The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1901-12-06

get practice, snip aduOlluSs SQuaUAOn
tactics. and genral discipline Our
ships must be assembled in ~squadrons
actively cruising AVA from haroors
and never long at anchor. The result
ing wear upon engines and hulls must
be endured; a 5attleship worn out IN
long training OF officers and men Is Wen
paid for by the results, while, on the
other a no matter in how exceiieht
condition, IT Is useless IL the crew De
not expert
We now have seventeen battleshlps
appropriated Tor, Of which nine are
completed and have been commissioned
for actual service. The remaining
eight will be ready in from two to TOUR
years, but il will take at least that time
TO recruit and train the men to hspt
them. 1t is OF vast concern thai We
nave trained crews ready for the yes
sells by the time they are commissioned.
Good ships and good guns are Simply
good and the best weapon are
useless save in the hands Of men VINO
know how to fight with them. The
men must be trained and drilled under
a thorough and well-planned system or
progressive instruction, while the re-
cruiting must be carried on with stu
greater vigor. Every effort must De
made to exalt the main function OF the
offfcer-the command of men. The Lead
ing graduates of the naval academy
SllOulu Dc dSSlSHGu W lle tOlIlDGNNAN
branches, the line and marines.
Many of the essentials of success are
already recognized by the general
board, which, as the central office OF q
growing staff, is moving steadily to-
ward a proper war efficiency and a pro-
per efficiency of the whole navy, under
the secretary. This general board. by
fostering the creation of a general staff,
is providing for the official and then the
general recognition of our altered con-
tons as a nation and of the true mean
ing of a great war fleet which mean
ingi is. first, the best men, and, second.
h best ships.
State Naval Militia and National Naval
Reserves
The naval MALTA forces are state or
ganiZationS, n are trained for coast
service, and in event of war the will
constitute the inner line of defense.
| They should receive hearty encourage
ment from the general government.
But in addition we should at once
! provide for a national naval reserve,
organized and trained under the direc-
ton of the navy department, and sub
| ject to the call Of the chief executive
whenever war becomes imminent. 1t
! should be a real auxiliary to the naval
seagoing peace establishment, and Of
/ fer material to be drawn on at once
Il ~ - OiApo III NAiAAN VI YEA
1t should be composed of graduates Of
4 the naval academy, graduates of the
a naval militia, officers and crews of
coast line steamers, longshore Schoon-
ers, fishing vessels, and steam yachts,
together with the coast population
4 about such centerS as life saving sta
lions and lighthouses.
The American people must either
uild n maintain an adequate nav
Il or else make up their minds definitely
Il to accept a secondary position in inter-
national affairs, not merely in political
but in commercial, matters. 1t has
y been we'll said hat there is no surer
i way of counting national disaster than
to be 'opulent, aggressive, and un-
armed"
Our Army
1t is not necessary to increase our
l army beyond it's present size at this
2 time. But it is necessary to keep it at
$ the highest point of efficiency. The in
q dividual units who as officers and en-
e listed men compose this army, are, we
e have good reason to believe, at least as
q efficient as those of any other army ir
the entire world. 1t is our duty to sec
\ that their training is of q kind to insure
u the highest possible expression of pow
q er to these units when acting in combi
nation.
! The conditions of modern war ar.
such as to make an infinitely heaviel
demand than ever before upon the in
dividual character and capacity of tn,
officer and the enlisted man, and t,
make it far more difficult for men to &C
i together with effect. At present tn
fighting must be done in extended or
der, which means that each mar mus
act for himself and at the same tim
act in combination with others witt
whom he is no longer in the old-fash
nl s~--1 ~
such conditions a few men of the high
est excellence are worth more thai
many men without the special ski
which is only found as the result O
e special training applied to men of e X
ceptional physique and morale. Blu
n nowadays the most valuable fightini
man and the most difficult to perfect j
the rifieman who is also a skillful an
daring rider.
The proportion of our cavalry regi
mentS 4 wisely been increased. TIL
American cavalryman. trained to ma
and fight with equal facilit
on foot and on horseback, is the bes
type of soldier for general purpose
now to be found in the world. TIL
ideal cavalryman of the present day j
a man who can fight on foot as effect
lively as the best infantryman, and VIII
is in addition unsurpassed in the car
and management Of his horse and. in hi
ability to fight on horseback.
A general staff should be created. A
for the present staff and supply de
partments, they should be filled by dc
tails from the line, the men so detaile
returning after a while to their lin
duties. 1t is very undesirable to hav
the senior grades of the army com
posed of men who have come to fill tn
{ positions by the mere fact OF seniorit!
A system should be adopted by whic
there shall be an elimination grade b
grade Of those who seem unfit to rer
der the best service in the next grad,
y Justice to the veterans of the civil wa
, who are still in the army would seer
to require that in the matter of retire
ments they be given by law the sam
privileges accorded to their comrade
in the navy.
y The process of elimination of the leas
81 fit should be conducted in a mann
that would render it practically impos
sibly to apply political or social pres
sure on behalf of any candidate, so thu
each man may be adjudged purely o
'I his own merits. Pressure for the pre-
motion of civil officials for politic;