The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-11-12
RADICAL CHA2GlS ARD URG D
TO PUT THE NAVAL FORCE ON THE
FOOTING 1T SHOULD
HAVE
DOUBLE NUMBER OF CADETS
That Is One of the Plans Which
Is Suggested to Help
in the ReOrganiza-
tiOn.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 1.-THE startling
statement is made in the report of Ad-
mlraI Crowninshield chief of the naval
bureau, that the personnel of the nay
would form barely one-fourth of the to-
tai establishment necessary to fight
hrst-class European power 1t barely
suffced for the Spanish war, and no
longer can be considered, the report
says, as nucleus about which larger
establishment could be formed in case
of war,
The admiral regards this need of the
navy for officers and men as most ur-
gent. He says that the bureau can point
to many cases where the service is being
harmed by lack of officers The naval
academy is suffering for want of in
structors, and the present high standard
OF training can not be maintained Every
bureau in the department is short of Of
ficers, and the service, the report pre-
diets soon will fall behind in the strug-
gle, first for leaderships and then for
equality with the other services. The
disability Of the sea-going corps of Of
fcers has greatly increased since the
Spanish war, and many of the best Of
hcers are being lost as a result of break
irg down from over-work.
TO DOUBLE NAVAL SCHOOL.
The admiral severely criticises the in
effective effort Of congress at the last
session to meet the immediate need of
officers by authorizing the employment of
retired officers, and he demands the i'm
mediate repeal of that act He claims
that the retired list, intended as a re-
ward for faithful service. otherwise
becomes a hardship and a punishment.
The personnel act thus far has resulted
in affording less officers than We're on
the active list before its passage. as
while authorizing an increase, it failed to
| provide the means therefor, so there are
| now 131 vacancies in the list Of naval Of
ficers, when vacancies can be least af-
| forded. Therefore, it is recommended
! for the next ten years that appointments
| to the naval academy be doubled, the
| president and representatives in congress
| appOintinP two instead of one wherever
| authorized now, and in addition senators
being given the same privilege of ap-
| pointment as representatives. Then, to
meet future needs, 1t is recommended,
| that whenever congress authorizes an in
| crease of vessels to the navy, it also
| p ovide, in the same act, for an increase
of officers and men to man ships.
| The report says that England, which
this year lays down fifteen war vessels,
! voted an increase of 4,340 officers and
men to the naval establishment to man
the ships while Germany, which intends
doubling the fleet in the next sixteen
! years, provided in the same programme
| for increasing the personnel by eight
nine officers and 1,6S7 men each year un-
| til the total increase reaches 35, ,551
1t is declared that 1t is now impossi-
! BILE to man the vessels of our navy with
| present force, not to mention those
! building or authorized. Congress is urged
| to make any increase in personnel imme-
! diately available.
The training system as now practiced
| in the navy is commended ard it is de-
! clared that by no other means could the
! navy secure the sailors necessary to man
the fleet. Since the close OF the Span
| ish war the department has found that
| the resources heretofore depended upon
| to furnish seamen for the navy are no
! longer adequate. Only 237 sea1nen have
enlisted for the first enlistment in the
! past year, SO the department has been
! obliged to rely upon and develop the
/ training squadron for landSmen and now
has about 1000 men under instruction,
who, on the average, require about siX
months training.
! One chapter deals at some length with
| the history of the Asiatic squadron for
the year and the participation of the
| navy and marine corps in the Chinese op-
trations are set out in some detail
In connection with the grounding Of the
Oregon Admiral Crowninshield mentions
the courtesy shown by the Japanese gov
ernment in generously extending its re-
sources for repairs to the ship. The re-
| port makes the point that the govern
ment should construct or acquire on the
Asiatic station a dock of it's own for the
| largest vessels
OVER 1000 DESERTIONS.
There were 2.452 desertions from the
navy and Sc deaths in the past fiscal
year. The enlistments number 6,123 from
a total number of applicants of 1854.
Over 6S per cent of the men in the navy
| are native born, IS per cent are natural
lied and per cent have declared in,
tentions. Ninety-two per cent of the
| landsmen now under training are native
born.
Admiral Crowninshield finds that tke
| Chesapeake is too small for the midship-
men and asks that she be transferred to
the training station at Newport and that
| another vessel be built for the cadets TO
accommodate at least SEQ besides her
crew. Touching the naval academy, it is
earnestly urged that no physical dis
| qualifica tions shall be waived hereafter,
as there has been marked deterioration
in the past ten years in the physical con-
dition--of the graduating cadets owing TO
their abandonment of their vigorous
wedding OUT process, which has now
fallen into disuse.
1t is also urged that the two years
supplemental course at sea shall be
abandoned. Finally strong conmenda-
ton IS given to the superintendents re-
commendatio1 that the age limit CT
cadets on admission shall be between the
ages of Is and Is, and that the course
at the academy shall be four years.
Two additional training ships for ap-
prentices at Newport are said to be
urgently needed. The report urges con-
tinued training of the men in marksman-
ship.
! Congress is urged 70 authorize an ex
penditure of $600.0 600 for seaman's quarters
at New York and League Island, 500 900
to be made Immediately available a
mild reproof uron congress is contained
in the closing paragraph of the report,
which calls attention to the discourse ging
condition in which the distinguished Of
ficers of the navy have been left, by not
receiving any formal recognition for their
heroic services during the war with
Spain.
Exnorts show an TDcraaSe