AMERICAN FLEET

Southland Times, Issue 19458, 23 January 1925, Page 5

AMERICAN FLEET

THE PACIFIC CRUISE. FRIENDSHIP FOR AUSTRALIA. ACCOMPANYING DELEGATION SUGGESTED. (By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright.) (Australian and N.Z. Cable Association.) NEW YORK, January 21. Mr J. A M. Elder (Australian Commissioner in the United States) has returned after a sojourn of two weeks at Washington, where he conferred with Mr C. E. Hughes, Mr C. D. Wilbur (Secretary of the Navy), Mr H. C. Hoover (Secretary of Commerce), and Sir Esipe Howard (British Ambassador), and piet the President. The Commissioner discussed with Mr Wilbur the projected visit of the fleet and further advanced the suggestion that a delegation of American business ..and professional men should visit Australia with the fleet, or should arrive there at the same time as the fleet. Both Mr Wilbur and Mr Hoover heartily endorsed the proposal, which will be further considered following the Senate’s action on the Naval Appropriation Bill. Mr Wilbur informed Mr Elder that he has asked the State Department to communicate with the Australian GovernorGeneral, through the British Embassy, giving details of the itinerary of the fleet, in order to enable the Australian Government to perfect the plans for its reception. Mr Elder everywhere found great enthusiasm for the Australian visit and a deep friendship for the Australian people. THE NAVAL BILL. SENATE ACCEPTS AMENDMENT. ANOTHER ARMS CONFERENCE SUGGESTED. WASHINGTON, January 21. Without any discussion or a record of the voting being taken, the Senate accepted the amendment to the Naval Bill requesting President Coolidge to call another Arms Conference. It has been indicated recently that President Coolidge did not consider the time ripe for such a conference, and the Administration Senators had been expected to oppose the amendment as being untimely, but they did not explain their failure to do so. PROGRESS OF THE BILL. PASSAGE THROUGH THE SENATE. WASHINGTON, January 21. (Received January 22, 11.0 p.m.) With the Senate’s passage of the Naval Appropriations Bill, this measure which carries funds for fuel outlay for the Australian and New Zealand cruise now enters upon its two final stages. It will be recalled that the House of Representatives passed a Naval Appropriations Bill providing a total of 288,880,628 dollars, for various expenditures by the Navy Department in the coming year, such as building minor vessels, repairs to existing ships and including an outlay of 15,460,000 dollars for a year’s fuel consumption. This latter sum included an additional 960,000 dollars estimated to be required to cover fuel outlay for the Pacific cruise. The measure then reached the Senate, which to-day added 896,350 dollars to the full appropriation in order to provide for other minor outlays, of which the House of Representatives disapproved. As the two measures differ in the amounts appropriated, they cannot be sent to President Coolidge for signature. The Senate and the House will now appoint a joint Committee which will endeavour to make the sums in the measures agree and the Committee’s decisions will have to be approved by both Chambers. If approved they go to the President, who, under the law must either sign or veto the measure within ten days, or it automatically becomes law. It is understood that scepticism was frankly expressed by at least one member of the Cabinet that the Senate would approve of the cruise. It was feared that some opponents in the Senate, possibly led by Senator Borah, might attach a rider to the Senate measure expressing the opinion that the Hawaiian manoeuvres and the Australasian cruise were inadvisable. Such a rider would be tantamount to an instruction to Mr Wilbur to cancel the contemplated undertakings. Apparently these feara were unfounded, as the Senate passed the Bill without even mention of the cruise or manoeuvres.