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Show CRUISER SERVICE IS ADVOCATED Plan to Establish Line of Naval . Vessels to Carry Passengers Passen-gers Urged. Washington, March 26. With a view to developing communication between be-tween the United States and South America, Senator Weeks, Republican, of Massachusetts today Introduced a resolution requiring the secretary of the navy to prepare a plan for establishing estab-lishing a line of naval cruisers to carry passengers, freight and mail between New York, New Orleans and Valparaiso, Chile, and intermediate ports. The resolution designates as tho ships to be utilized for such service serv-ice tho cruisers Columbia and Minneapolis, Min-neapolis, and the scout cruisers Salem, Sa-lem, Chester and Birmingham. "At present South American mails are sent, at long and .sometimes irregular irreg-ular intervals and all American mails south of the equator are carried in vessels sailing under a foreign flag," said Senator Weeks, explaining his resolution. "The service Is slow and this, It may be easily assumed, militates against the development of our trade with South America. If, later on, private pri-vate capital undertakes a line over this route, I should be inclined to withdraw the government line. "We are in the position of having spent $-100,000,000 in the building of a canal, one of the reasons for doing so being that it would aid in the extension exten-sion of our foreign trade but as far as I know thcro are no Americau steamers prepared to undertake this service." Senator Weeks' proposal Interested Interest-ed many southern and Pacific coast senators and there was animated discussion dis-cussion in Which no opposition appeared |