The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-08-18

\ work quickly, easily, perfectly Use Sunlight \ Soap, and you will realize that sunlight" has \ \ come into your life.
 It Makes Horne Brighter.
 Lever Bros, Ltd, Hudson Harrison Sts.. NY. A-ssrxmzA...nsSar.zssssx hardly distinctively naval, it would al most seem to be a corollary from such propositions that we of the army need something of the sort even more ur- gently, inasmuch as the ground which it is proposed to cover lies wholly with in our own territory. Unless this ground is already occupied, discussion as to the propriety, nay, the necessity of covering it would seem superfluous Every year diminishes the number of those who are unwilling to admit that knowledge is the indispensable equip ment of the master workman, wanting which the best tools and the most faithful performance of routine work only emphasize the traits of the ap. prentice, and this small remnant Is in the plight of Dives kindred, and would not be persuaded though one rose from the dead.
 Our existing army schools-the artil l lery, the infantry and cavalry, and the one at Willet's Point-do not cover the ground, chiefly because they are schools, and one of the noticeable and valuable features of the Naval college is the absence of the relation of teacher and pupil. In the proposed institution all will be pupils. I think I can assume at any rate will not admit the con trary-that they will work together with the same interest and zeal which l the naval attendants have shown a zeal which no teacher, however gifted or magnetic, can possibly impart to scholars for any length of time. If he could, it would be because he made pleasing and interesting the aim and end, and in that case he would soon be only a popular lecturer, and his work could have no permanent value.
 Of course this zeal is not to be al- l lowed to run wild, nor Is it to be left to each man to say what he will do and how he will do it. The head of the in- stitution must be the best man obtaina- ble, and right here at the outse4 will probably be the test of the practfsabili- l ty of the scheme. It is an encouraging | fact that in the short time it has been in existence the Naval college has found such man. The right man will get the right sort of permanent staff, on the principle of the permanent par ties of the old recruiting stations. At first all will be recruits, and from their number he can choose those who seem to take the best hold and can give him most help in his work. There are to be retained or changed as the future shall determine With their assistance the work will be mapped out and the men attending assigned. This work is to be summed up under two general heads: First-The acquisition of information, everything that Is certain to be useful in war, generals and particulars, pay ing especial attention to the military and naval strength of the civilized powers, the military geography of other lands, questions of raising, equipping, mobilizing, feeding and transporting troops and, above all, avoiding ques- tions merely of tactics, which lead to interminable controversy, and which T should be discussed and, if possible, harmonized elsewhere. The Bureau of Information in Washington could be made a most valuable co colworker in this part of the course. For some time this bureau has been collecting and system atizing information which, under exist ing circumstances, seemed likely to re- semble the contents of bonded ware house, from which nothing can be re- moved without the official stamp. But if these stores can be drawn upon by such an institution as is proposed, then tbo aooI1roIIlo tioy hooorpas of practical value, as utilizing knowledge garnered in many places and under es- pecially favorable circumstances.
 Second, strategy, the highest branch of the profession, and the one in which the formal recitations of the classroom seem to be least productive of real ben eft. It is true that many great soldiers have been great students, but it was not in the capacity of pupils that the good work was done. It was due to the irresistible bent of their own minds and their determination to know everything that history could tell them. In many cases course of Hamley, as taught in the classroom, is warranted to give the victim confirmed dislike to the whole subject. But in the proposed course where all work together, the prepara- tion and discussion of problems, using all the resources of the institution, sub jecting proposed schemes to severe scrutiny from many points of view, ap- plying all available tests, drawn from experience and history, and conscien- tiously keeping up this process until only the fittest survives and emerges from the trial. is very different mat ter.
 And in connection with the problem the war game have it's best uses. For the man who comes to the game having cleared the ground by an exhaustive study of the situation will find in it many tests to apply to theories. With out small and scattered army, this is about the best thing that can be done in the way of a substitute for manoeu- vres on 8 large scale. I do not wish to belittle the painstaking work that has been done at Leavenworth, and recent ly in California. The latter especially has been model of it's kind; but, ne- cessarily it has all been of a tactical nature. hardly rising to the plane oi grand tactics. It is extremely doubtful whether in time of peace we could ever count upon assembling enough men te give strategic operations a semblance of realism. Whereas. if we emulate the