Albuquerque weekly citizen. (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1891-19??, 1902-12-06


the craftsmanship be granted. In battle
the only shots that count are tie shots
that hit II Is necessary to provide ample
funds FOR practice with the great guns IN
tins OF peace. These funds must provide
not only for the purchase OF projcctiles,
hut Tor allowances for prizes TO oncour
age the gun crews. and especially the gun
pointers. and for porfectlns an Intelligent
~ stem under which alone II Is possible to
get good practice
There should he no halt In tho building
up Of the navy. providing every year nd
ditional lighting craft. We are very
rich country. vast In extent Of territory
and great In population: a country, more
over which has an army dimnuiivc in
deed when compared with that OF any
other first class power. We have dollbcr-
atcly made our own certain foreign poll
Giles which demand the possession OF
first class navy. Tho istnmlan canal VIII
greatly increase the eh 'iency of our navy
n the navy Is OF sufiic Mt size. but n we
have an inadequate nav then the build
ing of the canal world bc merely giving
a hostage 10 any power Of superior
strength. The Monroe doctrine should
be treated as the cardinal feature OF Am
worse than idle to assert II unless we In
tended 20 bac:; 1t up. and It can be back
cd up only by thoroughly good navy. A
good navy is not provocative OF war
II is the surost guaranty of peace.
The Bravery OF Our Sailors.
Each individual unit of our navy should
he the most efficient of it's kind as re-
CARDS both material and personnel that Is
q, -. L., a, I
cial attention to the need of providing
FOR the manning of the ships. Serious
trouble threatens us If We cannot do bet
ter than we are now doing as regards
securing the services of a sufficient mum
Der of the highest type of sailormen. OF
sea mechanics. The veteran seamen Of
our war ships are of as high type as
can be found In any navy which rides the
waters of the world. they are unsurpass-
81 In daring. In resolution, In readiness.
In thorough knowledge of their profess
sion. They deserve every consideration
that can bc shown them. But there are
not enough of them. II is no more posi-
BILE to improvisc n crew than Il Is possible
to improvisc war ship. To build the fin
est ship, with the deadlicst battery, and
to send 1t afloat with "a raw crew. no mat
ter how brave they were individually.
would be to insure dsa ster II n foe of av-
erace capacity were encountered. Meth
or ship nor men can be improvised when
war has begun.
We need n 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
retirement OF those at the head OF the list
whose usefulness has become Impaired.
Promotion must be fostered IL the service
is to be kept efficient
We Need More Recruits.
The lamentabe scarcity OF officers, and
the large number OF recruits and OF I'M
skilled men necessarily put aboard the
new vessels ms they have been commits
| stoned. has thrown upon our officers, and
| especially on the lieutenants and junior
grades. unusual labor and fatigue and
has greatly strained their powers OF en-
durance. Nor is there sign OF any mme-
date let up in this strain. 1t must con-
tinue for some time longer. until more Of
ficers are graduated from Annapolis, and
until the recruits become trained and
SkillIul IN thclr uutles. III tnesti uiicui-
ties incident upon the development of our
war feet the conduct Of all our officers
has been creditable to the service. and
the lieutenants and junior grades In par
ticuar have displayed an ability and a
stoadfast chcerfulness which entities
them to lthc ungrudging thanks OF all who
realize die disheartening trials and fatt-
CUES to which they are of necessity sub
| jected.
There 4 not n cloud on the horizon at
present. There seems not the slightest
chance of trouble with a foreign power.
We most arnestly hope that this state OF
things mi continue; and the way to In
sure it's hntinuance is to provide for a
thoroughly efficient navy. The refusal TO
maintain such n navy would invite trou-
hle, and II trouble came would insure d.
saster Fatrous self-comrlacency or van
ity. or short sightedness in refusing TO
prepare for danger, Is both foolish and
wicked In such nation az ours: our past
experience has shown that such faulty 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.
Postoffice Department.
The striking increase In the revenues
Of the postojcc department shows clearly
the prosperity OF our people and the In.
creasing activity OF the business OF the
country.
The receipts OF the postofiice depart
ment for the fiscal year ending June y
last amounted to 1921 .sis. oi7.26 an In.
crease OF $l0,2le,s5S over the preceding
year. the largest increase known In tn,
history Of the postal service. The magn.
tude OF this Increase will best appear
from the fact that the entire postal re
ceipts for the year amounted to but S..
5ls.06T
Rural free delivery service Is no Longer
In the experimental stage; It has become
a fixed policy. The results following ia
introduction have fully justified the con
gross In the large appropriations mad'
for its establishment and extension. Thu