The times., 1897-11-24
SECOND LINE OF DEFENSE
Mr.. RooseveIt's Happy Phrase
for the Naval Militia.
ARE EMERGENCY MARINES
Annual Report on the Status of the
State Marines-More Money Need
ed 10 Put Them on a Proper Basis
The Number in the Service and
What They Cost.


vet has submitted to the Secretary Of the
Navy the annual report on the operations
or the naval militia The report was
| prepared by Lieut.. Gibbons and approved
by the Assistant Secretary. Mr.. Roose-
welt, among other things, has this to say
about naval militia:
1T must be remembered that the naval
militia are in no sense proper substitutes
for an efficient naval reserve, to consist
Of seafarlng men under direct control
of the national authorities. The depart
! ment believes that such a reserve should
! be constituted, but ii would be expensive,
and hitherto the expense has been the
| insuperebIe oi,stacl = III securing actotrIon
| Congress. In the absence of such re-
serve the naval militia offer the only means
of procuring what is in any way Il
! substitute for it; and, moreover, they have
particular and very important functions ]
which belong to them alone. The depart
ment has but very small sum to devote
to their maintenance and care, and this
! sum becomes smaller for each division
| from year to year, inasmuch rs the number
! of organizations is continually on tie in
| crease. The department is therefore not
| able TO drill and supe rvise these organiza-
tons as 1t would like to, and they must
be left largely to their own good sense,
| energy, and Initiative. In consequence
| there is great variety In the condition
of efficiency reached by the different
| organizations.
There are three or four of these or
| ganizations which, in the event OF i
| sudden emergency, could he utilized at
| once fot manning the smaller national
| cruisers; hut This Of course, cannot gen
| erahy he the case with the ma tority uf
the organizations They must be de
| pended upon primarily a secoEd line
! of defense. There are two very import
ant features which should he attended to
by such second line One is tie placing
OF MINES; the other the establishment OF
signal stations for coast defense TIE
department should request that there should
he inserted il. tlie provision for the main
ten2nce of the naval militia the words
| 'subnarine mining outfits So as 70
allow pi training them for this purpose
| The department has also been maturing
plans for tie signal stations for the coast
defense. and d very slight expenditure
OF murey, with the cooperation of the
Treasury Department will put this on a
=
are continually requesting the detail OF
Officers to instruct them and they can
best Of all be instructed by actua: service
oa regular war vessels. or unde- the su-
peryisiaB of naval officers. aud in con
Junction with the sailors
II present il is a Very serious drain upon
the resources of The navy to provide for he
annual drills Of Tire different organizations,
especially a plans FOR Joint eucaupments
have hitherto invariably fallen through
owing to tie inability Of the States 10 act
together II is much to be wis he'd that Con
greSs will authorize, in The first place he
substitution for the old paddle wheel
Michigan on the lakes of small modern
gunboat, perhaps on the Petrol type. to lie
devoted largely 10 cruising with the lake
militia organizations andtOoe erseeing e them;
and furthermore TO the building Of one sir
liar small cruiser on the Pacific and two ON
the Atianticto be used for this same purpose
| With these cruisers it would he possible 70
bring the naval militia organizations TO
very high standard OF efficiency. and the
cruisers themselves, of oCIrse, would he
available at any moment for any of the
regular naval nses III an emergency.
There has been steady increase in rhe
efficiency, as well as in the number. Of
these naval militia organizations, both on
the Atlantic and Pacific, on the Grea:
Lakes, and even liz the Mississippi valley.
The movement is one of promise. The re
ports ny the different regular officers who
have taken part i'll their encampments give
good ground for belief I'm the usef alnes.s OF
hrSa organizations in time of war;
Lieut.. Gibbon' report shows the number
Of petty officers and enlisted men, aud
the appoftionment OF the $40. 900 appro-
priation OF 1896 to the various States as
follows, the number Of men being first
given:
Massa aehusetts, 434, S5.G25.71; Rhode
Island, 15S. S2,04S.O7; Connecticut, i35,
$1,749.93; New York, 376, $4,757.22;
New Jersey, 337, S4,36s.35; Pennsylvania,
1873, S2,372.13; Maryland 233, So ,O20.-
%; North Carolina, l4O, 81 81 ITO; South
Carolina, 165, $2.13s-s1: Georgia, i3s
s., ,43G .a4 Louisiana. 2O9, S2,T09.l6;
California, 300, $4,601.67 Illinois. +49,
S5,s07.1S; Michigan, III, S2,294.36; ;
Ohio, ia, s.. .255.4 Al. Total, 3 .7o3;
SAB 900.
Then follows an account of the drills
and encampments OF the militia during the
year. Lieut.. Gibbons makes The following
interesting statemen
'As the field of usefulness OF the naval
militia becomes more clearly defined and
as these organizations continue to grow in
numbers and in public favor. their services
will be valuable in assisting the general
Government to perfect a scheme for the
enrolment of true naval reserve made
up of the seafaring classes. AS pre-
liminarv step to this end the cooperation
| of the naval militia has heen asked in
establishing coast signal stations for naval
defense. The life-saving stations, being
under Government control, should he prop
erly equipped signal stations, and the
y men, with the consent of the Treasury De-
=. partment, enrolled as a part of the ma
: rionaI naval service
e The report is largely taken up with
4 detailed statements from the authorities
. Of the states above mentioned, relating t.
: the militia organizations.
/ There is as yet no naval militia for th,
District of Columbia but there is move
ment 10 have such an organization at 4,
, early time as possible. The matter
has already been broached TO the Assistan,
q Secretary of the Navy.
PROMOTIONS IN THE TREASURY