The Van Buren press., 1902-12-06
NEEDS OF THE NAVY.
More Ships and Men Needed to Keep
Pnce with the Times.

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 II is yet far from What II
should be. | earnestly urge that the m
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
funds for practice with the great guns In
time of peace These funds must provide
not only for the purchase of proJectiles, but
for allowances for prizes to encourage the
gun crews, and especially the gun pointers,
and for perfecting an Intelligent system
under which alone 1t Is possible TO get goOG
practice.
There should be no halt in the work of
building up the navy, providing every year
additional fighting croft, We are a very
rich country, vast In extent OF territory and
great in population; a country, moreover,
which has an army diminutiNe indeed when
compared with that of any other iirst t-class
power. We have deliberately mace our
own certain foreign policies 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 sui
hcient Size; but If we have an inadequate
navy, then the building 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 In
tended to back It up. and 1t can be backed
up only by thoroughly 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 It's kind as regards
both material and personnel that is to be
found In the world call your special at
tenton to the need Of providing for the
threatens us II we cannot 90 better than
We are now doing as regards securing the
services Of 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 car be found In any
navy which rides the waters Of the world ;
they are unsurpassed ~ daring, III resolu-
tlon,, IN readiness, In thorough Knowledge
consideration that can-b be shown them.
But there are not enough Of them Il is
no more possible 20 improvIse a crew than
i Is possible to improvise = warship. TO
battery, and to send 1t anoat with a raw
crew, no matter how brave they were In
divldually, would be to insure disaster II
foe OF average capacity were encountered
Neither ships nor men can be improyIsed
when war has begun,
We need thousand additional officers in
order to properly man the ships row pro-
Vided for ard under construction The
should be greatly eL arged 4 the same
time that we thus add the Officers where
we need them, We should facilitate the re-
,irement Of those 9t 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 cloud on the horizon at
present There seems moi. the slightest
chance OF trouble with foreign power
we most earnestly hope that this state
or things may continue. and the way to
insure Its continuance Is to provide for
a thoroughly efficient navy, The refusal
70 maintain such a navy would invite
trouble, and II trouble came would insure
disaster Fatuous sclf-compacency or
vanity, or short-sightedncss 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 mad panic OF hysterical
fear once the crisis has actually arrived
Rural Free Delivery.
The striking Increase In the revenues
OF the post oihce department shows clear.
" the prosperity OF our people ana the
increasing activity of the business Of the
country,
The receipts OF the post Office depart.
ment Tor the nscnl year ending June 30
~
OF Slog6Sb3N over the preceding year,
the largest Increase known In the history
OF the postal service, The magnitude Of
,hls Increase VIII best appear from the
the year 1880 amounted to but s. jlSOj7.
Rural free delivery service IL no longer
IN the experimental stage II has become
q hXed policy The results following It's
introduction have fully Justified the con.
gress In the large appropriation made
for Its establishment and extension Tho
average yearly Increase In post Office re-
ceIpts IN the rural districts Of the coun.
try IL about two per cent We are now
able, by actual results, TO show that
whore rural free delivery service haa
been established to such an extent as 10
enable us tn mako comparisons the yearly
Increase has been upward Of ten per
on November I, 1902 1850 rural free
delivery routes had been established ana
were In operation, covering about ono.
lhlrd OF the territory, OF the United states
available for rural free delivery service
There are now awaiting the action of tho
department petitions and application for
the establishment OF l0,7lS additional
routes This shows, ,conclusyoly the want
which the establishment Of tho sorvlco
has met and the need OF further extend.
Ing i as rapidly M possible II Is mgti.
ilcd both by the financial results nnd by
the practical bcnonls to our rural pop.
ulntloni IT brings the men who i've on
the soil into close relations with lho nc.
tive business world, II kpcps the fnrmor
IN daily touch with the mnrkols, II f. A
potential educational force; II enhances
The value Of farm property mpkcs farm
VIII do much TO check tho uudps rublo
current from country TO city,
II is to he hoped that the congress viii
make liberal appropriations FOR the con.
lishsd ana for lls further extension.
Progress OF IrrIputIun
Few subjects OF moro Importance have
been taken up by the congress IN recent
years than the Inauguration OF the sys.
tom Of nationally aided irrigation for mo
arid regions Of the FAR west, A good be-.
ginning therein has been made Now
mat this policy OF national litigation has
been l6seSn GgdoPdIed, the need o. thqrouah
more rapidly than ever ihrougbout' thc
puhllc.lAnd states
80 FAR AZ thcv are available for agri.
culture, ana to ,Whnlover oytcnt they
may be reclaimed under the national W.
rgitlon law, The rcmOlnng public mnds
should be held rlgldly for the home
builder, the settler who lives ON h.s land,
ANA Tor no ono else, In their uotu9l uao
the depert.land law, the timber and stone
law, aud the Communication clause of the
homestead law have been No pprvrrtud
from the Intention with which they We're
enacted ns to permit the acquisition OF
or than actual settlers aud tho conaa.
uucnt prevention Of settlement, More.
over, the approaching exhaustion OF the
public ranges. has Of late led to much
discussion as to the best manner OF using
those public lands In the west which arc
suitable chiefly or only for grazing. The
sound and steady development Of tho
west depends upon the building up ~
homes therein, Much OF our prosperity
nA n nation has been due to the 6prfn.
tlon OF the homestead law ON the other
hnnd, we should feoognlso the tact that
responds 70 the homertcndor may he un.
able to settle permanently i only allowed