The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1902-12-06
NEEDS OF THE NAVY.

present obsolete laws a practical and eff
hclent system should be accepted.
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 large scale are being held
unCer the immediate command Of the adj
miral OF the navy. Constantly increasing
the navy. but It Is Yet 4 far from what II Il
crease asked for by S' the Secretary &c OF, OF the
the marksmaneRip be granted. In battle
the only shots that count are the shots that
hit !, is 70 proyse ample
not only for the purchase OF projectiles. but
gun crews, and especially the sun pointers,
and for perfectiry an intelligent system
under which alone it is possible to get good
There should be no halt in the work of
building up the navy. providing every year
rich country, vast In extent OF TERRI DRY and
great In population; a country moreover.
which has ar army d!minutive indeed when
power. We have deliberately made our
own certain foreign policies which demand
the possession of a first-class ravy. The
isthmian canal will greatly increase the
efficiency of our navy II the navy is of suf-
ficient size; but II we have an inadequate
| navy, tntn tEe DullUlIlS Oh 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 IL would be
worse than idle to assert 1t unless we in
tended to back II up, and II can be backed
up only by thoroughiy good navy. A good
navy is not provocative Of war. II is the
surest guaranty OF peace.
Each Individual unit of our navy should
both material and personnel that is TO be
found In the world, call your special at
tention to the need OF providing for the
threatens us II we cannot DO better than
| We are now doing as regards securing the
services Of sufficient number of the high
The veteran seamen Of our warshSps are
of as high type as can be found In any
they are unsurpassed in daring. in resoiu.
OF their profession. They Seeerve every
But there are not enough of them. It is
! no more possible to improvlse a crew than
bud g sp M s srssp T
crew. 70 matter how brave they were In !"
foe OF average capacity were encoun tered.
Neither ships nor men can be improvised
| when war has begun
order to properly man the ships now pro-
video for ard under construction. The
Glasses at at the naval school at Annapo!is
time that We thus add the officers where
We need them, we should facilitate the re-
whose usefulness has become impaired.
Promotion must be fostered II the serv-
Ice is to be kept efficient.
present. There seems not the slightest
chance Of trouble with a foreign power.
We most earnestly hope that this state
OF things may continues: and the way to
insure It's continuance Is to provide for
a thoroughly efficient navy. The. refusal
pouSe and s1 Trouble n came would
disaster. Fatuous self-complacency or
vanity. or Observation-Disclosures in refusing
wicked in such a nation as ours: and
past experience has shown that such
faulty In refusing to recognize or pre-
succeeded by a mad panic Of hysterical
fear once the crisis has actually arrived.
Rural Free Delivery.
The striking Increase In the revenues
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 30
last amounted to 1921 .S4S.0 &c. an increase
esssSsM over the preceding year
Of the postal service. The magnitude OF
this increase will best appear from the
the year 1850 amounted o to but t'ssRs 7o
in the experimental stage: 1t has become
introduction have fully justified the con-
gress In the large appropriations made
for Its establishment and extension. The
ceipts In the rural districts of the coun-
try Is about two per cent We are now
able. by actual results to show that
where rural free delivery service has
been established to such an extent as to
enable us to make comparisons the yearly
increase has been upward OF ten per
On November 1. 1902, $50 rural free
delivery routes had been established and
third Of the territory OF the tinted States
available for rural free delivery service.
There are now awaiting the action of the
se Of
routes. This shows conclusively the want
which the establishment of the service
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: IL brings the men who live on
the soil into close relations with the ac-
tive business world: u keeps the farmer
In daily touch With the .I markets; i Is
the value, of farm property. makes farm,
life far pleasanter and less isolated, and
current from country to CITY. ''"''e
tits to be hoped that the congress will
make liberal appropriations for the con-
lished and for Its further extension.
Progress Of Irrigation.
Few subjects of more Importance have
been taken zip by the congress In recent
| years than the Inauguration OF the sys-
tenn of nationally aided irrigation for the
| arid regions of the far west. A 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
.. So FAR as they are available for agri.
culture. and to whatever extent they
| may be reclaimed under tho 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 desert-land law. the timber and stone
: law, and the Communication clause of tn,
: | homestead law have been SO perverted
A from tho intention with which they wers
. | enacted as to permit the acquisition o.
! large areas OF the public domain for 9th
: er than actual settlers and the conse
i quent prevention of settlement. More
: over. the approaching exhaustion Of tn.
) | public ranges has Of late led to mucl
Q discussion as to the best manner of usinl
: these public lands In the west which arr
Q suitable chiefly or only for grazing. Tn,
: sound and steady development Of tn,
. west depends upon the building up o
homes therein. Much of our prosperlt,
O as q nation has been due to the opera
! tion of the homestead law. On the othe