The daily Republican., 1902-12-02


Without such inaneuvers it Is folly to ex-
pect that in the event Of hostilities with
any serious foe even small army corps
could be handled to advantage. Both our
officers and enlisted mon are such that
we can take hearty pride in them. No
better, material can be found. But they
must be thoroughly trained both as imdi-
viduals and In the mass, The ma rksman-
ship Of tho men must receive special at
tenton. In the circumstances OF modern
warfare the man must act far more on
ever before and the high individual Ell
cheney Of the unit is Of the utmost i'm
portance. Formerly this unit was the
regiment. 1t Is now not the regiment not
even the troop or company; it Is the lndi-
vidual soldier. Livery effort must be made
TO develop every workmanlike and sol
dierly quality in both the officer and the
| enlisted man,
need of passing bin providing for q gen
cral staf and for the reorganization of
bill PROPOSED By the secretary Of war last
army from West Point. they probably
stand above their eompeers in any other
made by training, by reward of merit. by
scrutiny into their careers and capacity.
to keep them of the same high relative
excellence throughout their careers.
The measure providing tor the reorGsn-
ization Of the, militia system and for So
curing the highest efficiency in the nation
al guard; which has already passed the
house, should receive prompt attention
and action. It is OF Great importance that
the relation of the national guard to the
militia and volunteer forces Of the United
States should he defined and that in place
Of our present obsolete laws practical
and efh"cnt system should be adopted
Provision should he made to enable the
secretary Of war to keep cavalry and ar
tillery horses worn ont in long perform
antn oi duty Such horses fetch but a
sold a bpr trtr
them out TO the misery awaiting them
when ihUH disposed Of 1t would be better
to employ. them at light work around the
posts and when necessary to put them
paInlpsslS to death.
For the first time in our history naval
mairnNtrs on large scale are being held
mtral Of the navy, Constantly increasing
attention is being paid 10 the guunery Of
n" navy. but it is Yet far from what IL
rsasd should 5G tan tfarphssty nrs" that ths in
navy in the appropriation for improving
the craftsmanship be granted. In batt"
the only shots that count are the shots
Ihat mt. It is necessary to provide ample |
funds for practice with the great guns in
time OF peace. These funds must provide !
not uHlN tor the purchase of prujectiles. |
bHt Tor allowances for prizes ~ cncour- |
age the sln crews, and especially the gun |
pointers, and for pertectinB an Intelligent |
system under which alone II is possible to |
get good practice
bulldihS up the navy, providing every !
year additional fighting craft. We are IA
very lleh country, vast in extent of terri
tory and great in population. n country,
moreover which has an army dimnutiVe
Indeed when compared with that Of any
other first class power We have dolibcr-
etelS made our own certain foreign poll !
Ctes which demand the possession Of Il
flrSt class navy. The isthmAn canal Will |
greatly increase the efficiency OF our navy
II the navy Is of sufficient size, but if we
fa l,. l,,,t I
ing OF the canal would be merely giving a
hostage to any power of superior strength.
rhe Monroe doctrine should be treated is
me cardinal feature OF American foreign
policy. but it would b. worse than idle
to assert it unless we intended to back il
up. and 1t can be backed up only by
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 inc most efficient of its kind as regards
found in the world / call YOUR special
attention to the need Of providing for the
nahnins OF the ships. Serious trouble
hrcatens us If we cannot do better than |
We are now doing as regards securing the |
'ervices of a sufficient number of the high
81 type of sailornen of sea mechanics
If as high type as can be found IN any
navy wnich rides tiie waters OF the world. |
lhtF are uhsvrp2 2ssed in daring in reso-
guon n readiness, in thorough knowi-
HsN " 'it'ii ~ liNS ueSHIN y GN- |
rE consideration that can be shown them. !
'ut there are not enough of them. 1t is
10 more possible to ilnprovse a crew than
y possible to improrise a warship. TO |
artery. and to sendft afloat with raw
rev. no matter how brave they were in
lvidnally, would be to inquire disa ster If a
oe Of average capacity were encountered.
'etther ships nor men can be improNised
'hen war has begun
We need thousand additional officers
nyl II
rovided for and under constructions Tho
lasses at the naval school al Annapolis
hould be greatly enlarged. Al the same
me that we thuse.dd the of'oGrs where
20 nsed them. we should facilitate the re-
renlent Of these at the head Of the list
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