The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1901-12-04

from aggressiveness on our part. All we
want is peace; and toward this end we
wish to be able to secure the same re-
spect for our rights from others Which
we are eager and anxious TO extend 10
their rights in return, to insure fair treat
ment to us commercially, ana to guaran-
tee the safety of the American people.
Our people intend to abide by the Mon
roe Doctrine and to insist upon it as the
one sure means of securing the peace
of the Western Hemisphere. The Navy
offers us the only means of making our
insistence upon the Monroe Doctrine any
thing but a subject of derision to what
ever nation chooses to disregard it. We
desire the peace which comes as of right
to the lust man armed; not the peace
granted on terms of ignominy TO the
craven and the weakingS
1t is not possible to improvSe a navy
after war breaks out. The SHIPS must be
built and the men trained long in adj
vance. Some auxiliary vessels can be
turned into makeshfts which will do in
default Of any better for the minor work,
and a proportion of raw men CAN be
mixed with the highly trained, their
shortcomings being made good by the skill
of their fellows; but the efficient fight
ing force of the Navy when pitted against
al equal opponent will be found almost
exclusively in the war ships that have
been regularly built and in the officers
ard men who through years of faithful
performance Of sea duty have been
trained to handle their formidable but
complex and delicate weapons with the
highest efficiency. In the late war with
Spain the ships that dealt the decisive
blows at Manila and Santiago had been
launched from two to fourteen years, and
they were able to do as they did because
the men in the coming towers, the gun
turrets, and the engine rooms had
through long years of practice at sea
learned how to do their duty.
Our present Navy was begun in 1882.
At that period our Navy consisted of a
collection CT antiquated wooden ships,
already almost as out of place against
modern vessels as the galleys of Alci-
blades and Hamilcar-certainly as the
ships of Tromp and Blake. Nor at that
time did we have men fit to handle a
modern man. war. Under the wise leg
islation of the Congress and the success
full administration of succession of pa
triotic Secretaries CT the Navy, belong
upbuilding the Navy went on, and ships
equal to any in the world of their kind
were continually added and what was
even more important, these ships were
exercised at sea singly and in squadrons
until the men aboard them were able to
get the best possible service out of them.
The result was seen in the short war
with Spain, which was decided with such
- ,..,,o .tOlxy tnn
preparedness of our Navy than of the
Spanish Navy
While awarding the fullest honor to the
men who actually commanded and manned
the ships which destroyed the Spanish
sea forces in the Philippines and in Cuba,
we must not forget that an equal need
of praise belongs to those without whom
neither blow could have been struck. The
Congressman who voted years in advance
the money to lay down the ships, to
build the guns, to buy the armor- plate;
the Department officials and the bust
ness men and wage workers who furn-
ished what the Congress had authorized;
the Secretaries of the Navy who asked
for and expended the appropriations; and
finally the officers who, in fair weather
and foul, on actual sea service, trained
and disciplined the crews of the ships
when there was no war in sight-all are
entitled to a full share in the glory OF
Manila and Santiago, and the respect &C
corded by every true American to those
who wrought such signal triumph for our
country. 1t was forethought and prepa-
ration which secured us the overwhelm-
ing triumph of 1898. If we fail to show
forethought and preparation now, there
may come time when disaster will be-
fall us instead of triumph; and should
this come, the fault will rest primarily,
not upon those whom the accident OIL
events puts in supreme command at the
moment, but upon those who have failed
to prepare in advance.
There should be no cessation in the
work of completing our Navy. So far
ingenuity has been wholly unable to de-
wise a substitute for the great war craft
whose hammering guns beat out the mas
terry of the high seas. 1t is unsafe ana
unwise not to provide this year for sew
eral additional battle ships and heavy
armored cruisers, with auxiliary lighter
craft in proportion; for the exact num-
bers and character / refer you to the
report of the Secretary of the Navy. But
there is something we need even more
than additional ships, and this is add
tional officers and men. To provide bat
tie ships and cruisers and then lay them
up. with the expectation of leaving them
unnamed until they are needed in actual
war, would be worse than folly; it would
be a crime against the Nation
To send any war ship against a compe-
tent enemy unless those aboard 1t nave
been trained by years of actual sea SER
vice including incessant gunnery practice,
would be to invite not merely disaster,
but the bitterest shame and humiliation.
Four thousand additional seamen and one
thousand additional marines should be
provided; and an increase in the officers
should be provided by making large ad-
dition to the classes at Annapolis. There
is one small matter which should be
mentioned in connection with Annapolis.
The pretentious and unmeaning title OF
"naval cadet" should be abolished; the
title "midshipman, full of historic as
sociation, should be restored.
Even in time of peace war ship should
be used until it wears out, for only so
can il be Kept fit to respond to any emer-
gency The officers and men alike should
be kept as much as possible on blue wa
ter. for it is there only they can learn