The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1901-12-13
FOR NAVY.
The Work of UpbuiIdlng 1t Shouts
Continue.

The work Of upbuilding the navy must
be continued. No one point Of our policy
is more important to the honor, welfare
and peace Of our nation. We have inter-
national duties no less han international
rights. Even If our flag were hauled down
in the Philippines and Porto Rico. even
canal, we should need 4 navy Of adequate
size, or else abandon the idea that our
nation is among those whose sons go
down to the sea in ships. Unless our
is always carried in foreign
bottoms, we must have craft to protect it.
AS the American people have no thought
lave entered, and as the sthmian canal is
fast becoming one of the matters the
whole people are demanding our navy
should be kept In the highest state Of
efficiency. So far from being in any way
a provocation to war, a navy is tho best
guaranty against war. The cost of build
ing and maintaining such a navy repre-
sents the lightest premium for insuring
peace.
Probably no other nation is so anxious
for peace as we. There is not a single
aggressiveness on our part. All we want
is to secure the respect for our rights
which we are eager and anxious to ex-
tend, and to guarantee safety Of the
Dur people abide by the Monroe doc
trine as the sure means of peace in the
western hemisphere. The navy offers us
the only means of insistence upon the
Monroe doctrines 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 weak
ling.
1t is not possible to improvise a navy
after war breaks out. Ships must be built
and men trained in advance: Some aux
1l1ary vessels can be turned into make
shifts and a proportion of raw men can
be mixed with the trained, but fighting
force will be found almost exclusively In
the wal ships regularly built and In the
officers and men who through, years Of
faithful performance handle their formid-
able weapons with efficiency.
Beginning OF Present Navy.
Our present navy was begun in 1882. At
lection of antiquated wooden ships. as
out of place as the galleys of Alcibiades
and Hamilcar, or as the Ships Of Tronnp
and Blake. Nor did we have men fit to
handle a modern man-of-War. Under wise
legislation and the succession of patri-
otto secretaries of the navy Of both polit-
ical parties ships equal to any in the
world were added, and these ships were
exercised at sea singly and in ~squadrons
until the men We're able to get the best
possible service. The short war with
cause Of the Infinitely greater prepared
ness Of our navy. congressman who voted
years in advance the money for the ships,
guns, armor plate: department officials,
business men and wage workers who fur
n1Shed what congress had authorized; the
secretaries of the navy, the officers who,
on actual sea service. trained crews when
there was no war in sight-all are entitled
to a full share in the glory of Manila and
Santiago. If we fail to show forethought
and preparation now, there may come a
time When disaster will befall us instead
of triumph.
There should be no cessation in COM
p!eting our navy. So far ingenuity has
great war craft whose hammering CUR
beat out the mastery Of the high seas. 1t
is unsafe not to provide this year for sew
eral additional battleships and heavy ar
mored cruisers, with auxiliary and lighter
craft In proportion; for the exact num-
Der and character I refer to the report
of the secretary of the navy. But we
fcers and men,. To provide battleships
and cruisers and then lay them up, with
the expectation Of leaving them un.
war, would be worse than folly, a crime
against the nation.
To send any war ship against a COM
been, trained by years of actual sea serv-
ice, Including incessant gunnery practice,
would be to invite not merely disaster, but
humiliation; Four thousand additional
seaInen and one thousand additional ma
rines should be provided, and an increase
In the officers should lie provided by a
large addition to classes at Annapolis:
should be abolished; the title Of "midship-
man." full of historic association, should
be restored. 49,
inorou9h Training Needed
The big vessels should be manoeuvred In
~squadrons 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 name as will best fit the latter
to meet emergencies, Above all. gun
navy should equal in efficiency any in
the world: This is possible only with
highly drilled crews and officers, and this
in turn i~mperatively demands continuous
and progressive instruction in target prac-
ttce, ship handling, squadron tactics and
general discipline. Our ships must be as
sembled in squadrons actively cruising
away from harbors n never long at an
Choir. The wear upon engines and hulls
must be endured; a ship worn out in train
ing officers and men is we'll paid for.
Every effort must be made to exalt the
main function of the ofncer-the COM
nland of men,. The leading graduates OF
the naval academy should be assigned %
the cambatant branches, the line and ma
rines. s
Many Of the essentials of success are al.
ready recognized by the general board.