US News, H2 1900

[KWorld]

August 5, 1900 - Camp Perry, OH

The US Army's testing of proferred semi-automatic pistols has started.  Pistols have arrived from Colt, Mauser, Luger, and Steyr-Mannlicher, and examination and testing of the weapons and their cartridges has begun.

[KWorld]

Sept. 10, 1900 - Houston, TX

FLASH   FLASH   FLASH
Reports via messenger from Galveston that the city of Galveston, TX, has been substantially damaged by a hurricane, at least 500 killed.  Rail and wire communications with the city are out.
FLASH   FLASH FLASH

[KWorld]

New York, NY - Sept 11, 1900

GREAT DISASTER AT GALVESTON

Deaths may be over 2,600 - 4,000 houses ruined

A HEAVY PROPERTY LOSS

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/topics/galveston/greatdisaster-9.10.1900.pdf

[KWorld]

July 19, 1900 - Washington, DC

"Secretary Hay, my fellow Senators, the question that is before this august body is that of the long desired but never achieved canal across the Isthmus of Central America, a canal that would allow sea-borne trade from our East Coast to our West to progress much more rapidly and cheaply than currently applies, and to enable our Navy to respond to threats to our national security much more rapidly than USS Oregon and Olympia were able to, despite the Herculean efforts of their captains and crews.  The canal across Panama started after the completion of the Suez Canal has languished for the last decade, there seems little chance that it will be revived except with monies allocated by this body.  And the Colombian government, it seems, is not overly interested?"

"Senator, the Colombian government seems of two minds on the project.  The purely commercial canal that De Lesseps began, they are in favor of, as shown by the concession they sold the company.  However, the Colombian government is, to this point, unwilling to grant the concessions required by the President before he will bring a treaty to the Senate, and an appropriations bill to build the canal to the House and the Senate."

"The Nicaraguan government, however, has not balked at these requirements?"

"No, Senator, they have not.  In fact, the President has received a letter from the President of Nicaragua stating so, and I myself have been in contact with both the Nicaraguan ambassador and the Nicaraguan foreign minister to work out the exact terms of a treaty between our two countries."


"The chair recognizes the Senator from Illinois."

"Mr. Secretary, what are the rough monetary terms you and your counterparts are working under?"

"Senator, the lease agreement is for 99 years, with an initial payment of $10 million in gold, with annual payments of $250,000 in gold through the duration of the lease."


"The chair recognizes the Senator from Connecticutt."

"Mr. Secretary, what is this I've read of the costs of the canal rising greatly from the last time this body was given a report on a Nicaraguan canal?  Surely inflation has not risen by over 500% since 1894!"

"Senator, as to that, I will defer to my associate from the US Army's Corps of Engineers.  Major?"

"Senator, the reason for the increase in cost is that the canal that was the subject of that report from 1894 was a narrow and relatively shallow affair, suitable for one-way traffic of shipping of modest size.  The most current plan has taken on an enlarged character, suited for two-way traffic of shipping of all sizes, including the largest ships both civil and military.  To do that required a canal that was both wider and deeper, which requires more excavation, more dredging, and in general, more costs.  However, the result is a canal that is more useful to it's purpose."


"The chair recognizes the senator from Nebraska."

"Mr. Secretary, Major, why should a canal across Nicaragua succeed where the French attempt in Panama has failed, and the last attempt in Nicaragua failed?  After all, isn't the Nicaraguan route longer than the Panama route?"

"Senator, I will again defer."

"Senator, the Nicaraguan route, while it is longer, is easier in most characters.  The hills separating Lake Nicaragua from the Pacific are just that, hills, as opposed to the low mountains of Panama that have so stymied the French.  The Nicaraguan route will involve much less excavation of stone than a route of similar capacity along the Panama route.  It is, in short, a longer but less difficult project.  That is not to mention that the state of the art in excavation has improved in the decade that the French project has been moribund, and our experiences in Cuba may help lead the way to avoiding the disease problems that so afflicted the French effort."

[KWorld]

September 15, 1900 - Fort Sill, OK

The demonstration of available artillery pieces to the US Army is underway.  The US Army is, after the artillery arm's relatively poor showing in Cuba, looking to replace the blackpowder weapons it acquired starting in the late 1880s with modern smokeless powder artillery fitted with recoil systems so the gun does not need to be relaid after each and every shot and gunshields to protect the gun crew from shrapnel shells.  The US Army is looking to buy a light field gun and a light howitzer (both of which would be pulled by a 6-horse team), and a heavy field gun and a heavy howitzer (both of which would be pulled by a 8-horse team).

[KWorld]

October 20, 1900 - Camp Perry, OH

The demonstration of semi-auto pistols to the US Army has ended.  The US Army has not said that it will be ordering any semi-autos to replace it's revolvers, but if it were the winning pistol from those displayed would probably be the Luger from DWM, as it simply felt best in the hand and pointed extremely well.  The 7.65mm Luger cartridge it is chambered in, however, was not as well liked, there were a few failures to feed and there have been reports out of Europe that stopping power is not ideal.  The big Mauser C96 pistol made almost the exact opposite impression: the pistol was not well liked: heavy, did not point well, and it's balance was poor, but the cartridge, a longer and more powerful 7.65mm round than the Luger, showed promise.  The Colt-Browning 1900 prototypes, chambered in .38 ACP, were middle of the road.  The other pistols simply did not rate, from the perspective of the men who were testing the weapons.

