The Savannah morning news., 1902-12-03

we intended to back it up, and IL can
be backed up only by a thoroughly
good navy. A good navy is not a prov
ocative of war. 1t is the surest guar
anty of peace.
Each individual unit of pur navy
should be the most efficient of it's kind
as regards both material and person.
mel that is to be found in the world. 1
call your special attention to the need
of providing for the manning of the
ships. Serious trouble threatens us If
we can not do better than we are now
doing as regards securing the services
of sufficient number of the highest
type 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 resolution, 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 posi-
BILE to improvise crew than it is pos
sible to improvise a warship To build
the finest ship, with the deadlest bat
terry, and to send it afloat with raw
crew, no matter how brave they were
individually, would be to insure dis
aster If foe of average capacity were
encountered. Neither ships nor = men
gun. @st
We need a thousand additional off,
GERS in order to properly man the ships
now provided for and undergoonstruc-
ton. The classes at the Naval School
at Annapolis should be greatly enlarg-
ed. At the same time that we thus
add the officers where we need them,
we should facilitate the retirement of
those at the head of the list whose use
f11lOaGS ha INN ix.ad
ton must be fostered if the service is
to be kept efficient.
The lamentable scarcity of officers
and the large number Of recruits and
of unskilled men necessarily put aboard
the new vessels as they have been
commissioned, has thrown upon our
officers, and especially on the lieuten-
ants and junior grades, unusual labor
and fatigue and has gravely strained
their powers of endurance. Nor is there
sign of any immediate let-up in this
strain. 1t must continue for some time
longer, until more officers are gradu-
ated from Annapolis, and until the
recruits become trained and skilKul
in their duties. In these difficulties in
cident upon the development of our
war fleet the conduct of all our officers
has been creditable to the service, and
the lieutenants and junior grades in
particular have displayed an ability
and steadfast cheerfulness which
entities them to the ungruding thanks
of all who realize the disheartening
trials and fatigues to which they are
of necessity subjected.
There is not a cloud on the horizon
at present. There seems not the slight
est 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
nFnWida a how r1,lx 43as1
navy. The refusal to maintain such
navy would invite trouble, and if
trouble came would insure disaster.
Fatuous self-complacency or vanity, or
hort-sightedness in refusing to pre-
pare for danger, is both foolish and
wicked in such nation as ours: and
past experience has shown that such
faulty in refusing to recognize or pre-
pare for any crisis in advance is usu-
ally succeeded by a mad panic of hys-
terical fear once the crisis has actu-
ally arrived.
Conduct of the POstOfHce.
The striking increase in the revenues
of the Postoffice Department shows
clearly the prosperity of our people
and the increasing activity of the bust
ness Of the country.
The receipts of the Postoffice De-
partment for the fiscal year ending
June 80 last amounted to 1921, 84S, =
04726, an increase of $1O216, S53ST over
the preceding year, the largest increase
known in the history of the postal
service. The magnitude of this in
crease 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 the experimental stage: it
has become fixed policy. The results
following its introduction have fully
justified the Congress in the large APP
propriations made for its establishment
and extension. The average yearly in
crease in postoffice receipts in the
is about per cent. We are now
able, by actual results, to show
that where rural free delivery service
have been established to such an ex-
tent as to enable US to make COMPARE
sons the yearly increase has been up
ward of 10 per cent
On Nov. l, 1902, II, $50 rural free de-
livery routes had been established and
were in operation, covering about one
third of the territory of the United
States available for rural free deliv-c
cry service. There are now await
ing the action of the department petit
lions and applications for the estab-
lishment of 1074S additional routes.
This shows conclusively- the want
which the establishment of the serv-
ice has met and the need of further
extending it as rapidly as possible. 1t
is justified both by the financiaE results
and by the practical benefits to our
rural population it 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; 1t is a potential educa-
tional force; it enhances the value of
farm property, makes farm life far
pleasanter and less isolated, and will
do much to check the undesirable cur
rent from country to city.
1t is to be hoped that the Congress
will make liberal appropriations for
the continuance of the service already
established and for its further extern
sion.
Irrigation of Barren Tracts.
Few, subjects of more Importance
have been taken UP by the Congress
in recent years than the Inauguration
of the system of nationally aided lr-
rigation for the arid regions of the
Far West. good beginning therein
has been made. Now that this policy
of national irrigation has been adopt
ed, the need of thorough and scientific
forest protection will grow more rap
idly than ever throughout the public
land states.
Legislation should be provided for
the protection of the game, and the
Wild creatures generally, on the for
est reserves. The senseless slaughter,
OF game. which can by judicious pro-
lection he pQFfpauapf flragerVed on