Newspaper Page Text
the JEFFERSONIAN
Vol. 111. -No. 16.
Vision of War With Orient Haunts Hobson
Washington, April 11. —Debate on the naval
appropriation bill in the house of representa
tives today resolved itself in the main into a
discusion of the possibilities of a war between
the United States and Japan. In line with
his well-known views on the subject, Mr. Hob
son, of Alabama, pleaded for four battleships
instead of two for the next fiscal year and
pointed out that from now on the United
States should have a fixed policy with regard
to naval construction. A war between the
yellow and white races he regarded as inevi
table and he asserted that Japan’s present
military activity was with a view to the
supremacy of the Pacific and as a natural con
sequence there would be a clash at arms with
the United States. On the other hand, Messrs.
Burton, of Ohio, and W. W. Kitchin, of
North Carolina, disputed that contention, each
of them avowing that the clash not only would
not come, but that the United States should
remain in the forefront of modern civilization
as the exponent of peace.
Many Members “Navy Mad.’’
Declaring that many members had gone
“navy mad” when consideration of the naval
appropriation bill was resumed in the house
today, Mr. Gregg of Texas, opposed a great
naval program. He charged that President
Roosevelt had an unsettled naval policy and
that he was trying to force it upon congress.
If, Mr. Gregg said, the plea for four battle
ships was based on fear of a conflict with
Japan the president’s course had been pecu
liar, because, he said, the relations with Japan
on December 3, 1906, were more strained when
he asked for one ship than on December 3,
1907, when he asked for four. The best proof
that this government did not anticipate a
war with Japan was the fact that the At
lantic fleet had been ordered to return from
the Pacific waters.
In a vigorous speech, Mr. Hobson, of Ala
bama,-again pleaded for four battleships in
stead of two. When an aggressive nation, he
declared, investigated the question of whether
a war was to be undertaken or not that nation
did not ask about administration, maintenance
or auxiliaries, but it asked, “How many
battleships, has the other nation?” Even a
margin of superiority in fighting ships, he
said, would tend to conserve the peace.
Hobson on Value of Battleships.
With only three more battleships in 1898,
Mr. Hobson said, the margin of superiority
between the American and Spanish fleets
would have been such as to have made possible
the settlement of the case by diplomacy. So
important was this matter of superiority, he
said, that when congress haggled over two
A Weekly Paper Edited by THOS. E. WATSON and J. D. WATSO'
Atlanta, Ga., Thursday, April 16, 1908.
battleships the safety of the nation was being
trifled with.
Mr. Hobson again reverted to the alliance
between Japan and England and hinted at a
possible union of the forces of these two
nations in Canadian waters.
Mr. Hobson went so far as to say that
$50,000,000 in battleships would have enabled
the United States to force Russia to evacuate
Manchuria, at the time she agreed to do so,
and in that case the war between Russia and
Japan would have been averted.
“The war clouds are gathering,” Mr. Hob
son said, “but America could, by carrying out
a legitimate national policy, prevent it. It
is not a vision; it is not a dream. You and
I can do it. Let’s begin by authorizing four
ships this year at the least.”
Burton Discounts Hobson.
Mr. Burton of Ohio was rather inclined to
discount Mr. Hobson’s predictions of war.
“Notwithstanding the dire portents that the
war clouds are gathering,” said he, “I am
gratified to ’notice that equanimity and con
tentment prevail in this chamber.” He could
not, he said, listen to Mr. Hobson, “without
words of emphatic dissent, I may even say,
of rebuke.”
The United States, he declared, was in
the forefront of modern civilization, and, in
stead of engaging in warfare, had made
peace between nations. He referred to Presi
dent Roosevelt’s part in effecting peace be
tween Russia and Japan, and said that “not
one nor twenty battleships had anything to
do with that peace.” It was accomplished
rather through a reliance in his fairness and
the justice and disinterestedness of the Amer
ican people. “Factors,” he declared, “which
would have been swept away if he had had
those ambitions which belong to a country
having a great many and seeking to domi
nate the nations of the earth.” Sympathy,
he said, was a factor more potent than arma
ment, and no nation now could afford to im
pose upon a weak people. The public opinion
of the civilized world, he asserted, was
stronger than the armies and the navies of
the proudest empire. There is, he said, a
solidarity of interest among the nations of
the earth. War is practically impossible to
day, he said, unless some irreparable ground
for conflict exists, as existed in the case of
Japan and Russia.
Japan and Western World.
As regarded Japan, Mr. Burton said no
nation which had made such leaps and bounds
in so short a time had behaved with more
moderation than that country. If, however,
Japan had designs on the civilization of the
western world and the western world would
combine against the races of Asia, it would
be out of the question that there would be any
fight in which the United States would have
to contend alone. He concluded by saying
that the United States should take advantage
of its magnificent isolation and lead the world
in the paths of peace.
W. W. Kitchin of North Carolina opposed
the idea of four battleships. In his opinion
an immense navy was not essential to the
preservation of the Monroe doctrine, because,
he said, the United States heretofore had not
had such a navy, either actually or relatively,
when measured by the navies of Europe.
Should a war come between the Caucasian and
yellow races, Mr. Kitchin insisted that there
could be no reasonable doubt that the navies
of Europe would fight on the side of America.
He was no apologist for Japan, and yet he
said Japan could increase her navy without
necessarily having any hostile intentions
toward the United States.
President Roosevelt’s treatment of Rear
Admiral Brownson, because of his attitude
with regard to the placing of a naval surgeon
in charge of the hospital ship Relief, was
condemned by Mr. Gill of Maryland, who
charged that the president had repeatedly
shown a disregard for the law, and performed
acts wholly illegal. A great injustice, he
said, had been done Admiral Brownson. The
country, he declared, should demand admin
istrative respect for the law.
Defects in Bureau System.
The defects in the bureau system of naval
administration were pointed out by Mr. Daw
son of lowa, who is the author of a bill to
reorganize the navy department. He quoted
from the reports of Secretaries Moody and
Long, showing that the system of eight sep
arate bureaus entirely independent of each
other, each of which exercised the power of
issuing orders which have the full force and
effect of orders from the secretary of the
navy, created a condition in the department
which was productive of conflicts 'and con
tentions.
He said that the public had had many strik
ing instances within the past few years show
ing the clashing of interests and authority
under this system. He disclaimed and criti
cism of men or officers.
Mr. Loud of Michigan favored a naval pro
gram of two battleships each year for the
next ten years.
Following a brief address by Mr. O’Connell
of Massachusetts, supporting the four battle
ships proposition, the house at 5 p. m., with
the bill still under consideration, took a recess
until 11:30 a. m. Monday.—The Atlanta
Constitution.
.lice five Cents.