Favor Dividing the Navy

An "amendment to the naval bill" is passed allowing for half of the Navy to be placed in the Pacific Coast.

Washington, Feb. 17. – One-half of the United States navy should be kept on the Pacific coast at all times in the opinion of the senate. An amendment to the naval bill was agreed to providing that in the discretion of the president one-half of the navy shall be kept in Pacific waters, so far as practicable. The president already has the authority to divide the fleet, but the amendment amounts to an expression of congress in favor of such action. By another amendment the size of the two battleships authorized is limited to 21,000 tons and their cost, exclusive of armor and armament, to $4,500,000 each.

“Favor Dividing the Navy,” Black Virginia: The Richmond Planet, 1894-1909, accessed March 21, 2025, https://blackvirginia.richmond.edu/items/show/1871.