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496 that they are too valuable to be kept properly. The committee could also ask some pertinent questions as to the condi- tions of the turrets of the battleship _ fleet when the ships left the yard. THE Marine Review has learned that the work was unfinished and that the guns could not be fired. Why was this? Is "it possible that the inefficiency of the machinery division, presided over by line officers, these small jobs being finished during the long Stay of the' ships at the yard? Is it possible that the ships were sent from the yard with the work incomplete in order that the gross inefficiency of the yard under Meyer methods could be hidden? If these were the objects, they have not been attained, for the facts are known and can be presented prevented at the proper time. If the committee will search the navy department files, it will perhaps find a letter from the -commander-in-chief protesting against the work done at the New York yard. ii the look - still further it may find two letters from the the Rhode Island on the same subject, and ac- companying one of these letters will 'be found a report from the command- ing officer written in. no uncertain terms protesting against the work. It will be interesting to read the re- plies of the navy department to these letters. It might also be a pertinent question to ask if these protests had any bearing on the detachment of the committee will ordnance officer of commanding officer. Such are the navy yard and the navy under the Meyer reign of terror, and the American people must pay the price. If they do not learn the truth it will not be the fault of THE Marine REVIEW, though ment officials have declared they in- This, how- ever, is only another sample of the even certain depart- tend to put a stop to it. "four-flushing" which now passes for ability in the navy. Side-Tracking Admiral Capps It was announced in Washington on Nov. 18. that Chief Naval Constructor Capps is to visit the Philippines on a mission of great importance to the navy under an order detaching him TAE Marine REVIEW from duty on the Atlantic coast and directing him to proceed abroad on special temporary duty. The chief constructor is to make a careful ex- amination of the navy yard at Cavite, in Manila harbor, and of the naval stations at Olongapo and Subig bay. The report of Constructor Capps will enable the navy department to fix the amount of the estimate of appro- priations which must be submitted to congress this winter--News Item. Itis scarcely tobe believed that the senate and house committees and congress will fail to see the motive for this latest bit of vindictiveness on the part of Secretary Meyer and his constellation of "aides." forced to relinquish his post at the head of the bureau of construction because he dared to have views of his own, and. he is now to 'be sent to Manila, where he will be out of the way while congress is in session. Capps is a dangerous man to have around while naval committees want to know things. He knows more about the navy and naval affairs than any other officer in Washington. He knows all about the workings of the Meyer scheme of navy yard manage- ment, designed to make comfortable shore berths for swivel chair sailors. He knows it is a failure, and. why, and has the means of proving. it. Worse than all, he has what neither Meyer nor his aides have, the confi- dence of the truth; a trait far from universal in the department of: today. congress; he speaks As to what he will find on the east- ern stations and how his report and his standing will be used as a basis for demanding further millions for the clique to spend, there can be little doubt, and the move has some clever- ness to it. -He must not be allowed to tell what he knows nor be available to disprove the to congress. statements which will be made This is perhaps one of the lessons in diplomacy Mr. Meyer learned in Russia. If congress takes any action on naval legislation with- out calling Admiral Capps before it and demanding that he tell what he knows it will commit a serious blun- der. There are plenty of others in the service too who would welcome the chance to speak out if they are in- vited to do so, and not junior officers Capps was ° December, 1910 either, but officers of high rank, who see and deplore the injury that is be- ing done the service. But what is far more serious, the nation is losing con- fidence in the navy. Even the pat- riotism of naval officers is in ques- tion. Many consider that numbers of naval officers are merely self-seekers, whose principal aim in life is not their country's welfare, but is to bend all their efforts to self-advancement, to efforts to increase their importance, to increase their comforts, to secure shore duties for which they are un- fitted; and all of this at the expense of the good of the navy, at the ex- pense of the country which they pro- fess to love and serve. There is but one remedy--a real investigation on the part of congress, where witnesses will be protected and where they can tell the truth without fear of punishment. Features of the Naval Architects' Meeting The recent meeting of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers was The list of papers included several of excel- in several respects notable. lence, and the discussion was fuller than usual. Sir Wm. White's paper, printed in ab- stract elsewhere, will doubtless draw forth an even more extended written discussion than was brought forth at the meeting. and the transactions will be enriched thereby. To be sure, it treats on a subject of which compara- tively few are qualified to speak and if there is one fact which Sir William's paper than another it is that even the naval has brought out more clearly experts themselves are all abroad. It emphasizes and drives home the argu- ment which THr Marine REVIEW has so consistently championed that naval construction is pure guesswork, 'and that proof of the wisdom of any design Sir William, out of his own ripe experience, abundantly is absolutely lacking. illustrates the ever-changing view of those who are, for the moment, upper- most in the struggle to incorporate their notions in war ship design. In only one thing are they agreed, and that is in the need for millions more