[KWorld]

Nov. 1, 1900 - Washington, DC

The US elections of 1900 appear to be an anti-climax.  With the victory over Iberia and the economy humming, the Democratic candidate, William Jennings Bryan, has been reduced to attacks that, for all his skill at oratory, seem, at their basis, weak.  There is little expectation that the McKinley administration will be replaced, in fact the general thought is that he will win very solidly, quite probably increasing the Republican hold on Congress with his coat tails.

[Historically, the biggest issue of the election was the US imperialism, and especially the war in the Phillipines.  No US troops in the Phillipines, even less of an issue, which will only hurt Bryan.]



Nov 10, 1900 - Washington, DC

The ballots have been counted and their results sent to Washington: President McKinley has been re-elected, and the Republican Party has gained 13 seats in the House and 3 in the Senate.  This gives them a solid majority on both sides of the aisle and control of the White House, assuring the President of a smooth sailing for his policies.  The Senate will be meeting in a lame-duck session in early December to decide the fate of the US-Nicaragua Canal Treaty.

[KWorld]

December 12, 1900 - Washington, DC

"Gentlemen, the matter before us is the Nicaraguan Canal Treaty.  With it, the proposal is to build a canal across Nicaragua, so that mercantile and naval ships may pass from the Pacific to the Atlantic and vice versa without needing to sail all the way to Cape Horn and back.  For commerce, this will be as much an improvement as the opening of the Suez canal was, goods will be able to travel more quickly and cheaply than ever before.   For our Navy, this gives the prospect of no longer needing to have two separate fleets, separated by a months sailing.  For the nation, an increase in commerce is a boon, and a reduction in the future cost of the defense of this great land  is another.  I intend to vote Aye, and I implore you to do the same."


"My fellow Senators, the Senator from California has made the case for the canal.  Let me now point out the flaws in the thinking here.  First, the route proposed is longer than that of the French attempt at a canal in Panama, and we all know that that attempt has been moribund for most of the last decade.  Second, the problem of the tropical diseases that so afflicted the French in Colombia and that afflict our men in Cuba and Puerto Rico have not gone away.  I am aware, Senator, that there may have been some improvements in this regard in Cuba and Puerto Rico, but we do not yet know that those improvements will translate to Nicaragua.  Thirdly, there is the matter of the cost.  Certainly, should the canal be completed on schedule and on budget, there will be benefits to the canal, that is not be denied.  But how many millions of francs were poured into what is now a hole in the ground in Colombia, and for what gain?  For my blood, the risks are too high to spend the dollars of the people on this project, and I implore you to vote Nay."




"Gentlemen, the Ayes have it, by a vote of 74 to 22, the Nicaraguan Canal Treaty is hereby passed.  I thank you, and the people thank you, for your work.   This special session of the United States Senate is hereby adjourned."

[KWorld]

December 15, 1900 - Havana, Cuba

The meetings of the Cuban Constitutional Convention, called by General Leonard Wood, have continued into their second month.  Delegates from the 6 Cuban provinces have been working for the last month on the difficult task of creating a new constitution for a new country, a task that a student of US history will know is not easy.  A report from one of the two Secretaries, Mr. Enrique Villuenda, shows that progress is being made, but at least another month will be needed before the process will be complete, and that schedule assumes no long Christmas break and no great difficulties arise.

[KWorld]

December 20, 1900 - Washington, DC

The Christmas holidays loomed near, but work was still being done in the nation's capitol. At the Army Corps of Engineers, a major portion of the work at the moment was the planning for the newly agreed Nicaraguan Canal.  Initial work on the project would be building railroads along the route and building worker housing, along with final surveying, dredging, and construction of the harbors on either end of the route, but while the dimensions of the canal and the route it was to take across Nicaragua were already settled, the dimensions of the 6 sets of locks were not.  From the standpoint of logistics planning, the width of the locks was the critical dimension: that determined how large the lock gates had to be ordered, and they would take time to produce and to be transported to the worksites for installation.  The length of the locks was less important from a logistics planning standpoint: a lock that was 1000 feet long differed from a lock that was 500 feet long mostly in how many cubic yards of concrete and feet of rebar it would take to construct, and how many cubic feet of soil or rock would have be removed to create the pool.  But whatever dimensions were chosen would serve as limits to the size of vessels that could transit the canal, at least until another full set of locks could be installed.  So larger than currently needed was vastly preferred over a design that would need to be upgraded in the near future.  In the end, discussions around the table came down to interior dimensions of 1050 feet by 131.25 feet.  All sets of locks in the canal would be built to the same dimensions and basic plan, to make production of spares easier and to otherwise facilitate production and maintenance.

