The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-12-26
POLICY OF THE NAVY DEPART
MENT

I rise in Washington to the interesting
/ inquiry, who is going to control the
policy of the navy, the President and
the Secretary of the Navy or a small
coterie of Senators at the head of
which is Senator Hale?" 1t seems that
the President and the Secretary of the
Navy insist that there shall be very
considerable increase in the navy pro-
vided for at the present session of Con-
gress. On the other hand Senator Hale
and those senators who are in sym
pathy with him are of the opinion that
the navy is being built fast enough;
that for the coming year it would be
advisable to spend whatever money is
appropriated for the navy in improving
naval stations rather than in building
new ships. OF course the Senate will
have its way if it insists, because it
can hold up the naval appropriation
bill and defeat it altogether, and may
do so if it's wishes are not complied
with
The Venezuelan incident seems to
have alarmed some of our statesmen at
Washington. They see in 1t a POSSIBLE
ity of a combination Of the Powers of
Europe against this country, and they
argue that in the event of such, com
bination this country would be taken
at a great disadvantage. That is not
the only argument they advance. They
point out that in this Venezuelan af-
fair we are not in a position to as
sumo an aggressive attitude if the oc-
casion for doing so should arise. Not
withstanding our great wealth and i'm
mense resources we have to be ex-
tremely careful not to permit a condi-
ton of affairs that would result in a
combination of European Powers
against us.
OF course there is much in this view.
but, on the other hand, the fact must
not be overlooked that naval vessels
are in a state of evolution. A battle
ship built to-day at the cost of two
millions or three millions of dollars is
likely to be out of date within ten
years. 1t is a fact that very consid-
British navy are already out of date.
1t has not been long since one of the
most prominent of the British naval
officers declared in public speech that
Great Britain's navy was not by any
means what it was cracked up to be-
that many of the ships were out of
date. 1t is probably a fact that the
British government is far from being
satisfied with it's navy and it is not too
much to say that one of our newest
battleships could easily handle half a
dozen of the biggest of the battIeships
of the British navy that are as much
as twelve years old.
1t is probable that in the course of a
few more years warships will reach their
highest development, and then 1t will
be possible to build any number of them
without the probability of their be-
coming Anticipated within a few years.
But the thing that hampers this
country particularly at this time is the
lack of officers. All the officers of the
navy are now complaining of over
work Rear Admiral Wilkes of the
Asiatic station has just been ordered
home on account of ill-health, and 1t is
claimed by naval officers that the trou-
BILE with him is overwork This COM
plant of overwork is being made all
the time, and, it seems, with some rea-
son. Unless Congress does something
to improve the situation this scarcity
of officers is going to continue. There
are not officers enough to man the
new ships. In fact, there are not enough
to man those already in commission.
The shortage is something like thou
sand. And there is "a scarcity of men
also. Before we worry much about new
ships we ought to provide for more
officers and men. Ships are of no ac-
count without officers and men, and the
officers and men should be the very
best that can be provided.