent scientists, in ventors, and engineers of the United States, whoso expert services are at tho navy's com mand and who have already compiled the first census of the country's industrial resources available for use in war. Our target practice has recently "come up 40 per cent," according to Admiral Fletcher and Captain Sims, due to the restoration of indi vidual and short range practice abandoned in tho last administration. Captain Plunkett, head of target practice, says this practice is coming up "by leaps and bounds." Tho Pennsylvania rocently hit a small target at a distance of 11 miles five times out of 12 shots. The navy's experts havo designed a large cal iber gun that will shoot stralghter, shoot far ther and hit harder than any gun now in use in any foreign navy;wthey have adopted a new 10-inch gun'for" our 'latest dreadnaughts now building; they havo worked out a system of electric propulsion which is not only a new de parture from recognized means of propulsion for battleships, but which will enable us to provide unusual underwater protection for our vessels against minoB and torpedoes; they havo provided for vastly increased stores of mines, torpedoes, projectiles, powder, and other munitions, and by insisting upon complete and widespread com petition in the markets and by the enlargement of the navy's manufacturing facilities have ef fected economies well over $5,000,000 in three years; they havo built up tho navy's radio ser vice, to a point well nigh perfection, and by wireless telephony has given orders to a ship at sea. NAVAL APPROPRIATIONS The Naval Appropriation bill just passed car ries tho largest appropriation over made at one time by any country, $315,000,000. It provides for 81 ships to be built at onco at a cost of $110,000,009, 4 dreadnaughts, 4 battle cruis ers, 4 scout ships, 20 destroyers, 9 "fleet sub marines, 27 coast submarines, 3 fuel ships, ono repair ship, one transport, one hospital ship, one fleet submarine to.uler, two destroyer tenders,' two ammunition shHwand two gunboats. Under the McKiiit-Roosevelt administration new ships to cost $107,006,642, under Roose velt $83,192,938, under Taft $127,747,113, and up.der the three years of the Wilson administra tion $226,290,822, have been appropriated for, and if you count, as they should bo counted, tho number of ships authorized in the Wilson ad ministration, the total authorized Increase of the navy will cost $655,289,806. In tho Roosevelt administration 55 ships of all classes were au thorized; in Tafts 67; in the Wilson 111 were appropriated for, and 90 more authorized. Tho democratic party has never gone out of office without leaving the navy stronger. Pres ident Polk croated the naval academy at Ann apolis. Under President Pierce, 18 steam ves sels were added to the navy, when steam was in its infancy on the sea, givjUig it the "advant age for the time l)eing of tho British navy in actual sea power, for all the ships of England at that time were wooden sailing vessels and the vulnerable aide wheel steamers. Under Presidont Cleveland Secretary Whitney laid the keel of tho modern navy, and Secretary Herbert continued to strengthen it in Cleveland's sec ond administration. President Wilson in one of his earliest messages said: "We sliall talce leave to be strong upon the seas." In spite of reckless -And partisan criticism the navy under Secretary Daniels Has made unprecedented strides, and this is universally admitted by Brit ish and other naval authorities. In addition to the achievements' already noted, this adminis tration has appropriated $11,000,000 for a 20,000 ton capacity armor plate .factory ift or der to prevent in the future paying extorjjpnato prices to tho armor plate trust; it has "appropri ated nqarly $5,000, 000 for aeronautics; lias adopted 16-inch guns for the new dreadnaughts; has opened the door of the navy to clvilian'avi ators and engineers; and has "utilized the navy yards discarded by previous republican admin istrations in spite of tho enormous investment represented by them, for the increased work in the way of the building of ships. REORGANIZATION OF THE DEPARTMENT. OP CORDIERCE Great changes have been wrought in tho de partment of commerce in the past three and one-half years. A new note has been struck in its activities. A campaign has been untiringly waged to make the department of commerce ev erything its name implies. Essential men and equipment have been asked for and furnished by the wise forethought of a democratic con gress. Offices which have lain dormant for years havo been rehabilitated and quickened with tho breath of life. The relationship be tween the department and the business man, whom it is intended to serve, has grown closer. Warm co-operation between the two has super seded the aloofness, independence, and lack of understanding that formerly existed. Unre mitting efforts have been made to acquaint the American business man in every quarter of the country with the fact that at Washington is lo cated a department devoted solely and purely to his Interests, with no ax to grind a depart ment heartily in earnest, anxious to serve. .This campaign of education has met with flaUering success, to the satisfaction of the department and the great benefit of the people as a whole. If the respective services of the department are taken up in order it will be found that each of them has so progressed in effective public service as to make a unique record. BUREAU OF FISHERIES The constructive public service of the bureau of fisheries has never been so great nor so evi dently appreciated as during the past three years. Its administrative and scientific activi ties have been directed at the accomplishment of public good by the most direct and practical methods. The results accomplished by this bureau have already been reflected in a new attitude of the public and of congress toward the value of the scientific and practical service of the bureau. The scientific force of the bureau has been in creased by 37 per cent, as a result of action