The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1902-12-03

be the most efficient Of its kind as regards
both material and personnel that is to be
attention to the need Of providing for the
manning Of the ships. Serious trouble
threatens us if We r4.n"t 30 better than
we are now doing as regards securing the
services Of a Su:f"i"ni Humber OF the high
est type Of SGiH2r:n'I. ~ sea mechanics.
The veteran se?ntn Of u"r Warships are
Of as high o type as Ctn b." found in any
navy which rides tIc T"ItTs OF the world.
luton, in readiness. III thorough knowl-
edge of their profession. They deserve ev-
cry consideration that can b." shown them.
But there are not eH@"Gh Of them. 1t is
no more possible to ilnnr.viSc Il crew than
It Is possible to ilnnTovi:e Il warship. To
build the finest ship, with the deadliest
battery, and to ScEd it atl> ct with a raw
crew, no matter how brave they were in
d~ividually. would be t" in~ur" disaster II a
foe Of average capacity were cnc"untered:
Neither ships nor men can be improvised
when war has begun.
We need a thousand additional officers
H. order to properly man the ships now
provided for and under construction. The
classes at the naval school at Annapolis
time that we thus add the officers where
we need them. we should facilitate the re-
tirenlent 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 I'M
skilled men necessarily put aboard the
new vessels as they have been commits
stoned has thrown upon our officers, and
especially on the lieutenarts and Junior
grades, unusual labor and fatigue n has
gravely strained their powers of endur-
ance. Nor is there sign Of any immediate
letup in this strain. 1t must continue for
some time longer until more officers are
graduated from Annapolis and until the
recruits become trained and sktllful IN
their duties. In these difficulties incident
upon the development Of our war fleet the
conduct Of all our officers mas been cred
table to the service, and the lieutenants
and junior grades in particular have dis
played an ability and a steadfast cheer
fulness which ~entitle them to the ungrudging
and fatigues to which they are Of necessity sub
iected.
There is not q 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 main.
tain such a navy would invite trouble, and If
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 a nation as ours, and past expert
ence has shown that such faulty in refusing to
recognize or prepare for any crisis in advance IS
usually succeeded by q mad panic OF hysterlcal
fear once the crisis has actually arrived.
The striking increase in the revenues OF the
postofice 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
1921, s4s, 047. %, an increase Of Sl0,216 ,s53.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 1850
amounted to but 8 ,51S,067.
Rural free delivery service is no longer In the
experimental stage. 1t has become a 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 postof1ce receipts IN
the rural districts of the country is about 2 per
cent. We are now able, by actual results, to
show that where rural free delivery service has
been established to such an extent as to enable
US to make comparisons the yearly increase has
been upward OF 10 per cent.
On Nov. l, 1902, 1850 rural free delivery
routes had been established and were in operation,
covering about one-third Of the territory OF the
Uaited States available for rural free delivery
service. There are now awaiting the action OF
the department petitions and applications for the
establishment of l0,74s additional routes; This
shows conclusively the want which the establish
ment Of the service has met and the need Of fur
Their extending it as rapidly as possible; 1t is
justified both by the financial results and by the
practical benefits to our rural populations; 1t
brings the men who live on the soil into close
relations with the active business world; it keeps
the farmer in daily touch with the markets; it IS
a potential educational force; it enhances the
d1u Va ldAl1 HhOPNAhJt
pleasanter and less isolated, and will do much to
check the undesirable current from country to
city.
liberal appropriations for the continuance on the
service already established and for 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.
A good beginning therein has been made. NOW
that this policy. OF national irrigation mas neen
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 gaIae and the wild creatures gener-
ally on the forest reserves. The s~enseiess slaugh-
ter of game, which can by ~judicious protection De
permanently preserved on our national reserves
for the people as a whole. should be stopped AZ
once. It Is, for instance, a serious count against
our national good sense to permit the presen!
practice Of butcheling of such a stately ana
beautiful creature as the elk for its antIers 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 PUBIC
lands should be held rigidly for the homebullder,
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 when they were
enacted as to permit the acquisition OF large
areas of the public domain for other than actual
settlers and the consequent prevention Of settle.
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
Tic lands in the west which are suitable chiefly or
only for grazing. The sound and steady develop
nent Of the west depends upon the building up
Of homes therein. Much OF our prosperity as a
nation has been due to the operation OF the home
stead law. On tie other hand, we should recog-
nize the fact that in the grazing region the man
who corresponds to the homesteader may be un-
able to settle permanently if only allowed to use
the same amount Of pasture land that his brother,
the homesteader, is allowed to use of arabic land,
One hundred and sixty acres Of fairly rich and!
well watered soil or a much smaller amount OF
irrigated land may keep a family IN plenty "nere.
as no one could get a living from lou acres OF
dry pasture land capable Of supporting at the
outside only one head Of cattle to every ten acres.
In the past great tracts Of the public domain
have been fenced in by persons having no nILs
thereto, in direct defiance OF the law foro1dding
the maintenance or construction OF any Such IN
lawful Enclosure of public land. For various
reasons there has been little interference with
such Enclosures in the past, but ample notlce mas
low been given the tresFaSsers, and all the re,
sources at the command OF the government Will
hereafter be used to put a stop to such trespasslng.
In view of the capital impOr' ance OF these mat
tiers l commend them to the earnest consideration
OF the congress, and II the congress nnas ulln-
Guilty in dealing with them from lack OF thorough
knowledge OF the subject | rccommcnd that pro-
vision be made for a commission OF experts .spe"
cially to investigate and report upon the com
plicated questions involved.
| especially urge upon the congress the need o.
wise legislation for Alaska. 1t is not to our
credit as a nation that Alaska, which has been
ours for thirty-fve years, should still have as poo;
q system Of laws as is the case. No country has
a more valuable possession in mineral wealtn, in
fisheries, furs, forests and also in land available
for certain kinds Of farming and stock growing.
1t is a territory of great size and varied re-
sources, we'll fitted 10 support a large permanent
population. Alaska needs a good land law and
such provisions for horusieads and prescriptions
as will encourage permanent settlement. We