The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1902-12-04

States should be defined and that in place
of our present obsolete laws practical
and efficient system should be adopted.
Provision should be made to enable the
secretary of war to keep cavalry and ar
tillery horses worn out in long perform
ance of duty. Such horses fetch but a
trifie when sold, and rather than turn
them out to the misery awaiting them
when thus disposed of it would be better
to employ them at light work around the
posts and when necessary to put them
patnleSSly to death.
For the first time in our history naval
maneuvers on large scale are being held
miral Of the navy. Constantly increasing
attention Is being paid to the gunnery OF
the navy. but 1t is yet far from what it
crease asked for by the secretary OF the
navy In the appropriation for improving
the marksmanship be granted In battle
the only shots that count are the shots
that hit. 1t is necessary to provide ample
funds for practice with the great guns in
time OF peace. These funds must provide
not only for the purchase of projectiles.
age the gun crews. and especially the gun
pointers. and for perfecting an Intelligent
system under which alone 1t Is possible to
There should be no halt In the work OF
building up the navy. providing every
year additional fighting craft. We are
tory and great in population. a country.
moreover which has an army diminutive
indeed when compared with that Of any
other first class power. We have deliber-
ately made our own certain foreign poll
cies which demand the possession Of a
first class navy. The isthmian canal will
greatly increase the efficiency OF our navy
II the navy is of sufficient size. but II we
have an inadequate navy then the build
ing Of the canal would be merely giving a
a9 shoTa BE
the cardinal feature of American foreign
policy. but It would be worse than idle
to assert IT unless we intended to back 1t
up. and II can be backed up only by
thoroughly good navy. A good navy Is
not a provocative Of war. 1t Is the surest
guaranty Of peace.
be the most efficient Of its kind as regards
both material and personnel that is to be
found in the world. / call your special
attention TO the need of providing for the
manning of the ships. Serious trouble
threatens us II we cannot do better than
we are now doing as regards securing the
services Of a sufficient number of the high
est type of sailormen, of sea mechanics.
The veteran seamen of our warships are
OF as high type as can be found In any
navy which rides the waters of the world.
They are unsurpassed in daring. in reso-
luton. in readiness in thorough knowl-
edge of their profession. They deserve ev
cry considera ton that can be shown them.
But there are not enough Of them. 1t is
no more possible to improvise crew than
II is possible TO improvise a warship. To
build the finest ship. with the deadliest
crew, no matter how brave they were in
dividually. would be to insure disaster if
foe Of average capacity were encountered.
Neither ships nor men can be improvised
when war has begun.
We need a thousand additional officers
In order to properly man the ships now
provided for and under construction. The
classes at the naval school at Annapolis
should be greatly enlarged At the same.
time that we thus add the officers where
we need them. we should facilitate the re-
firpnpnt those
whose usefulness has become impaired.
Promotion must be fostered If the service
Is to be kept efficient.
The lamentable scarcity OF officers and
the large number of recruits and Of un-
skilled men necessarily put aboard the
new vessels as they have been commits
stoned has thrown upon our officers. and
especially on the lieutenants and Junior
grades. unusual labor and fatigue and has
gravely strained their powers Of endur-
letup in this strain. 1t must continue for
some time longer until more officers are
graduated from Annapolis and until the
their duties In these difficulties incident
upon the development of our. war feet the
conduct of all our officers has been cred1
liable to the service, and the lieutenants
and junior grades In particular have dis
played an ability and a steadfast cheer
fulnes which entitle them to the ungrudging
thanks OF all who realize the disheartsning trials
and fatig1es to which they Of necessity SUBJ
jected.
There is not cloud on the horizon at present.
There seems not the slightest chance OF trouble
with foreign power We most earnestly hope
that this state Of things may continue. and the
way to insure its continuance is to provide for a
tain such navy would invite trouble, and il
trouble came would insure disaster. Fatuous self
complacency or vanity or shortsightedness in re-
fusing to prepare for danger Is both foolish and
wicked in such nation ours, and past expert
ence has shown that such fatuity in refusing TO
recognize or prepare for any crisis in advance is
usually succeeded by a mad panic of hysterical
fear once the crisis has actually arrived.
The striking increase in the revenues Of the
postofhce department shows clearly the prosperity
Of our people and the increasing activity of the
business OF the country.
The receipts Of the postofnce department for
the fiscal year ending June 80 last amounted to
sl2l. .s4s. .o4726 increase Of slO.sie,s5s.s7 over
the preceding year, the largest increase known in
the history Of the postal service. The magnitude
Of this increase will best appear from the fact
that the entire postal receipts for the year 1860
amounted to but IS, SIS 0j7.
Rural free delivery service is longer in the
experimental stage. 1t has become fixed policy
The results following its Introduction have fully
justified the congress in the large appropriations
made for its establishment and extension. The
average yearly increase in postofhce receipts in
the rural districts Of the country is about per
cent We are now able, by actual results, 70
show that where rural free delivery service has
been established to such an extent as to enable
to make comparisons the yearly increase has
been Upward gsS OF 10 per Sss ., free delivery
routes had been established and were in operation
covering about one-third Of the territory of the
United States available for rural free delivery
service. There are now awaiting the action OF
the department petitions and applications for the
establishment OF .74S' additional routes This
shows conclusively the want which the establish
ment Of the service has met and the need OF fur
ther extending 1t as rapidly as possible. II is
justified both by the financial results and by the
practical benefits to our rural population; it
brings the men who live the soil into close
relations with the active business world; 1t keeps
the farmer in daily touch with the markets; il is
a potential educational force; 1t enhances the
value OF farm property, makes farm life far
pleasanter and less isolated. and viii do much to
check the undesirable current from country to
city =
,;,ai - aoe,r;of ~ ons for the continuance Of the
service already ests Nlshed and fof Its further ex
tension.
Few subjects Of more importance have been
taken up by the congress in recent years than
the Inauguration Of the system Of nationally aided
irrigation for the arid regions Of the far west.
good beginning therein has been made. Now
that this policy Of national irrigation has been
adopted the need Of thorough and scientific forest
protection will grow more rapidly than ever
throughout the public land states.
Legislation should be provided for the protec-
ton of the game and the wild creatures gener-
ally on the forest reserves The senseless slaugh-
ter of game which can by judicious protection be
permanently preserved on our national reserves
for the people as a whole. should be stopped at
once. 1t Is, for instance, serious count against
our national good sense 10 permit the present
practice Of butchering of such stately and
beautiful creature as the elk for its antlers or
tusks
So far as they are available for agriculture and
to whatever extent they may be reclaimed under
the national irrigation law, the remaining public
lands should be held rigidly for the homebuilder.
the settler who lives on his land, and for no one
else. In their actual use the desert land law,
the timber and stone law and the Communication
clause OF the homestead law have been so per-
verted from the intention with which they
enacted as to permit the acquisition OF large
areas Of the public domain for other than actual
ment. Moreover, the approaching exhaustion of
the public ranges has Of late led to much dis
cussion as to the best manner Of using these pub
lie lands in the west which suitable chiefly or
only for grazing. The sound and steady develop
ment OF the west depends upon the building up