The Tupelo journal., 1902-12-05

lac AhO AZ IbNol CAlClCLGy III TIE HdllOIdl
guard. which has already passed the house,
should receive prompt attention and ac-
ton. 1t is OF great importance that the re-
and volunteer forces Of the United States
should be defined, and that in place of our
present obsolete laws a practical and ef-
ncaent system should be adopted.
NEEDS Of THE NAVY.
More Ships and Men Needed to Keep
Pace with the Times.
For the first time in our history naval
m~aneuVer on a large scale are being held
under the immediate command of the ad-
miral of the navy. Constantly increasing
the navy. but it is yet far from what it
should be. l earnestly urge that the in
crease asked for by the secretary of the
the marksmanship be granted. In battle
the only shots that count are the shots that
nut; IT is necessary to, provide ample
time of peace. These funds must provide
not only for the purchase of projectiles. but
lor allowances for prizes to encourage the
gun crews. and especially the gun pointers,
and for perfecting an Intelligent system
under which alone it is possible to get good
practice.
building up the navy. providing every year
additional fighting craft. We are a very
rich country. vast in extent of territory and
gE Ieat IN population; a country. moreover.
~ lt1 " {
compared with that of my other first-class
power. We have deliberately made our
own certain foreign policies which demand
the possession Of a hrst-class navy. The
isthmian canal will greatly increase the
efficiency of our navy If the navy is of SUI
fcient size; but if we have an inadequate
navy, then the building of the canal would
be merely giving a 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 in
tended to back 1t up, and 1t can be backed
up only by a ~thoroughlyso 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. l call your special at
%tention to the need of providing for the
manning of the ships. Serious trouble
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 a type as can be found in any
navy which rides the waters of the world;
they are unsurpassed in daring. in resolu-
of their profession. They deserve every
consideration that can be shown them.
But there are not enough of them. It is
i more P Pos to improvlse a crew than
build the finest ship, with the deadliest
battery. and to send 1t afioat with a raw
crew, 10 matter now brave tneY were in
dividually, would be to insure disaster if
a 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 pro-
vided for and under construction. The
should be greatly enlarged. At the same
time that We thus add the officers where
we need them, we should facilitate the re-
tirement Of those at the head Of the list
whose uSHfllnPSC hac hannron ir,n
Promotion must be fostered if the serv-
Ice is to be kept efficient.
There Is not a cloud on the horizon at
present. There seems not the slightest
lance OF trouble with a foreign power.
we most earnestly hope that this state
OF things may continue; and the way to
a thoroughly efficient navy. The refusal
10 maintain such a navy would invite
trouble, and If trouble came would insure
disaster. Fatuous self-complacency or
vanity, or short-sightedness in refusing
to prepare for danger, is both foolish and
Wlcked IN such a nation as ours; and
past experiences has shown that such
fatuity in refusing to recognize or pre-
pare for any crisis in advance is usually
succeeded by a mad panic Of hysterical
zeal once the crisis has actually arrived.
Rural Free Delivery.
The striking increase In the revenues
or the post Office department shows clear
ly the prosperity of our people and the
increasing activity of the business of the
The receipts of the post office depart
ment for the nscal year ending June 80
last amounted to $121, S4S, 07. &c, an increase
OF $lO.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
Rural free delivery service is no longer
in the experimental stage; it has become
a liked policy. The results following its
introduction have fully justified the con-
gress in the large appropriations made
for its establishment and extension. The
average yearly increase in post Office re-
teipts IN the rural districts Of the coun-
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 ten per
cent.
On November /, 1902. 1850 rural free
were in operation, covering about one
third of the territory of the United States
available ahana e for rural free delivery service.
department petitions and applications for
the establishment of 1918 additional
routes. This shows conclusively the want
which the establishment of the service
ing 1t as rapidly as possible. It is justi-
fed both by the financial results n by
the practical benefits to our rural pop
~ a. IA NhO AlCA VIII IVo On
the soil into close relations with the ac-
tive business world; It keeps the farmer
in daily touch with the markets; it is a
potential educational force; 1t enhances
the value of farm property, makes farm
life far p~leasanter and less isolated. and
will do much to check the undesirable
current from country to city.
It Is to be hoped that the congress will
make liberal appropriations for the con-
tinuance of the service already estab-
ished and for its further extension.
Progress Of Irrigation.
Few subjects of more Importance have
been taken up by the congress in recent
years than the inauguration of the sys-
tenn OF nationally aided irrigation for the
arid regions of the far west. A rood be-
ginning 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.
So far as they are available for agri-
culture, and to whatever extent they
be reclaimed under the national IT.
rigation 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 aw have been so perverted
from the Intention with which they were
enacted as to permit the acquisition of
large areas of the public domain for 9TH
er than actual settlers and the conse-
Quent prevention Of settlement. More
over, the approaching exhaustion of the