Washington, May 8.
The Secretary of the Navy, Mr. Charles Edison, told the Senate Naval Affairs Committee here yesterday that "battleships were, are and will be for many years to come, the backbone of national defence."
Mr. Edison said he had heard from reliable sources that German planes had not succeded in sinking any British battleships during the current European war. United Siates naval vessels, he declared, are "the best we know how to build" and are being constantly improved and integra.ed with a modern, speedy aerial force.
Meanwhile, Mr. J, Parnell Thomas, New Jersey Republican and member of the House Military Affairs Committee, drafted a report on the capital's defence. He said one flying fortress could wipe out one of Washington's major defences—Fort Monroe, Virginia, guarding the entrance to Chesapeake Bay. The ar-"Wery there is antiquated, he said, and the Monroe anti-aircraft regiment has 12 old guns with which to defend Norfolk, Portsmouth, Newport News and Langley Field from aerial attacks. He said Langley Field has not a single antiaircraft gun or rifle—United
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