OCR Text |
Show APPROPRIATE BILL FOR ARK WASHINGTON, Jan 17. Tho spectre of war stalked In the houso today, but its appcarunce was for tho purpose of permitting a wholesale flaying of military critics and of furnishing fur-nishing a reason for liberality in appropriations. ap-propriations. Tho army appropriation bill, carrying carry-ing approximately $93,000,000, was under un-der discussion and finally was passed after a debate on military preparedness prepared-ness of the nation, the future of aeroplanes, which won an appropriation appropria-tion of $125,000, a trlbuto to the value of tho national guard, and nn appropriation appro-priation of $770,000 for the field artillery ar-tillery for the organized militia This Involved, according to Representative Repre-sentative Stevens, of Minnesota, a plan that would require $3,v00,000 to fully carry out Tho debate on the effectiveness of the army opened with a denunciation by Chairman Hull, of the military affairs af-fairs committee of a published Interview Inter-view In which Frederick Lewis Huide-koper. Huide-koper. a Washington city lawyer, contended con-tended that the army was In a lamentable la-mentable state Mr. Douglas, of Ohio, said congress should bo grateful to Mr Hull for his exposition of tho unpreparedness of the war department, and Mr Tawney, of Minnesota, chairman of tho appropriations appro-priations committee, vigorously attacked at-tacked so-called military critics and declared that the amount of money the government has expended In ten years In preparation for war would more than build fie Panama canals, "We have expended in ten years. Including this fiscal year," said Mr. Tawney, "four times the aggregate loss of the American people and the people of Canada, on account of all the groat fires between 1S20 and 1905, we have expended in these ten years in preparation for war an amount that would more than build five Panama canals "We have expended In that time an aggregate of $2,192,03G,5S0 in preparation prepa-ration for war "None of this has been- expended on account of wars past, but every dollar dol-lar for preparations, nnd It Is only a little more than $400,000,000 less than tho aggregate bonded debt of tho United States on August 15, 1SC5." |