The Bourbon news. [volume] (Paris, Ky.) 1895-19??, 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 a large scale are being held
unGer the immediate command of the ad-
miral Of the navy Constantly increasing
| attention is being paid to the gunnery of
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
navy in the appropriation for improving
the craftsmanship be granted. In battle
the only shots that count are the shots that
nit 1t IS necessary to provide ample
FUNDS for practice with the great guns in
time of peace. These FUNDS must provide
not only for the purchase of projectiles, but
Tor 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.
There should be no halt in the work of
building up the navy, providing every year
aGdltonal fighting craft. We are q very
rich country, vast in extent of territory and
great in population; country, moreover
which has an army diminutiVe indeed when
compared with that of any other first-class
power We have deliberately MADE our
own certain foreign policies which demand
the possession of a f1rst-class navy. The
isthmian canal will greatly increase the
efficiency Of our navy il the navy is of suf-
hcient 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
packed
up only by thoroughly good navy. a good
navy is not provocative of war. 1t is the
surest guaranty of peace.
Each individual unit of our navy should
be the most efficient of It's kind as regards
both material and personnel that is to be
found in the world. / call your special a t.
tGntion to the need of providing for the
threatens us if we cannot 90 better than
We are now doing as regards securing the
services Of a sufficient number of the high
nf = nw-f.ae
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-
ton, in readiness, in thorough knowledge
of their profession. They deserve every
consideration that can be shown them
But there are not enough of them. 1t is
no more possible to improvise crew than
1t is possible to improviSe - warship. To
; build the finest ship, with the deadIest
; battery, and to send 1t afioat with a raw
crew, no matter how brave they were in
dividually, would be to insure disaster if
afoe 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-
videG for ard Inder 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-
tirement of those at the head of the list
whose usefulness has become impaired
Promotion must be fostered if the serV-
ice is to be kept efficient.
There is not a cloud on the horizon st
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 it's continuance lis to provide for
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
wicked in such a nation as ours; and
past experience has shown that such
faulty in refusing to recognize or pre-
pare for any crisis in advance is usually
succeeded by a mad panic of hysteSical
rear once the crisis has actually arrived.
Rural Free Delivery.
The striking increase in the revenues
| of 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 ,047. 26, an increase
/ OF $lO,2l6,S53,S( 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 1860 amounted to but $S,51S 067.
! Rural free delivery service is no longer
in tie experimental stage; it has become
fixed policy. The results following its
/
! gress in the large appropriations made
/ for its establishment and extension. The
| average yearly increase in post Office re-
! ceiptS in the rural districts of the coun-
! try is about two per cent. We are now
/ able, Dy actual results, TO show that
/ where rural free delivery. service has
! been established to such an extent as to
4 enable us to make comparisons the yearly
! increase has been upward of ten per
! cent.
| On November 1. 1902. II. $50 rural free
| had acfo icha nd
| were in operation, covering about one
! third of the territory Of the United States
! available for rural free delivery service.
! There are now awaiting the action of the
! department petitions and applications for
! the establishment of 1918 additional
| routes. This shows conclusively the want
which the establishment of the service
has met and the need of further extend
/ ing it as rapidly as possible. 1t is juSti-
! fed both by the financial results and by
! the practical benefits to our rural pop-
ulation; it brings the men who live 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 it enhances
! the value of farm property, makes farm
life far pleasanter 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-
| hshed and for it's 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-
| TEN of nationally aided irrigation for the
| arid regions Of the far west. good 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
may be reclaimed under the national ir-
| 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 deserL-Iand law, the timber and stone
! law, and the Communication clause of the
l homestead law have been so perverted
| from tho 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
| public ranges has of late led to much
/ discussion as to the best manner Of using
| these public lands in the west which are
suitable chiefly or only for grazing. Tho
! sound and steady development of the
| west depends upon the building uD ~
| homes therein. Much of our prosperity
| as a nation has been due to the opera
/ ton Of the homestead law. On the other
| hand. we should recognize the fact thai
| IN the grazing region the man who cor
! responds to the homestes der may he I'M
| able to settle permanently Il only allowed
| to use the same amount of pasture larc