The age-herald., 1901-12-04

to our growing needs So far from being in any way proyocation to war, an ade- quate and highly trained navy Is the best guaranty against war. the cheap est and most effective peace insurance The cost of building and maintaining such navy represents the very lightest pre- mium for insuring peace which this na- tion can possibly pay.
 Probably no other great nation in the world is so anxious for peace as we are There is not a single civilized power which has anything whatever to fear 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 to their rights in return. to insure fair treat ment to us commercially, and to giaran- tee the safety of the American people
 Our people intend to abide by the Mon roe doctrine and to insist upon 1t as the one sure means of securing the peace of the Western Hemisphere. The navy of fers us the only means of making our insistence upon the Monroe doctrine any thing but subject of derision to what ever nation chooses to disregard 1t. We desire the peace which comes as of right to the just man armed; not the peace granted on terms of ignominy to the craven and the weakling.
 It is not possible to improvise a navy after war breaks out. The ships must be built and the men trained long in ad- vance. Some auxiliary vessels can be turned into makeshifts which will do in default of any better for the minor work. and proportion of raw men can be mixed with the highly trained their short comings being made good by the skill of their fellows; but the efficient fighting force of the navy when pitted against an equal opponent will be found almost exclusively in the war ships that have been regularly built and in the officers and men who through years of faithful performance of sea duty have been trained to handle their formidable but com plex 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 an tiquated wooden ships, already almost as out of place against modern war yes SSAS aS lhS 6diicyo OA <tiClDiducS dllQ Hamilcar-certainly as the ships of Tromp and Blake. Nor at that time did we have men fit to handle a modern man-of-wer. Under the wise legislation of the Congress and the successful ad- ministraton of succession of patriotic Secretaries of the Navy, belonging to both political parties. the work of up- building 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 rapidity because of the infinitely greater preparedness of our navy than the Span- ish 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 business men and wage workers who furnished what the Con- gress had authorized; the Secretaries of the Navy who asked for and expended the appropriations; and finally the off, cers 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 full share in the glory of Manila and San tiago, and the respect accorded by every true American to those who wrought
 such signal triumph for our country. It was forethought and preparation which secured us the overwhelming tri-
 umph of 1898. If we fail to show fore thought and preparation now, there may come time when disaster will befall
 us instead of triumph; and should this time come, the fault will rest primarily not upon those whom the accident of 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 in- genuity has been wholly unable to devise
 a substitute for 'the great war craft
 whose hammernig guns beat out the mas tery of the high seas. It is unsafe and unwise not to provide this year for sev- erai additional battleshipss and heavy ar mored cruisers with auxiliary and lighter craft In proportion: for the exact num- bers and character I refer you to the re- port of the Secretary of the Navy, But there is som ething we need even more
 than additional ships, and this is addi-
 tional officers and men. To provide bat tleshfps and cruisers and then lay them
 up, with the expectation of leaving them
 unnamed until they are needed in ac- tual war. would be worse than folly; it would be crime against the nation. To send any war ship against a com petent enemy unless those aboard 1t have been trained by years of actual sea ser vice, including incessant gunnery prac- tice, would be to invite not merely dis aster. but the bitterest shame and hu- initiation. Four thousand additional sea- men and one thousand additional marines should be provided and an increase in the officers should be provided by making large addition to the classes at An napolis. There is one small matter which should be m entioned in connection with Annapolis. The pretentious and un- meaning title of naval cadet should be abolished the title of ''midshipman," full of historic association should be re- stored
 Even in time of peace a war ship should be used until it wears out. for only so can it be kept to respond to any emer- gency. The officers and men alike should be kept as much as possible on blue water, for it is there only they can learn their duties as they should be learned. The big vessels should be maneuvered in squadrans containing not merely battle ships, but the necessary proportion of cruisers and scouts. The torpedo boats should be handled by the younger officers In such manner as will best fit the lat fn fnI Ixa ,at