The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-10-10
MIR. MOODY ON THE y>H7Y -os Secretary sryzs at a Chicago 4anquet. ANNIVERSARY OF FIRE Need of officers Demands In-
 Stant Attention. Governor Cummins of Iowa Discusses the Iowa Platform and the
 Tariff--Purpose of Protec-
 tive Duties.

Chicago, Oct. s.-The thirty-frst anni- versary of Chicago's big fire was op- served today by banquets given under ,ne auspices of the Marquette and Lake side Clubs. Speakers of national promi- hence were present at both banquets. At the Auditorium Hotel 800 members or the | Marquette Club and their guests gathered in the banquet hail.
 The chief speaker was Secretary Of the Navy William H. Moody. for whom the banaueters arose in a body and cheered enthusiastically.
 Secretary Moody Speaks.
 Secretary Moody, in part. spoke as follows:
 "rhe most imperative need of the navy today is of additional officers. cannot oy. rstate this need. 1t demands that in- t~stant attention of Congress. Even though the short session of Congress is coming and there is ittlo opportunity for general legislation. it is the duty C. the Republican Party, with power anu responsibility in both houses, to consider and meet this need at that session. There should not be even years delay. IL takes longer to maiSc an oftcer of Junlor rank thaa it does to build battleship and conditions will not permit us to daily | with the question. It is the time for ac- | tion Much as I wish to continue the | building of ships, l do not wish them | unless at the same time provision is made 1 for officers and men 70 man them. For years the condition to which 1 refer has | been approaching Today it is acute.
 Four years from now 1t will be desperate unless there is early actioi.
 These are strong statements and de- I I xuiI fn ! it. In doing so I will omit all details
 which are not essential. although I can- | not escape details entirely. The first Of | January last is a convenient point of | time for the discussion of the present | relation of the number of officers to the | duties which are required of them. Nat
 urally we first turn to the duties on | board ship. We fid that the ships which l may then be counted as serviceable de-
 mand as a minimum 1.237 officers of the | line. There were at that time 264 officers
 on shore duty of various kinds, courts | martial, inspection, instruction at the | Naval Academy. recruiting, ordnance | and others which l will not enumerate.
 It must not be forgotten that there are
 many naval duties which must always
 be performed on shore, duties which are | as important and essential to naval effi- ciency as the navigation of ships. A to Shore Duty.
 Some part of the shore duty, I have thought, acting upon professional advice,
 unnecessary and it has been discontinued. ! Some stations on shore have been abol-
 ished because, with conflicting demands | of the service, I had no choice. There is | today a less number of officers upon shore | duty than on the first of January. It will | be the policy of my administration to | abolish such duties on shore as are not
 essential to the efficiency of our navy as
 a whole or to the proper development of | the individual officer.
 "The line is not easy to draw and noth- l ing will be done impetuously or without
 consideration.
 With a squadron in European waters, another in Pacific waters, another in Asi- | atc waters. another in South Atlantic waters. another in North Atlantic waters, | another just constituted with duties in or about the Caribbean Sea, there must Gl- ways be certain number of officers in transit from one point of duty to another.
 For instance there recently landed in | San Francisco on their return from the | Philippines more than fifty officers, with drawn for the time being in the course of their journey from duties of any kin1. | A small estimate of the officers in transit | to and from stations Is seventy. We can
 coant at least at all times upon an aver | age of thirty officers on the sick list and thirty more on leave, which has been, of l recent years a rare thing for the young | CT officers.
 "The requirements which have stated | it will be seen. called on January 1 first for 1881 officers. There were on | the date named 1,023 officers, including midshipmen. or 607 less than needed. It | is true that in time of peace there would | be at all times large fraction. say one | fourth, of our ships out of commission, l undergoing repairs and Improvements. | Suppose this to be so, 1t would reduce | the shortage by one-half, but still we would he 300 short of our requirements and with every effort and detachment | from every possible point of duty on shore where the officer may be detached with out imperiling the efficiency of the navy there is still even in time of peace, | a present existing deficiency.
 Looking to Future.
 But how of the future? It is the part | of prudence to look ahead. It Is especial | ly my own duty to speak and speak in no uncertain tones. We have between sixty and seventy ships authorized and in pro- cess of construction. many of them of the most important and powerful types. To < man them all demands 49S officers, again allowing the absolute minimum number, Il to a battieship, although Germany has | twenty. France twenty-six and England thirty-three officers for the same type of ship. Allowing the same proportion of officers in transit. on shore duty, sick and on leave, it will require 623 officers to produce the 49S demanded by our new ships. In the meantime, officers will be
 dying or leaving the service through dlsa- | bility or by resignation. In four years | 1t is estimated that not less than l6O vacancies will be created in this manner. | We have therefore by this computation | 7s3 officers to be provided for our ships | now in process of construction which we
 may expect to complete within four years. | This number, added to the 6O7 which We l today lack. shows that in four years, in
 order to officer our fleet as 1t then will
 exist there will he required l,S9o officers
 more officers than we have today.
 This Is leaving out of account the of-