The Butler weekly times. (Butler, Mo.) 1881-1918, 1902-12-04
NEEDS OF THE NAVY.
More ships and Men Needed to Keep
Pace with the TlmeH.

maneuvers on large scale are being held
unCer the immediate command OF the ad-
miral Of the navy. Constantly increasing
attention is being paid TO the gunnery OF
the navy. but 1t is yet far from what il
should be. ! earnestly urge that the IN.
crease asked for by the secretary OF the
navy In the appropriation for improving
the craftsmanship be granted. In battle
the only shots that count are the shots that
hit. IL is necessary to provide ample
fumes FOR practice with the great guns in
time of peace. These FUMES must pvoviGe
not only for the purchase of projectiles. but
for allowances for prizes to encourage the
gun crews, and especially the gun pointers,
and for periectEg an intelligent system
under which alone il is possible TO get good
practice,
There should be no halt in the work of
building up the navy, providing every year
additional lighting craft, We are very
rich country, vast In extent of territory and
great in population; country, moreover
which has an army dimuutive indeed when
compared with that of any other tirst-class
power We have deliberately mace our
own certain foreign policies which demand
the possession OF 4 hrSt-class navy, The
isthmian canal will greatly increase the
efficiency of our navy IL the navy is OF suf-
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 II would be
worse than idle TO assert II unless We in
tended to back II up, and Il can be backed
up only by a thoroughly good navy. "A good
navy Is not provocative OF war. II is the
surest guaranty OF peace.
Each Individual unit of our navy should
be the most efficient of its kind AS regards
both material and personnel that is to be
found In the world call Your special at
tention 10 the need of providing for the
manning OF the ships, Serious trouble
threatens us If We cannot 20 better HAN
doing rGS EnplIriI A. : l.,.
services of sufficient number OF the high
est type OF sailormer, Of sea mechanics.
The veteran seamcn of our warshlps are
Of as high a type as can be found ir any
navy which rides the waters of the world:
they are unsurpassed In daring, In rcSolu-
ton. II readiness, IN thorough know ledge
of their profession, They C,serve every
=l4s-Assrsyt7-ti7p rff
But there are rot enough of them. II IS
no more possible To improVisc a crew than
Il J. pos Slh,e TO imprOViSC - warSEip. To
build the finest shin, with the dtadiest
battery, and to send It ailoat with raw
crew 10 matter how brave they were IL
diviGullly, would be 10 insure disaster II
a foe OF average capacity We're encountered
Neither ships nor men can he improv.std
whcr war has begun.
We notG thousand additional officers IN
order TO properly man the ships now pro-
videe for aid under construction. The
classes at the naval school at Annapolis
should be greatly enlarged, At the same
time that We thus AGA the officers WIZ
We need them, We should facilitate the re-
tirtmcrt OF those at the head Of the list
S S., US, fulness has become Impaired,
promotion must he flstered IL the sery-
ice is to be kept efficient,
There Is not cloud on the horizon at
present There seems not the slightest
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 IL to provide for
Thoroughly efficient navy. The refusal
TO maintain such a navy would invite
trouble, and If trouble came would insure
disaster Fatuous self-complacency or
vanity. or short-sightedness In refusing
to prepare for danger, is both foolish and
wicked In such a nation as ours; and
past experience has shown that such
pare for any crisis In advance Is usually
succeeded by mad panic OF historical
fear once the crisis has actually arrived
Rural Free Delivery.
The striking increase IN the revenues
of the post office department shows clear
ly the prosperity of our people and the
increasing activity OF the business of the
country
The receipts of the post office depart
ment for the nscal year ending June 80
last amounted TO 1921 SIS. 047 &c an increase
OF l02l6,S53N over the preceding year.
the largest increase known in the history
OF the postal service. The magnitude of
this increase will best appear from the
fact that the entire postal receipts for
the year 1860 amounted to but sS51S 067
Rural free delivery service is no longer
In the experimental stage; 1t has become
a fixed policy. The results following its
Introduction have fully justified the con-
gress in the large appropriations made
for its establishment and extension. The
average yearly increase in post office re-
ceipts In the rural districts of the coun-
try Is about two per cent. We are now
able, by actual results, to show that
-, / -
been established TO such an-extent- as-te
enable us to make comparisons the yearly
increase has been upward Of ten per
cent.
On November |, 1902. II $50 rural free
delivery routes had been established and
were in operation, covering about ~ne-
third of the territory of the United States
available for rural free delivery service.
There are now awaiting the action of the
department petitions and applications for
the establishment of 1918 additional
routes. This shows conclusively the want
which the establishment of the service
has met and the need of further EXTEND
ing 1t as rapidly as possible II l. justi-
the practical benefits to our rural pop
ulation; Ii brings the men who live on
the soil into close relations with the ac-
tive business world; II keeps the farmer
in daily touch with the markets: 1t Is a
potential educational force: II enhances
the value OF farm property makes farm
life far pleasanter and less Isolated and
will do much to check the undesirable
current from country to city.
1t Is to be hoped that the congress will
make liberal appropriations for the con-
tinuance OF the service already estab-
lished and for its further extension.
Progress Of Irrigation
Few subjects Of more Importance have
been taken up 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
public-land states.
So far as thev are available for agri-
culture. and to whatever extent they
may be reclaimed under the national lr-
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 the
homestead law have been so perverted
from the intention with which they were
enacted as to permit the acquisition o.
large areas of the public domain for 9th.
-er-than- actual settlers and the conse'
quent 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
these public lands in the west which ne
suitable chiefly or only for grazing IT,,
sound and steady development OF tbs
west depends upon the building -"
homes therein. Much of our prosperity
as q nation has been due to the opera
ton of the homestead law On the Othei
hand. we should recognize the fact tina
In the grazing region the man who cor
responds to the homesteader may he 4 n
able to settle permanently 10 only allowed
to use the same amount Of pasture la,