No Battleships, Caucus Decides.

New York Times 100 years ago today, July 25, 1912:
Democrats Vote to Stand by Their Declaration Against Naval Increase.
ANGLO-GERMAN CASE CITED
Hobson's Argument That Situation Abroad Demands Attention Here Is Ignored.
Special to The New York Times.
    WASHINGTON. July 24.— More complications were injected into the already tangled legislative situation when the House Democrats, in caucus to-night, decided by a vote of 70 to 62 to stand pat on their prior declaration against any battleships at this session of Congress. A hundred Democrats were absent from the caucus, and any five of those present could have reversed the result.
    The Naval bill, with a Senate amendment providing for two battleships, has been deadlocked in conference because the conferrees for the House, bound by their first caucus against allowing a single large fighting unit at this session, blocked all attempts at compromise. The Senate insists upon two battleships, but was ready to compromise on one, and the purpose of to-night's caucus was to enable the Democrats to arrange for their conferrees to make this compromise.
    Representative Sulzer of New York made the motion for two battleships. Chairman Padgett, of the House Naval Committee, moved to amend by limiting the authorization to one dreadnought. Chairman Fitzgerald of the Appropriations Committee, Chairman Underwood, and Representative Murray, of Massachusetts, led the fight for the Padgett idea, and Speaker Clark was for one. Representative Hobson insisted that recent developments in the British-German naval situation, and the general international naval equation as outlined in Winston Churchill's speech in Parliament proved the necessity for not less than two new battleships, and that even these would not maintain the present relative position of the American Navy.
    Representative Burnett, of Alabama, brought the oratory to an abrupt close by moving to table all pending resolutions. Advocates of a battleship programme believed they were winning converts when the caucus was precipitately ended by their opponents.