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Show GREAT BRITAIN OUR ONLY RIVAL UPON THE OCEAN Rear Admiral Fletcher Tes tifies Before House Committee Com-mittee on Naval Affairs and Answers Questions WASHINGTON Dec 9 The ability of the American navy to successfu y meet the var fleets of any nation in the v.orld except Great Brita n was as serted today by Rear Adm ral Fletcher commander in ch ef of the At antic fleet, before the house naval affa s commit tee Frank y admitting the overwhelming superiority of Br ta n s sea force the ad m al said that possibU ty of conflict be tween the United States and Great Br t ain vas so remote that he did not be 1 eve In a naval poicy for th s country des gned to control the ocean as against England Plied With Questions Admiral F etcher was under examina t on all day by the comm ttee at the fl st public hearing on a naval appropria to bi 1 held in many years He was P ed w th questions about the condition of the navy judged by lessons of the European war and in the course of the daj mad; many references to Great Brita n Germany Russia Japan and the Ph pp nes Although confidently de clar ng hat the Atner cap navy was over matched only by that of Eng and he added that if th s country continued to buld on y two battles h pa a jear Ger many on the has s of her present con stru t on programme soon v. ou d be far n the ead Asked specifically about tl e Phi p p nes the adm ral wou d not say that the American fleet alone cou d success fully defend Hav.ail and the Ph pp nes i a confl ct w th Japan thoug here was no doubt n his m nd of the ab ity of this nat on to control the seas in a naval confl ct w th Japan Vital Principles Unchanged Ult mate na a success Adm red Fletc er contended st U rested with dreadnoug ts. and e asserted that sub marines would not seriouslj affect t e v tal princ p es of nava warfare He adm tted however that from a fore gn navy standpoint it was poss b e to send submarines across the At ant c to at tack warsl ps on the A er can coast In the event of war he sa d al Ameri can battlesh ps ava able cou d be made ready fo action with n a week Answering further ques ons Adm ral Fletcher sa d tl at f the German regular bul d ng p ogramme were car ed out and t e United btats cont nued to hi d only two batt eships a year Germany would have more modern batt eships than the United States In 1919 It would be d fficu t for us to have a bu Id ng pro gramme that would warrant us to hope to catch up w th Germany e added Representat e Hobson suggested that there were more nations to be cons d ered than Germany and added that the fact that Eng and had no great standing army behind the f eet put England out of the cate0ory as a m 1 tary nat on Admiral Fletcher said the tendency among the wo Id powers was to eliminate all pred ead noughts as fast as possib e from the rea sts of f ghting sh ps of tl e navies 1 e Amer can pred ead noughts he asserted are superior to the German pred eadnoughts Representat e Kelly of M ch gan read from a list to show that Germany has n neteen dreadnoughts and seven battle cru se s mak ng twenty s x of t s type wh le the United States has fourteen dread oughts and two mo e authorized Rep y ng o a quest on of Mr Roberts Admiral Fletcher declared that e en if a foreign nation shou d have a gun with & range one and a ha f miles greater than t at of anv Amer can guns New YokCyvo d ep otected from bom bardment by the forts outs de of Sandy Hook News to Fletcher Representative Roberts suggested that a Un ted States senator vhom he did not name has been quoted as saying that the American forces had been g ven twenty four hours to get out of Vera Cruz by the Carranza authorities. Ad rairal F etc er sa d he knew nothing of anv such incident Would ou nclude the Massachusetts Oregon Ind ana and Iowa for use in war he was asked I wou d nc ude everything that I could bring into action He admitted he was in doubt as to what use might be made of these four ancient batt esh ps n the event of war but said you could find some use for them Modern wars, the admiral con tlnues come on very suddenly and there s 1 tt e time for preparat on when the occur After the re at ons between countries have become etra ned you can not move your forces without the move being regarded as a host e act, and you would have to go into action practica ly just as vou stand You would have to be all ready The adml -al said the United States had been behind the times n the deve op ment of aircraft and submarine mines though he would not say that as to sub marines He thought t would be wise to have a liberal appropriation th a year for submarine mines aer al craft and auxi ary weapons of that character Representative Roberts plied the wit nesa with questions regarding th moblll nation of the Atlantic nest after with drawal from tha Mexican, waters. Ad mlral Fletcher said the largest number of battleships In JJex can waters at any time was eighteen w th six or seven cruisers What was the military necessity of keep ng a those there w hen the port was occupied by the American authorities and there was no Mex can fleet? asked Mr Roberts I d rather not answer that quest on rep ed the adm raL , You 1 ave today twenty one effective batt esh ps Yes If you rece ved orders to prepare for war how long ould it take ou? asked Mr Robe ts In emergency repl ed the1 admiral some vessels would be made ready today others ton orrow and al withn a week We ave some n the navy yards under go ng epa rs but they could rendezvous w th n that time Daniels' Report Brought Up Secreta y Daniels s report embody ng a statemen of the general hoard of the navy t at the lack of a def n t& nava po cy a eady had placed the Uni ed States n a pos tion of infer onty that may ead to war' was brought up The admiral waa asked if he agreed w th that v ew Exp ainlng that the genera board had no recognized off c al status he rep ed that there was no doub of tho great advantage of a defin te nava po icy to any country He exp ained how e er that 1 e d d not mean to infer that the po icy of bu Id ng three batt esh ps one year and two another j ear would leaa the United States to war Representative But er expressed the hope tl e pres dent of the United States wou d take steps after the European v. ar to secure an international agreement for d sarmament and said that with that purpose In mind it was contrad ctory to continue construction of great ve sels ot destruction Adm ral Fletcher agTeed that It would be a very opportune time after the war In Europe is o er to bring up that Question the best opportunity we ever had Fleet Must Be Adequate. Admiral Fletcher denied reports that the American ships were Improper y handled by be ng too close together at Vera Cruz and sa d that if col sion quarters were sounded on any ship be had never heard of it, and it was very improbable When asked about the ef feet of reaching out for South Ameri can trade he repl ed that if the Un ted States did that, and had Interests that conf cted with other nations the United States must have an adequate f eet Secretary Dan e s will appear before the committee tomorrow Commander Ster 1 ng whom Admiral Fletcher said was re sponsible for the care of all the sub mar nes of the navy has been asked to come from Boston Friday to testify re garding the condit on of the submarines, an unusual number of which are now out of active service The examination today developed the aamlss on that of seventeen submarines on the At antic coast, including Panama, '7eiJLr9 jetained on permanent station at the sthmus four are be ng over-1 hauled at the Norfolk navy yard four are |