by tho two recent congresses, and the way thus paved for greatly increased future service. COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY Until recently the method was in vogue of discovering hidden rocks in Alaskan waters by running vessels upon them. This did not recom mend itself to the present administration; as a business proposition, apart from the humanity . of the case. Sad experience has shown that the ordinary sounding apparatus will not detect that dangerous foe of the navigator the pinnacle rock. The wire-drag work, the only certain method of finding submerged dangers to nav igation, has been increased during the last four years from one party covering 169 square miles of water area per year to four parties covering 1,157 square miles per annum. A few months after the present administra tion took charge wireless apparatus on three of the vessels of the survey was Installed. Three ancient, worn-out steamers used by the coast and geodetic survey, requiring large ex penditures for repairs to keep them in condition for service, have been replaced by vessels nf modern and adequate type for efficiently doin the work of surveying the waters of our coasts; BUREAU OF THE CENSUS J?LmJ,er a democratic director of the census, by collecting as many of the statistics in the wealth debt, and taxation inquiry as possible by cor respondence, instead of by sending ILnt ? the field a saving, estimated I at aboutlBO 000 wUhmtnat 5 T T0i thG inquirr W with that of the last preceding similar innuirv made ten years before. Furthermore fiiowSf' yVAlr inquiry was complXSta essThan half the time required for that on the I preceSSg BUREAU OF STANDARDS beeemarkabl0 "WV? ot, stamlaras " ueen leraarkable. Its touch with business l more intimate. Its work has taken on a nrir tical fllgnificance never before achieved Minn facturers are coming to understand the value nf applied science to them. It has begun a serins of popular bulletins by publishing a circular on "Measurements for the household" which i,na met with keen intesest. m When it was found that nearly two billion dollars in freight rates were being collected on railroad track scales beyond the capacity of the instruments of state and county inspectors to make tests, the department obtained from con gress a special fund to co-operate with the man ufacturers of such scales, with the railroads and with the inspectors. This was primarily in the interest of tho shipper, who was entitled to know from an official source that such scales were accurate. During one year 68 per cent of the scales tested were found to be defective. Last year, appreciating the splendid service which the department through its bureau of standards was rendering to the people generally particularly in the application of science to in dustry, Congress provided a $200,000 labora tory for chemical research affecting industry. The increased usefulness of the bureau to the country can npt be measured. The men pro vided for .this important bureau by the last re publican congress numbered 281. The personnel has been increased to 444, or by 58 per cent during the present administration. BUREAU OF NAVIGATION In the spring of 1913 the United States motor vessel Tarragon was engaged in the enforcement of the navigation laws in Chesapeake and Del aware Bays. The importance of this work was immediately. recognized, and the territory was enlarged to include the whole Atlantic coast. The Ship Registry act, one of the most imme diately successful measures of constructive legislation ever enacted for the benefit of our merchant marine, took effect August 18, 1914. It -was originated in and drawn up by this de partment. It provides for the admission of foreign-built ships to American registry for the foreign trade. The tonnage in the foreign trade increased from $1,076,152 gross 'tons on June 30, 1914, to 2,194,470 gross tons on June 30, 1916, or over 100 per cent. American ship ping in the foreign trade has never before in creased so rapidly as during the past two years. No other nation ever in so short a time doubled its shipping in foreign trade. STEAMBOAT-INSPECTION SERVICE The steam-boat inspection service was never more efficient than it is today. Congress has this year provided for 30 additional local steam boat inspectors, greatly needed, and these have been distributed about the country where they are required most. The appointment on November 2, 1914, of a traveling inspector for this service (the first of the kind) was found so productive of results that legislation -was secured permitting of the taking 'on of a second traveling inspector July 1, 1916. BUREAU OF LIGHTHOUSES The bureau of lighthouses is the greatest or ganization of its kind anywhere and is main tained at a high standard. Through the liber ality of congress and by careful economy of funds it has been found possible for" the first time to equip a number of its seagoing tenders with wireless apparatus and to bring the wages paid to its seamen upon the Atlantic coast a little more in harmony with those paid by pri vate parties. Both measures tend directly to cheaper and better service. BUREAU OF FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC COMMERCE The bureau, of foreign and domestic com merce, the spearhead, of tho department, has been developed in a remarkable manner under the present administration. What does the bureau do? It does nothing hut promote Amer ican commerce abroad. It does for our foreign trade what the agricultural department does for the farmer. It reaches out into all the world and gets business for American manufacturers, and it is on the job in every continent all the time. Greatly increased appropriations have made it possible to broaden the scope of the wo,rk and to meet in large measure the added denmnds for information and other assistance that have resulted from war conditions. The bureau was completely reorganized early in the present administration. Increased ap propriations made it possible to form new di- t ,v -. . - . - .i t , i . ft "