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Show MUCH OPPOSITION TO IKIHW Plans of Secretary Meyer Are Not Generally Regarded with Favor. TAWNEY IS CHIEF OBJECTOR Claims Made That It Means Immense Expenditure of Money and Is Merely an Experiment Fight Over Amendment to Interstate Inter-state Commerce Act. Washington. Secretary of the Navy Meyer's plan Tor a 32,000-ton Dreadnought Dread-nought to bo authorized for the American Amer-ican wnr Hoot at tho next session or congress Is meeting with strong op-j op-j position The friends of tho plan arc Just as energetic ns nre Its enemies. Mud It Is likely that there will bo a fight worthy of the traditions of tho American nnvy when the bill for the blg ship gets boforo congress next Do-comber. Do-comber. Representative Tawney, who is chairman of the houso commlttco on appropriations, objects to tho Dread nought, first, on tho ground of Its cost, and second, on tho ground thnt such a great vessel will bo largoly experimental and It might not bo found really serviceable after It Is built. In tho contentions that tho ship may not provo nil that might bo expected, many lino ofTlcors of the navy have a part-It part-It is maintained by many of tho old timers of tho service, that tho experience expe-rience of tho years which have passed since tho first modorn battleship was built goes to show that there Is a limit of efllclency which is marked by a limit of size. There aro ofTlccrs, also, who aro opposed to tho Incronso in tho caliber of tho great guns which aro used on warships. Somo of thorn say that tho 12-Inch gun Is Just as serviceable as tho 1-1-Inch or tho 16-Inch 16-Inch gun, and that any Increaso of caliber from tho 12-Inch model Is a wnsto of money and tends In no way to Improve tho fighting qualities of tho ship that carries tho big weapons. Roosevelt's Naval Program. It was Theodoro Roosovelt's Idea that at least two battleships should bo added to tho navy each year. Tho Tormer president wnntcd tho United States to keep paco with forolgn nn-Hons nn-Hons In tho matter of battleship building and to retain Its relntlvo rank In naval strength. In order to Insures that two battleships at least would bo authorized In ono year, Mr. Rooso-velt Rooso-velt asked for four of tho ships, know-lng know-lng that In all human probability con-gross con-gross would compromlBo tho matter and glvo him tho two ships that ho really wanted. It was said at tho tlmo that If Mr. Roosovoltf had asked for two ships, ho would havo been given only ono. For somo reason or other congress did not glvo tho former president tho support sup-port that apparently tho country was giving him In his various fields of administrative endeavor. When the Manama canal Is opened, tho voyage from tho Atlantic coast of tho United States to tho Pacific coast will bo n comparatively short ono, and thoro-foro thoro-foro It will not bo difficult In ensos of emergency to send a hugo fleet to tho western waters. As things aro now, of course tho voyngo hns to bo mado around Cupe Horn, following tho track which tho battleship fleet took two years ago in making tho first part of Its Journoy nround tho world. Somo naval otllcors say that It might bo a good plan to build n 32,000-ton 32,000-ton Dreadnought and put Into Its turrets tur-rets guns of tho largest caliber for tho purposo of testing tho sailing qualities nnd tho lighting efllclency of such a boat. If n Dreadnought of tho slzo planned by tho secretary of tho navy should bo built along tho most caroful lines and should provo to bo lnotllclent, tho lesson taught might bo worth tho 11 or 15 million dollars that It would cost to construct It, for if it woro shown that such a vessel woro Impracticable, thero would bo no more experimenting, nnd all tho energies of tho department would bo exerted to porfect vessels of tho slzo that It was known could bo built and operated oper-ated safoly and with high offensive efllclency. Dispute Over Elklns Bill, Tho sonato has taken hold In car-nest car-nest of tho bill Introduced by Senator Sena-tor Elklns nnd which provides for amendments to tho Intorstato commerce com-merce act. Ono fonturo of tho bill, as is well known, Is that providing for an Intorstato commorco court, whoso duty It shall bq to hear caBOs that aro carried car-ried on appoal from tho decision of the Intorstato commerco commission. Ono of tho main reasons advanced for tho creation of tho intorstato commerco com-merco court was that It would expo-dlto expo-dlto Anal decisions In cases In which tho groat carrlor companies of tho country woro Interested. Of course appeals will lie from tho interstate commorco court to tho supremo court of tho United States, but It Is urged by friends of tho now court plan that parties to litigation will bo satisfied In many Instnnces with tho decision ol tho lower court nnd that anyway, Inasmuch In-asmuch ns it has only ono class of cases to hear, tho now court's work will be dono quickly and thnt