Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1891-11-29
PART TWO.

what shat ne the regular dress uniform for
the c.;. men has come up The best
sent!.-.-'' seems TO be in favor Of having
the clue Uniform modelled on the plan OF
that of the sailors of the regular navy, and
of having it distinctly sailor in character.
One of the reserves in speaking on tho
question recently said:
LAS soon as we get away from the spirit
of the organization and lose our sailor char
acteriSticS we might is well Join some regi-
ment of the national guard at once and learn
TO be soldiers. We are here to learn to be
sailors and should wear I sailor'S uniform
Another phase of the question of formation
of naval reserve forces for the use of the
nation in time of need is the formation Of a
reserve composed of those persons whose
occupation is on the high seas or the tide
waters. rivers and lakes of the country.
Such reserve will no doubt some time he
formed. but will OF necessity be OF q differ
ent character from the state organizations
now formed or forming. This IS WORK
which will probably have to be, from the
nature OF II. of Il national character,
founded somewhat possibly on the naval re-
serve system of England. Merchant OIL
GERS, Merchant sailors and mer chant Stealn-
ers will probably before many years ba
brought under some system which VIII
make them al once available IN time of war.
As far back as 1906, Thomas Jefferson,
then president, saw the need of a naval re-
serve and drew a bill. which was presented
in congress. but never became q law, pro-
vidiug for the establishment of 4 naval re-
serve. Commodore Porter in q letter on
the subject of national naval reserve writ
ten III lSS9, says:
There is plenty of authority to raiseean
army in very short time, but If the nation
should be obliged 10 so to war pom the
ocean, there is no authority by which the
general government could command the
service of a single Seamen who did not
choose to go attOat and who elected TO per-
form military duty on land.
This want was early noticed by PresI-
dent jefferson, and so well assured was
that distinguished man of the necessity of a
naval reserve that in 1905 he drafted 4 bill
which he submitted to Albert Gallatin for
revision. At that time we employed about
5000 tons in foreign trade, 1900 in the
whale fisheries, and $4,000 in the cod fish
cries, which would have given about $4,000
seamen to be enrolled as the presd ent pro-
posed. AT the present time we have At
least as many seaman and others folio wing
occupations on the water, which would not
only enable US to man a large navy, but
would give surplus of Seafarlng men Tor
i coast guard, and for artillery regiments
and torpedo corps along our cast, which Is
the more difficult TO protect owing to It's
immense extent on the Atlantic and Pa
cific oceans.
The following shows at glance what =
force of seareu would be at the command OF
the general government IN time of war. aud
a large portion of them could be kept under
the drill of naval officers in the time OF
peace subject TO the control of state gov
ernmentS:
Men engaged IN the fisheries:
New England states. s!.sSSo
Middle states except on lakeS).......... l2,!Ss4
South Atlantic states - -
Gulf states. .............-... ISS3
Pacific states and territories ....-.......-. llGl3
Great lakes Observation-Disclosures. lab
Total. ..... ..,..................'O I, ga
Shoresmen dependent on the fisheries in
the United States --...---.----- ~. IL
Seameu. steamboat men, canal men.
pilotmcn ana Waterman. ........... lOusS3
GlanI total. --..-.--......... .-...2s-,'AsS
That this great force of sailors will be in
some way placed by law at the disposal or
the general government i'll cases OF need,
and be under some complete system in u mo
of peace before long, who can doubt But
the problem of formulating 4 system Is
hard one to solve. The success in the form
alton of the state naval reserves should be
an encouragement in graphing with the
question of a national one.
Congress has appropriated s25, 900 for na-
val militia in the different states and 'ndS
instructors and ships.