The Farmington times. [volume] (Farmington, Mo.) 1874-1902, 1900-11-15
NERDS on THE KAyY.


statepent Is made in sae report of
Admiral crcwninshicid, chief Of the
navigation bureau, that the present
personnel of the navy would form
barely one.fourth Of the total sstae-
lishment nexesSary TO hght = FIRST
class European power. II barely sus-
feed for the Spauiah war, and no
longer can be considered, the report
says, as an effective neucleus abous
which larger establishment could he
formed In case of war.
The admiral regards the need Of
the navy for officers and men ss.most
urgent. He Esyn that the bureau can
point 90 many cases where The scrytse
is being harmsed by lsek Of ofssoern.
The naval asademE is suffering for
want Of instructors, and the present
high standard OF training can not be
maintained. Every bureau In the de-
partmcnt iE short Of ofsicers, and the
service, the report predsets, soon viii
fall behind In the struggle, FIRST for
lsaderships. and then for equality.
with the other services. The disabiii-
~ of the seaRoing corps OF officers
has greatly increased since the Span
ish war. and many of the beat officers
are being lost ~ result OF breaking
down from oSeFwork.
The admiral severely criticiEes the
ineffective effort of congress at the
last sesslon TO meet immediate needs
for officers By authorizing employ
ment of retired officers. and he de-
mands the immediate repeal OF that
net. He claims that the retired list,
intended aS q reward for faithful
service, otherwise becomes hardship
and punishment The personnei act
thus far has resulted In aHording less
officers than were on the active list
before It's passage. while In author
ixing an increase. Il failed 10 provide
the tneanS therefor; so that there are
now isi vacancies In the liEt of naval
officers which vacancies can not be the
least afforded. Therefore. IL IL recon-
tnended for the next ten yeas= that
appointments to the naval academy bo
doubled. the president and representa-
tlveR In congress appointing two it-
stead of one wherever authorized
now, and In addition senators being
given the same privilege OF appoint
ment rs representatives. Then, to
meet future needs. Il Is recommended
that whenever congress authorizes an
Increase OF vessels 90 the navy u also
provide. in the same act for an In
crease Of officers and men 20 man tho
ships. The report says that England,
which this year, lays down Is war Nes-
sells, voted an increase Of t,4e0 officers
and men TO the naval establishment
TO man the ships. while Germany,
which intends doubling her fleet In
the next 10 years. has provided In the
same programme for increasing the
personnel hy 50 officers and 1887 men
each year until the total increase
reaches 3s.ssi.
IL IL declared that II is now impos-
sible 60 man the vessels of our navy
already constructed. with the present
force, not TO mention those building
or authorized Congress iS urged 10
make any increase In the personnel
Immediately available.
The trimming system hs now prne-
ticed In the navy IL commended, and
It IL declared that by no other means
could the navy secure the sailors nee
essary to man the feet. Since the
close OF the Spanish war the depart
ment has found that the resources
heretofore depended on 10 furnish
seamen for the navy are no longer
adequate. Only 237 seamen have en-
lated for the first enlistment In the
past year, so the department has besn
obliged to rely upon and develop the
training squadron for landsmcn, and
now has Rbous ono Thousand men un-
der instruction. who, on the aye-age.
require about ak months training.
Admiral Crowninshield regards 1t as
most important commercially that we
keep always fair Representations Ola
the South Atlantic station. saying
that in no part of the world are our
yesaeis moro cordially received aud
nowhere can he traced direct bcne-
fits TO trade more clearly than ON thia
station. Az 20 north Atlantic sta
tiona. regret is expressed that the i'm
portant drills OF the squadron are
compelled 10 be often interrupted hy
attendance of vessels at local ceiebra-
tions which tend to demoralize the
efficiency of the personnel.
One chaper deals at some length
with the history Of the Asistic station
during fbe ycar, and the participation
of the navy and marine corps In the
ChineAe operations are set out IN so,ne
satnll.
In connection with a reference so
the grounding of the Oregon, Admiral
CrowninEhieid mentions the eourtesy
shown by the japanese government In
generously extending its resources ,or
-epairs 70 the ship. The repor; makes
the point that The government should
construct or acquire on the Asiatie
station dock Of tts own.