| Show GOOD ROADS OR BIG BATTLE OF ASLE J. GRONNA OF NORTH DAKOTA In the House of April Gronna said For my I do not believe that we need any more battle We have vessels I can not see why we should want to build more ships so long as there is no pressing need for These two ships would fully We must appropriate a million dollars more to take care of each one of these ships every When it comes to the question of appropriating money for the establishment of rural we consider every but when the question of building battle ships is before when millions of the people's money is to be then you say only a few We do not need these battle but we do need the rural Two Battle Ships a I shall vote against the proposal to authorize the construction of two battle ships' next I shall do it not because I am opposed to the building of a but because I am convinced that the building of two first-class battle ships at this time is unnecessary and because I believe that if we are to practice economy in governmental as we are told that we the place to begin to economize is where the expenditures are not Thirty-three First-Class Battle We have today a navy of thirty-three first-class battle building and Of these six are of the In the tonnage of first-class battle ships we are today second only to Great There no war cloud on the save the one which recurs annually at the time that the naval bill is under Few believe that any nation is plotting to bring about a war with the United Even Japan is building first-class battle ships at the rate of only one a If Japan has any designs on our territory and is planning to catch us napping and to administer an overwhelming defeat to us on the we must admit that she is going at it in a rather inexplicable No Nation Wants War With The plain fact is that no nation wants a war with and nation is expecting or planning for such a The great armaments planned and building in Europe are not directed against The European nations are building their immense navies not because of any designs on us or our but through fear of each Whether we build two battle ships or four battle ships a or none at I have no doubt that the mad which it would seem must sooner or later lead to national will continue among the European The fact that fear of each other compels them to lay this crushing burden on their is no reason why we should engage in the same performance and add to the which are already large in order to build battle ships that are not Navy Versus I am not insensible to the fact that a navy seems necessary to every nation at the present that the nations do not yet appear to have reached a stage of civilization where they are willing to submit their differences to a tribunal of reason and justice rather than to the of I do not that the way to bring about peace is to build such a large navy that it will more than equal the naval strength of the other nations The reign of the future will be one of reason and not of We shall have peace because the people constituting the different nations do not want rather than because they fear a defeat in the event of No nation wants war There may be certain rulers and heads of government that actually desire war and are plan ning for although I doubt even but the great mass of the people in each and every country want peace and demand and theirs is the voice that sooner or later will determine the policy of every Our Navy Is Large Our navy is adequate at In order to maintain it at its present strength it is not necessary to authorize two battle ships every our battle ships are comparatively and every new ship constructed adds one to the strength of the It has not yet been necessary to build any battle ships to take the places of those which have become and it will not be for some If we authorize one battle ship this we shall ilot only be maintaining the navy at its present but we shall be increasing its N The in his annual urged on us the necessity of stating that the most important question presented to this administration is that of economy in expenditures and sufficiency of He further stated that the economies that it was hoped to bring about were of two kinds a saving in the permanent administration of the different departments' and a reduction in expenses by a postponement of projects that will to be carried but JJ 1 now delayed with the C additional revenue in J will permit their jr out producing a i False Economy tl In following out in order to effect 1 the postal service p Not only is the Jc the rural carriers the old totally with the present high cost oil f but the service is hundreds of thousands of ki T in order to save the carriers 1 ary of a year on each oft proposed Two Thousand More Rural Eo 1 This' is iS complete disregard of the pi which most of us have j of extending the rt service wherever its establish is There are att present time more than ei pending in the each of which the i found after careful l that the establishment of n i service would be t i in each of which the people A for this service have met all t requirements of the but in which no action is bei taken because of the i economy in all brands 1 the public Rural Routes Cost Needed One Useless Battle i innO The establishment of these ual routes would mean an expenditure of not more fon per It all probability mean less I in 4 because of the discontinuance of Suffices and star routes upon the establishment of fral The cost of one battle ship is about and the cost of main-nance is about a We could establish and operate j feese rural routes for fifteen for the amount that it will Sost to construct and maintain for he length of in times j kE one battle it tip- A I submit that if we really Ire to practice economy the place a io begin is where expenditures are wt even if we grant J Eat it would perhaps be advisable so make those expenditures if our T finances were in a more lory No immediate necessity has shown for the Construction of two battle ships Eis while everyone Rth the conditions existing must that there is a necessity for iSTe establishment and maintenance 1 delivery Battle Ship W that the main business pf the government should be the promotion of the welfare of our in my it is of far more importance to give a million of our people adequate mail which they are not now than to build two Rattle ships' this In and likewise in we only one first-class batte tm ere necessity existing fetich compels the construction of battle ships this when 1 ur expenditures exceed our if one battle ship was in 1906 and in when were No Signs of If our finances are in such i state that we can nol to give efficient mail the government hai and forbidden private Mr to engage can we af A bIt to build battle of us exPect to see used i factual No one believes tha building one battle ship instead of two next year will precipitate or hasten and no one can show that there exists any necessity for building two battle The nation which it has been urged that we must arm against is even aside from the consideration of how much Japan would have to lose and how little to gain in the event of a her present naval program must convince avy one taking the trouble to examine it that she is not at at any either plotting or expecting such a A Costly The building and maintenance of is a costly and one not to be in unless we can afford If there is to be choice between building a battle ship and giving of the people of this adequate mail I prefer the It is of more importance to facilitate the diffusion of knowledge and intelligence than it is to build a navy that will overawe the other nations of the I consider it my plain-duty to vote for one battle ship instead of in order that the without whose intelligent efforts the entire nation would may have the mail service to which they are which they had every reason to expect would be given and which they will demand in no uncertain tone when they have the opportunity to voice their |
