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Show NEW SHIPS FOR OLD, UNCLE SAM'S NEED Uncle Sam must have new ships for old, must make the necessary neces-sary replacements in his navy to keep it on a par with the navies of the powers of Europe, according to Flora A. Walker, chairman of the National Defense Committee of the Daughters of the American Revolution, in a vigorous article in the current issue of the National Nation-al Republic. "There was a time when the American people took the navy for granted," Mrs. Walker says. "With sublime and childlike assurance as-surance we thought of it as standing invincible, between us and any foe. True enough, to most of us, in actuality, it was something some-thing as nebulous as a fleet of billowing clouds floating majestically majestical-ly across a summer sky. We had never seen our navy a fact that in no sense lessened our trust in its protective powers. "Today that faith is challenged, the cherished vision shattered; shatter-ed; we are told all sorts of goblin-tales about the navy and are urged to believe, wether we will or no, that it is out for blood. Afrenries have come into heinc that make it their business fn rnn- fuse the public mind upon all issues pertaining to national defense. "No longer is it deemed safe to trust to a duly elected Congress Con-gress to guarantee the security of the nation through adequate pro- . vision for the maintenance of our defenses. These once free agents of a sovereign people are no longer free to make decisions and to act in the best interests of their constiuencies without first facing a barrage of protests and misrepresentation from various . agents of confusion whose aims berge in the one ultimate objective objec-tive the final demolition of our national defense. "Much has been said of subversive movements in more recent tirries. There seems to be widespread belief that these parasitic movements are of mushroom growth, and for that reason are to be ignored. In the sense that some of them appear to spring up almost overnight, that view is justified. However, it will most likely be found, upon investigation, that what appeared to be a new and independent organization is no more than a branch of some parent vine that has already stretcched its existence over a considerable period of years. "Did we not scuttle 800,000 tons of our capital ships at the only time in our history when we were in positjon to attain parity at sea? Yet in the face of this demonstration of our good faith and setting of the example which was not followed by other nations, na-tions, propagandists have the unparalleled effrontery to ask why we should build more ships! "Why, indeed! Because we need them, for one thing, and for another, because under the terms of the Washington treaty, whereby we destroyed thirty ships, fifteen of which were building, we are entitled to them. We must substitute news ships for old. In course of time, as everyone knows, old ships become obsolete. They must be replaced, or the navy will disintegrate. One nation may us foresight in these matters while another may not. When in 1922 we scrapped new ships, others maneuvered to scrap ships which would have been destroyed in any event because of their age. "'Show me a nation that does not look to her defense and I'll show you a people who are held in contempt." |
