The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1902-12-10

osa YES snoula De oenned and that N place
OF our present obsolete laws a practical
ana efncient system should be adopted
FroNision should be made 10 enable the
secretary OF war to keep cavalry and ar
ul,ery horSeS worn out in long perform
ence or duty. Such horses fetch but 8
tribe when sosd. and rather than turn
snem out 70 TIE 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
painlessly TO death.
For the first time in our history naval
manSuEerS on large scale are being held
under the immediate command of the adj
mlraf or the navy. Constantly increasing
attention Is being paid 10 the gunnery of
me navy. but II is yet far from what il
should be- / earnestly urge that the In
crease asked for by the secretary of the
navy In. the appropriation for improving
the Workmanship be granted. In battle
the only shots that count are the shots
that hit III is necessary to provide ample
FUNDS for practice with the great guns in
time or peace These funds must provide
not only for the purchase of projectileS,
but Tor allowances for prizes to encour-
age the gun crews. and especially the gun
pointers, and for perfecting an intelligent
system under which alone 1t is possible to
get good practice.
There should be no halt in the work of
building up the navy. providing every
year additional fighting craft. We are a
very rich country. vast in extent of terri
tory and great in population country.
moreover, which has an army diminutive
indeed when compared with that of any
other first class power. We have deliber-
ateIy made our own certain foreign poli-
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 if we
have an inadequate navy then the build
ing of the canal would be merely giving
hostage to any power of superior strength.
The Monroe doctrine should be treated as
the cardinal feature of American foreign
policy, but it would be worse than idle
to assert it unless we intended to back II
up, and IL can be backed up only by a
thoroughly good navy. A good navy is
not a provocative of war. 1t is the surest
guaranty of peace.
Each individual unit of our navy should
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 If we cannot do better than
We are now doing as regards securing the
services of a sufficient number of the high
est type of Saflormen. of sea mechanics
The veteran seamen of our warships are
of as high a 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 consideration that can be shown them.
But there are not enough of them. 1t Is
no more possible to improvise a crew than
It is possible to improvise a warship. To
build the finest ship with the deadliest
battery, and to send it afloar with a raw
crew, no matter how brave they were in
dividually, would be to insure disaster If q
foe of average capacity were encountered.
Neither ships nor men can be iYpproviSed
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-
tirenent of those at the head of the list
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-
ance. Nor is there sign of any immediate
letup in this strain. 1t must continue fol
some time longer until more officers ara
graduated from Annapolis and until the
recruits become trained and skillful In
| their duties. In these difficulties incident
| upon the development of our war fleet the
| conduct of all our officers has been cred
| liable to the service, and the lieutenants
and junior grades in particular have dis
| played an ability and steadfast cheer
| fulness which ensitle them to the ungrudginl
thanks of all who realize the dsheartening trials
| jected.
| 4 There is not cloud on the horizon at present
2 Thcre seems not the slightest chance OF trouble
with a foreign power. We most earnestly hops
l that this state of things may continue and tbs
thoroughly Efficient navy-i The refusal TO main
i tain such navy woulds invite trouble, and l
| trouble came would insure disaster. Fatuous sci
! complacency or vanity shortsightedness in re
| fusing to prepare for danger is both foolish ant
| wicked in such nation ours, and past expert
| ence has shown that such faulty in refusing Z
1 recognize or prepare tor any crisis in advance i
I usually succeeded by mad panic OF hySterica
| fear once the crisis has actually arrived
| The striking increase in the revenues OF TN
postofice department shows clearly the prosperit,
| of people and the increasing activity of thu
J business of the country.
| The receipts OF the postoffce department fo
| the fiscal year ending June 80 last amounted t
Sl21 SsS 047 &c. an increase of Sl0,216 ,S5Ss7 owe
the preceding year, the largest increase known il
| the history of the postal service The magnitude
| of this increase will best appear from the fac
that the entire postal receipts for the year 1S6
amounted to but SO, 51S067.
4 Rural free delivery service is no longer in tn,
: experimental stage. II has become a fixed policy
| The results following its introduction have fnlll
! justified the congress in the large appropriation
! made for its establishment and extension. Tn
average yearly increase in postotfice receipts ii
! the rural districts OF the country is about pc
cent We are now able, by actual results Z
show that where rural free delivery service ba
t been established to such an extent as TO enable
/ US to make comparisons the yearly increase ha
! been upward of 10 per cent.
/ On Nov. /, 1902, u,650 rural free deliver!
routes had been established and were in operation
! covering about one-third of the territory Of IN
1 United states available IoT rural TeS denver
f! service. There awaiting the action Q
the department petitions and applications FOR tn
/ establishment of 1o,74S additional routes. Thu
{ shows conclusiyely the want which the establish
, ment OF the service has met and the need OF fur
! Their extending it rapidly as possible. 1t
justified both by the financial results and by tn
, practical benefits 10 our rural population; j
( brings the men who live on the soil into clos
relations with the active business world; II keep
the farmer in daily touch with the markets; II !
potential educational force; it enhances tn
/ value of farm property, makes farm life IA
pleasanter and less isolated, and VIII do much L
check the undesirable current from country Z
city.
1t is to be hoped that the congress viii max
liberal appropriations for the continuance OF tn
service already established and for its further ex
tension.
Few subjects Of more Importance have beei
taken up by the congress in recent years thar
the Inauguration of the system OF nationally aide
irrigation for the arid regions Of the lar west
A good beginning therein has been made. nov
that this policy OF national irrigation has bee,
adopted the need Of thorough and scientific tores
protection will grow rapidly than eve
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 senseiess siaugh
ter Of game which by 1udicious protection b
permanently preserved on national reserve
for the people as a whole, should be stopped .
once. 1t il, for instance, serious count ag2irs
our national good sense to permit the presen
practice OF butchering Of such stately AM
beautiful creature as the elk for its sntlers o
tusks.
So far as they are available for agriculture am
10 whatever extent they may be reclaimed undo
the national irrigation law, the remaining pUbi
lands should be held Figidly for the homebuilder
the settler who lives on his land, and Tor no ont
else In their actual use the desert land law