BANQUET. 245 
ADDRESS BY HON. EDWIN DENBY, SECRETARY OF THE NAVY. 
Mr. Toastmaster and gentlemen, I recall the incident of the Secretary of the Navy who 
discovered that the damn thing was hollow. 1 do not know, however, whether he or any 
succeeding Secretary has discovered that the damn brain is hollow sometimes. (Applause. ) 
I deeply regret the absence of the President, who most earnestly desired to be here to- 
night. Only this morning, in asking me to convey to you verbally, as he has already done 
by letter, his respects and his earnest hope for the success of the establishment of an Ameri- 
can merchant marine, he said he regretted exceedingly that he could not be here himself. I 
know he loves the merchant marine; as for myself I could not be in more congenial company 
than amongst men who love ships, make ships, and sail in ships, and endeavor to build up 
the merchant marine of the United States. It has always been my dream, and during a 
period of six years in Congress I voted, whenever I had an opportunity to vote, for a ship 
subsidy, and I do not care whether they camouflaged it under the term “subvention” or 
“government aid” or any other term. A subsidy is needed, and we might as well call it a 
subsidy. (Loud applause. ) 
I am not going over the history of the great Washington Conference, but I am going 
to ask you to bear with me for a moment while I refer to it. 
The purpose of this conference was to limit the naval armament of the powers in such 
manner that their safety might be well provided for while at the same time a burden of 
taxation might be lifted from the shoulders of the peoples signing the treaty and the danger 
of war minimized. It was the most remarkable conference ever held by the powers of the 
world in that they agreed to a self-denying ordinance lessening their own power afloat. 
Nothing like it has ever been known before in the history of the world, and few confer- 
ences have been so splendidly successful. The far-seeing vision of the President and the 
stern and incisive eloquence of the Secretary of State, together with the great sacrifice the 
United States made and the receptive and agreeable attitude of the other powers anxious 
to find some solace for their tortured people, led to the acceptance of the American pro- 
posals. And I want to say to you gentlemen, many of whom are builders of ships and oper- 
ators of ships, that no better example of the patriotism of the American people could have 
been asked for than their attitude in supporting the results of that conference. 
Do not think for a moment that we in the Navy Department fail to appreciate what it 
meant to many of you. Through the ranking officers of the Navy, it collaborated with the 
American Commissioners in utmost harmony and witha cordial desire to bring to fruition this 
highly beneficial policy. 1 can pay no greater tribute to the personnel of the Navy than to 
say that I found in no instance the slightest desire or purpose to put above country the sel- 
fish interests of the individuals of the service,and I have yet to hear of any officer in the 
United States Navy who failed to cooperate cheerfully and willingly. 
So we stand today as agreed at that conference that we are left to maintain, after the 
treaty shall have been signed, sealed, ratified and exchanged, eighteen battleships. The 
treaties have not yet been ratified and exchanged by all the powers, and therefore the Great 
Treaty for Limitation of Naval Armament is not yet the law of the land. It will be as soon 
as the exchanges occur, but in the meantime we look forward to that period when we shall 
