The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-09-13
Reform the Navy.

| cial attention, as indeed should be the
case in view of all Of the circumstances.
! 1t seems that we are about to enter upon
! o policy of territorial acquisition and ag-
grandizement, which involves the abso-
! lutte necessity for a great and highly ef-
| hcient naval establishment. If we are to
annex Hawaii, and possibly Cuba and
the other West Indies, and Samoa, and
nobody can foretell what other islands,
and defend Alaska and other distant ter
ritOry; and If we are to take an agrees
sive position in the administration Of in
ternational affairs, it is vitality important
that we possess a navy strong enough
to hold its own against all corners through
out our thousands of miles of coast and
the contiguous waters.
However, whether we annex or not.
none will question the desirability Of
bringing the navy ap to the very highest
possible point of efficiency To achieve
this desired end it is necessary that there
should be reforms of and in the service,
and a broadening and popularlzing of it.
The task of bringing about the reforms
will be a herculean one, but we are of
the opinion that the gentleman now virtu-
ally at the head of the department, the
Hon. Theodore Roosevelt of New York,
assistant secretary of the navy, is the man
who will undertake and successfully per-
form the reformation.
There is a feud of long standing be-
tween the line and the staff of the navy,
and the jealousies and hard feelings en-
gendered by it have detracted from the
efficiency and discipline of the establish
ment. There has been built up a kind of
official aristocracy, which none but line
officers may enter. The man who works
with his hands is denied equal advan-
tages with the man who struts in gold
lace and gives orders. 1t requires high
order of intelligence, a well-balanced
brain, a quick eye. an unfailing judg-
ment a finished technical education, to
successfully handle the immense amount
of machinery with which the modern war
vessel is filled; yet the engineer officer
is regarded with a feeling of contempt by
the officers of the quarterback. The
young man who selects engineering as
his career in the navy can never hope
to rise to the rank and pay of a commo-
mental powers or attachments. What is
needed is to open the way to promotion
in the navy, and to make merit
the test for preferment An Incentive needs
to be provided for ambitious young Amer
leans. The esprit du corps would be
increased under a democratic system pro
viding a way for advancement from the
lowest to the highest position, contingent
upon merit. and doing away with the
aristocratic system which now prevails.
The revenue cutter service, which is, as
a matter of fact. a part of the naval es-
adjustment. should be removed from the
treasury department and attached to the
navy department. - That the direction of
the cutter service and the naval service
should be under one head, has been dem
onstrated in the guarding of the coasts
against Cuban flibustering expeditions
The revenue marine fleet and the naval
fleet have been employed Interchangeable
in identical service. and there has been
no suggestion that cutters and cruisers
were not performing their proper func-
tions. The revenue cutter service should
be made training school for the navy.
Naval officials under present circum-
stances have very little opportunity Of
learning the entrances, harbors and chan
nels of the ports Of their country ex-
cept such as are fashionable resorts. They
may learn from their charts the theoreti-
cal navigation of the coast, but in actual
experience they know nothing % any ports
save New York, Newport, Bar Harbor and
one or two others where there is a de-
mand for warships and naval officers to
make holiday. If the revenue marine
service were made a part of the naval
| service, future commanders of the navy
would learn in 1t the geography and to-
Biography of the ports of their own coun-
try through actual experience, and the in
formation would be Invaluable In time of
war.
These, however, are but a few of the
! loose rope-ends which are hanging about
| the navy department. There are many
others, and they need to be taken up. The
navy cannot become a perfect arm of de-
Tense until they are taken up and the
whole establishment is put into ship-shape
AS said before. however, we think the
man ~ take up the ioose ehus ana I'M
prove the efficiency and prestige of the
navy is now at the head of the depart
ment. Mr.. Roosevelt is a reformer of
good Judgment, rare perception and In
| domitable courage. His success in re-
forming the police system of the city of
| New York is an earnest of what he is
capable of doing. He will find opposition
to reformation of the navy. The old
fogies and the official aristocrats will
oppose him, but with common sense and
the majority sentiment of the country be-
hind him, he win win out, and give us
a naval establishment on a true Ameri-
can basis, of which we may all be proud.
Pension Payments.