the route to Justice will bo much shorter than It has been In tho past. Thero Is strong opposition to tho interstate commorco court amendment nmong somo of the Republicans of tho senate nnd among a considerable number nlso In the. houso of representatives. Senators Sen-ators Cummins nnd Clnpp aro lighting the provision for n new court It Is said by tho opponents of the plan that thero havo only been 26 cases taken on nppoal from tho Interstate commorco commission wlthiji tho time space of several years, and that there seems to bo no Immediate chance that tho number of cases will Increase They say, therefore, that the court Is not needed. On the other hnnd, the friends of tho court say that because of tho long litigation that was sure tc be ahead of parties to a suit In the past appeals have not been taken and that In just Ice, therefore, was dono. Provisions Objected To. Tho new court provision Is not the only ono to which objection Is mado by somo of the Republican senators, most of whom are what Is known as insurgents. In tho main the same men wore opposed to mnny of the provisions of tho I'aync-Aldrlch tariff law. Tho charge is made that power Is taken away from tho Interstate commerco commission to pass Judgment Judg-ment on all traffic agreements between tho rnllroads which aro allowed by law. It was ono of President Roosovelt's Rooso-velt's Ideas that these traffic agreements agree-ments should be allowed, but tho senators sen-ators who are In opposition sny that Mr. Roosevelt Intended to glvo tin Interstnto commerco commission tin power to decide on these agreements and to reject them If they woro not considered proper and within the spirit of tho statutes. Tho friends of the court provision In tho bill say that If the agreements between tho railroads aro of tho kind to fix rates at too high a flguro the Interstate commerco commission can net Just as It always has acted. Tho opponents of tho bill declare, however, how-ever, that agreements may be made which aro In effect deadly to competition compe-tition and yet they may not seem to fix extraordinarily high rates. Wants Legislation Pushed. President Taft Is beginning to show dnlly more of tho "spurring" qualities of The loro Roosevelt. He is seemingly seem-ingly dissatisfied with tho comparatively compara-tively slow progress which tho legislation legis-lation thnt he has recommended Is making in congress, nnd, moreover, he seems to havo been somewhat disturbed dis-turbed by tho reports thnt tho country coun-try Is taking moro interest in tho mat-tors mat-tors now under Investigation by congress con-gress than it is in the progressive pol Iclcs of legislation which occupied all Its attention during tho Roosevelt administration. ad-ministration. Recently reports wero published to tho effect that Mr. Taft had practically practical-ly given over all attempts to induce congress to pnss tho majority of his legislative recommendations nt this session. To his political friends the president was quick to make denial of any such Intention. Ho hns let It bo known that ho not only wants postal savings banks, changes in tho interstate inter-state commerco law, and conservation laws, but an antl-tnjunctlon statute and all rocommendatlons that ho has mado, put through congress In law form beforo tho session closes nnd tho congressional cain,pnlgn opens. The Presldent'8Contentlons. Tho advisers of tho president sny that all through tho tariff dobato Mr. Taft was firm In his bollef that by gontlo measures which were In contrast con-trast to thoso of his lmmodiato predecessor, pre-decessor, ho could get moro out of congress con-gress than could bo obtained by big stick methods. lie professed satisfaction satisfac-tion with tho tariff law, but it Is said by those who seem to know his Inward In-ward feelings that ho would havo ox-pressed ox-pressed a much stronger and deeper satisfaction if tho bill had gono furth-er furth-er than it did In tho cutting of customs duties. Tho members of both houses aro still gottlng scores of lottors from their constituents weekly, expressing tho deepest concern ov.er tho high cost of living, and also expressing a fear that "tho commlttoo on investigation now sitting, Is bont on giving Secretary Secre-tary Balllngor a clean bill of health The president Is concerned over tho feoling that tho commlttoo intonds to clear tho interior department officials and to clear them as n matter of course and politics. Mr. Tnft said at tho outset thnt ho wanted tho truth and nothing clso, and thnt ho did not caro whom It hit, provided It was the truth. Ho Is a good enough politician to know that anything thnt was apparently ap-parently In tho nature of a whitewash would do Mr. Dalllnger no good, and that If ho had acted In a way that ho should not havo actod it would bo Just as well for him to havo that fact noted in the roport as It would bo to hart It unnoted, but still perfectly plain to the peoplo at large. GEORGE CLINTON. |