The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-12-04

fighting force of the navy when pitted
i against an equal opponent viii be found
almost exclusively in the warshiPS that
ficers and 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 de-
/ eisive blows at Mainland Santiago had
/ been launched from two to fourteen years,
i and they were able to do as they did be-
| cause the men in the coming towers, the
gun turrets and the> engine rooms had
| through long years of practice at sea
i learned how to do tlieir-duty.
There should be no cessation in the
! work of completing our navy. So far in
/ genuity has been wholly unable to deyase
a substitute for the great war craft
whose hammering guns beat out the mas
/ terry of the high seas. 1t is unsafe and
| unwise not to provide this year for sew
eral additional battleships and heavy
/ armored cruisers, with auxiliary and
lighter craft in proportion. For the ex-
act numbers and character I 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 additional officers and men. To pro-
1 vide battleShips and cruisers and then
! lay them up, with the expectation of leav-
/ ing them unnamed until they are need
ed in actual war, would be worse than
folly. 1t would be a crime against the
nation
1t is not necessary to increase our army
/ beyond its present size at this time, but
/ it is necessary to keep it at the highest
point of efficiency. The individual units
who as officers and enlisted men compose
| tbs army are, we have good reason to
! believe, at least as efficient as those 81
any other army in the entire world 1t
1 is our duty to see tina their training Is
| of kind to insure the highest possible
expression of power to these units when
| acting in combination.
/ A general staff should be created. As
1 for the present staff and supply depart
/ ments, they should be filed by details
from the line, the men so detailed re-
| turning after awhile to their line duties
| 1t is very undesirable to have the senior
grades of the army composed OF men
| who have come to fill the positions by
the mere fact of seniority. A system
should be adopted by which there shall
be an elimination grade by grade Of those
who seem unfit to render the best serV-
/ ice in the next grade. Justice to the vet
Grams of the Civil war who are still IN
| the army would seem to require that in
| the matter of retireinents they be given
/ by law the same privileges accorded to
| their comrades in the navy.
/ Action should be taken in reference to
the militia and to the raising. of voiun-
| teer forces. Our militia law IS obsolete
| and worthless. The organization and ar
mament of the national guard of the sew
eral states, which are treated as militia
/ in the appropriations by the congress,
should be made identical with those pro-
vided for the regular forces. The obii-
cations and duties of the guard In time
/ of war should be carefully defined and a
| system established by law under which
the method of procedure of raising vol
| unteer forces should be prescribed in adj
| vance. 1t is utterly impossible in the ex-
| element and haste of impending war to
! do this satisfactorily If the arrangements
! have not been made long beforehand
Provision should be made for utilizing In
| the first volunteer organizations called
| out the training of those citizens who
| have already had experience under arms,
/ and especially for the selection in adj
may be raised; for careful selection. of
the kind necessary Is impossible after
1 the outbreak OF war.
THE MERIT SYSTEM.
/ The merit system of making appoint-
i ments is IN It's S->-a1ce as assAocratie
and American as the commtM school
system itself. It simply means that in
clerical and other positions where the
duties are entirely non-political all ap-
pieants should have fair field and no
is able to show them by practical test.
Written competitive examinations offer
the only available means in many cases
for applying this system. In other cases.
of registration undoubtedly can be widely
extended. There are. of course, places
i where the written competitive eXamlna-
tion cannot be applied and others where
it offers by no means an ideal solution,
but where under existing political condl-
tons it is, though an imperfect means,
yet the best present means or getting
satisfactory results.
i wherever the conditions have permit
!, ted the application of the merit system
in it's fullest and widest sense, the gain
The navy yards and postal service illus-
trate probably better than any other
branches Of the government the great
gain in economy. efficiency and honesty
| 10 ha pfo ont Of tbid 1rinpinIp
Il 1 recommend the passage of law
i which will extend the classified service
to the District Of Columbia, or Will at
least enable the president thus to extend
it, In my Judgment all laws providing
for the temporary employment of clerks
should hereafter contain provision that
they be selected under the civil service
law.
1t is important to have this system OBJ
tain at home, but it is even more impor-
tant to have it applied rigidly In our in;
be filled in the Philippines or Porto Rico
with any regard to the mans partisan
Affiliations or services, with any regard
to the political, social or personal 1nflu-
4 ence which he may have at his command.
In short, heed should be paid to abso-
lutely nothing save the mans own char
acter and capacity and the needs of the
service.
THE CONSULAR SERVICE.
The consular service is now organized
under the provisions of law passed IN
1856, which Is entirely inadequate to ex-
listing conditions. The interest shown by
so many commercial bodies throughout
the country in the reorganization of the
service is heartily commended to your
attention Several bills providing for a
new consular service have in recent
years been submitted to the congress.
4 They are based upon the just principle
that appointments to the service should
be maze only after a practical test of the
applicants fitness; that promotions
should ge governed by trustworthiness.
adaptability and zeal in the performance
of duty, and that the tenure of office
should be unaffected by partisan consid-
erations.
In my judgment the time has arrived
= when we should definitely make UP our
minds to recognize the Indian as an in
dividual and not as member Of a tribe.
The general allotment act is mighty
pulverizing engine to break up the tribal
mass. 1t acts directly upon the family
and the Individual. Under it's provisions
some 1000 Indians have already become
citizens of the United States We should