[An interesting fact of the design of the Nicaraguan canal was that the sea locks at the ends of the canal aren't strictly necessary for it's operation: they protect the canal against tidal surges or draining from the sea, and avoid letting salt-water into the canal drainage system, but the ends of the canal system are effectively at sea level anyway.]

[KWorld]

December 20, 1900 – Washington, DC

In the offices of the Department of War, Secretary of War Elihu Root was going over some new spending plans with his subordinates.

"So, we have an agreement on the 3" gun then?"

"Yes, the Ehrhardt 3" gun is very close to what we need as is and the company is amenable to allowing changes to be made to their design as long as a production license is purchased.  With the license in hand, production could start on the current version of the gun while the changes are designed and tested, then the guns that were produced during testing could be retrofitted if the updates warrant it."

"Fine, that's fine.  The bigger guns were not as ready, it seems?"

"Alas, no.  It appears that the manufacturers were caught so totally flat-footed by the sudden interest in recoil equipped quick firing guns that they have been scrambling to fill that gap in their inventory but haven't yet gotten around to closing the same gap that is now visible in their howitzer, heavy howitzer, and heavy field gun inventories.  So it seems we'll need to either contract for a design or do the design in-house and then worry about production."

"A pity but there it is.  Let's finish the contract with Ehrhardt, then we can use some of what we learn from it in designing the new larger howitzers and guns.  Save time duplicating the wheel and all that."

"Yes, sir."

"Now, the pistol competition.  Nothing there we really want to jump on, it appears?"

"No, it seems not.  The Luger was well liked, but it's cartridge was doubted, the Mauser was thought clumsy and very large, and the new Colt wasn't anything to get excited about.  Some troop trials to develop more future tests or to determine better what we want and need wouldn't be a bad idea at all though.   Issue them to the Cavalry along the Mexican border, while there's no prospect of war with Mexico the troops do occasionally see some action with bandits and they're out and about in the weather, that will help sort out what's good and bad."

"That sounds reasonable.  Say a thousand of each type, that will be plenty to be issued and some for spares for each unit.  Plus 1,000 rounds of ammunition per gun."

"Yes, Mr. Secretary."

[So, the Ehrhardt 3" field gun will be ordered for service in the US Army, first version will be available in 1902.  This gun is the historical US M1902 field gun, later modified into the M1904 & M1905 versions.  Also ordered for troop trials are the M1900 Colt pistol in .38 ACP, the Luger in 7.65mm Luger and the Mauser C96 "Broom Handle" in 7.63mm Mauser.  No guns have been ordered to fill the Army's need for howitzers, heavy howitzers, or heavy field guns as no guns were displayed that were ready for service, the old guns will have to continue soldiering on for a while longer.]

[KWorld]

December 23, 1900 - Washington, DC

The Office of the Secretary of the Navy sent a letter from the Secretary of the Navy to each of the Senators and Representatives of the US Congress, containing a suggestion for their consideration.


Senators and Representatives,

Gentlemen, I write this letter to you in the hopes that you will entertain a new idea in budgetting for the warships of the US Navy.


Historically, the nation has budgetted for it's warships by allocating the funds to purchase a ship out of a single year's budget.  Even if the ship, like one of our modern battleships, was to take 2 or more years to be built, the money to build it was allocated by the Congress in a single budget year.  This is simple and direct, but it has a consequence: it limits the number of ships that the nation may lay down at one time to a lower number than if the budgetting were spread out.

By contrast, other nations of the world pay for their warships as they are worked upon: the cruisers being built in San Francisco for the Imperial Russian Navy are being paid for as they are worked on, with only a portion of the work paid for before the work starts.  This allows the Imperial Russian Navy to get their ships sooner, for the same cost, than the US Navy would, because while the costs per year are the same (these ships will be completed next year), both IRN vessels were laid down at the beginning of this year, rather than one being laid down this year and the second next year.

Some will point to the Constitution as a bar, saying that it sets forth the plan of annual budgetting and hence the US cannot go down this road.  I have consulted with lawyers here in the Navy Office and they are not so sure.  The Constitution itself says that Congress shall have the power to provide and maintain a navy, and in that clause, unlike the preceding clause about maintaining an army, it does not put a limit on the term of that process.  This would allow the Congress to budget for a ship to be completed to, say, 50% completion in the 1905 fiscal year, with the expectation that budgeting and work will continue in the 1906 fiscal year.  Alternatively, the Congress could budget an amount to the Navy's shipbuilding fund, with separate detailing as desired on how many of what type of ships the Congress requires the Navy purchase.  Either mechanism would serve.


Why does this matter?  To be honest, gentlemen, to this point it has not.  I am looking ahead, at the possibility that our great nation may have the need to expand it's navy more rapidly than it has in the past at some time in the future.  It could be that we or our children will be faced with the need to confront a stronger foe than upon the seas than we have since the War of 1812.  For that task, such a tool might well be warranted.


I commend this to your consideration,

John D. Long,
Secretary of the Navy