The Kinsley graphic. [volume] (Kinsley, Kan.) 1890-1940, 1902-12-05
NEEDS OF THE NAVY.
More Ships and Men Needed to Keep
Pace with the Times.

| For the first time in our history naval
maneuvers on large scale are being held
attention is being paid to the gunnery Of
should be- / earnest lyIurge that the the m a.
crease asked for by~ the secretary OF the
an she Ri for
the only shots that count are the shots that
hit; It is necessary to provide ample
| time of peace. These FUNDS must provide
not only for the purchase of projectfles but
gun crews. and especially the gun pointers,
| and for perfecting an Intelligent system
under which alone it is possible to get gooe
There should be no halt in the work of
ouiIi!diEg up the navy, providing every year
rich country, vast in extent of territory ana
great In population; country, moreover.
compared with that Of any other first-class
| power. We have deliberately made our
| the possession Of a first-ciass navy. The
efficiency of our navy if the navy is Of SUI
| hcient size; but If we have an inadequate
| navy, then the building of the canal would
be merely giving a hostage to any power
should be treated as the cardinal feat ure of
American foreign policy; but it would be
worse than idle to assert it unless we in
tended to back 1t up, and 1t can be backed
! up only by a thoroughly good navy. A good
navy Is not provocative of war. 1t is the
Each individual unit of our navy should
| be the most efficient of its kind as regards
! found in the world 1 cali your Special at
1ea1lon to the tb need OF providing for the
threatens u US if we Cannot do Better o tbae
1 we are now doing as regards securing the
services of a sufficient number OF the high
st type of sailormen. of sea mechanics.
The veteran seamen of our warships are
of as high type as can be found in any
daring
ton In readiness. in thorough knowledge
Of their profession They deserve every
But there are not enough of them. 1t is
no more possible to improvise a crew than
build the finest ship. with the ISefd deadues 9
battery. and to send It afioat with raw
dividuaily. would be to insure disaster te INF if
afoe of average capacity were encountered
Neither ships nor men can be improvised
We need thousand additional officers in
order to properly man the ships. now pro-
classes at the naval school at Annapolis
should be greatly enlarged. At the same
we need them, we should faciIitate the hnr ere
whose usefulness has become impaired.
ice is to be kept efficient.
There is not cloud on the horizon at
present There seems not the slightest
chance of trouble with a 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 Thoroughly efficient navy. The refusal
to maintain such a navy would invite
trouble, and if trouble came would insure
disaster. Fatuous self-complacency or
vanity, or short-sightedness in refusing
wicked in such a nation mas as ours ours; and and
past experience has shown that such
faulty in refusing to recognize or pre-
succeeded by a mad panic of hysterical
fear once the crisis has actually arrived.
Rural Free Delivery.
The striking increase in the revenues
of the post office department shows clear.
iy the prosperity of our people and the
increasing activity of the business of the
The receipts of the post Office depart
I ment for the nscal al, year ending June 80
of $10216,S53S1 over the preceding year.
the largest increase known in the history
this viii best appear from the 6e
fact that the entire postal receipts for
the year 1860 amounted to but ss.51s. OS7.
Rural free delivery service is no longer
in the experimental stage; it has become
fixed policy. The results following it's
gress in the large appropriations made
for its establishment and extension The
average yearly increase in post office re-
try is about two per cent. We are now
able. by actual results. to show that
been established to such an extent as to
enable US to make comparisons the yearly
increase has been upward of ten per
On November l., 1902. 1.65O rural 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.
department. petitions and applications for
the establishment of 1918 additional
Si.b This the want
has met and the need of further extend
ing It as rapidly as possible. It is just!-
the practical benefits to our rural pop
ulation: it brings the men who live on
the the soil collin. into close relations with the &C
in daily touch with the markets: II is a !
potential educational force; it enhances
life far pleasanter and less isolated. and |
will do much to check the undesirable |
It is to be hoped that the congress VIII
make liberal appropriations for the con- |
ished and for its further extension.
Progress of Irrigation.
Few subjects of more Importance have !
been taken up by the congress in recent |
tenn of nationally aided Irrigation for the !
arid regions of the far west. A good be- |
ginning therein has been made. Now |
and scientific forest protection will grow
public-land states.
So far thew are available for agri- |
culture, anu TO Whatever extent Iney |
may be reclaimed under the national ir- |
rigatfon law, the remaining public lands |
should be held rigidly for the home |
builder. 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 perverted |
from the intention with which thev were
enacted as to permit the acquisition of |
large areas of the public domain for 9TH |
er than actual settlers and the conse-
ouent prevention of settlement. More
over the approaching exhaustion of the
public ranges has of late led to m-ch
discussion as TO the best manner of using
these public lands in the west which aie
suitable chiefly or only for grazing. TIE
sound and steady development OF the
west depends upon the buildir~ w
homes therein. Much of our prosperity |
as a nation has been due to the opera |
ton of the homestead law. On the other