Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1902-12-02

[ARCK DAILY TRIBUNE:
should be no a / In the work of
year additional fghtinass craft sHY.u' Va are sYers =
Ssry and e spea n Y; yaa i In S5ten q e Of terri
moreover, which has an army diminutive
indeed when compared with that Of any
ateiy made our own certain foreig ue'i poIi-
eies which demand the possession Of q
first class navy. The isthmian canal will
Il the navy is of sufficient size, but If we
have an inadequate navy then the build
ing of the canal would be merely giving a
The Monroe doctrine should be treated as
the cardinal feature Of American foreign
policy, but it would be worse than idle
up, n it can be backed up only by a
not a provocative of war. It is the surest
Each Individual unit Of our navy sho~ad
be the most efficient Of it's kim as regards
both material and personnel that is to be
attention to the need Of providing for the
manning of the ships. Serious trouble
threatens us If WE cannot do better than
we are now doing as regards securing the
services Of a sufficient number of the high
est type Of sailormen, of sea mechanics.
The veteran seamen Of our warships are
~ SST AA5 0 - ~ CS NoAl NC 1ouilu Ill ally
navy which rides the waters of the world.
They are unsurpassed In daring, in reso-
lgtion; IN readiness, In thorough knowl-
cry consideration that can be shown them.
But there are not enough of them. 1t is
no more possible to improvise a crew han
IT IS possible to improvise a warship. To
build the finest ship. with the deadliest
battery. and to send It afloat with a raw
%dividually. would be to insure disaster If a
foe Of average capacity were. encountered
Neither ships nor men can be improvised
when wal has begun. d.
We need a thousand additional officers
in order to properly mar the ships now
provided for and under construction. The
should be greatly enlarged. At, the same
time that we thus add the officers where
we need them. we should facilitate the re-
tirement of those at the head of the list
whose usefulness has become Impaired,
Promotion must be fostered If the service
Is to be kept efficient. #
The lamentable scarcity of officers and
the large number of recruits and Of un-
skilled men necessarily put aboard the
new vessels as they have been commits
especially on the l~ieutenants and Junior
grades. unusual labor and fatigue and has
gravely strained their powers of endur-
lletup in this strain. 1t must continue for
some time longer until more officers are
graduated from Annapolis and until the
recruits become trained and Skillful In
their duties. In these difficulties incident
upon the development OF our war fleet the
conduct Of all our officers has been cred
table to the service. and the lieutenants
and Junior grades In particular have dis
played an ability and a steadfast cheer
fulness which entitle, them to the ungrudging
thanks of all who realize the disheartening trials
and fatigues to which they are of necessity sub.
jected.
There is not a cloud on the horizon at present.
with a foreign power. We most earnestly hope
that this state Of things may continue. and the
thoroughly efficient navy. The refusal to main:
tain such a navy would invite trouble, and ii
trouble came would insure disaster. Fatuous self
complacency or vanity or shortsightedness in re-
fusing. to prepare for danger is both foolish and
wicked in such a nation as ours, and past expert
ence has shown that such faulty in refusing to
usually succeeded by a mad panic Of hysterical
fear once the crisis has actually arrived.
Our Internal Affairs.
The striking Increase IN tie revenues of the
postod1ce department shows clearly the prosperity
OF our people and the increasing activity Of the
business OF the country.
The receipts Of the postoffce department for
81 s1sl, s SIS o4S Zsss s en- increase suae 81 g s last ZIG s% sss' St av to
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 S., SIS, o67.
Rural free delivery service is no longer in the
L SAPGIi AlShld oedSc. 20 ~ udS become q nXeQ OOlCT.
The results following it's introduction have fully
justified the congress in the large appropriations
made for its establishment and extension. The
average yearly. increase in p~ostofice receipts in
the rural districts of the country is about 2 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 10 per cent
On Nov. !, 1902, II, $50 rural free delivery
routes had been established and were in operation,
covering about one-third of the territory of the
United States available for rural free delivery
service. There are now awaiting. the action Of
establishment Of 10,74s additional routes. This
shows conclusively the want which the establish.
p.ent OF the service has met and the need of fur
justified both by the financial results and by the
practical benefits to our rural populations; it
relations with the active business world; it keeps
the farmer in daily touch with the markets; it is
a potential educational! force; it 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. E ~ : ~
It is to be hoped that the congress will make
liberal appropriations for the continuance OF the
service already established and for its further ex.
tension. @ .
Few subjects of more Importance have been
taken up by the congress in recent years than
the inauguration of the system of nationally aided
A good beginning 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.
Legislation should be provided for the protec-
ton of the game and the wild creatures gener-
ally on the forest reserves. The senseless slaugh-
ter Of game. which can by judicious protection be
permanently preserved on our national reserves
tor the people as a whole, should be stopped at
once. It is, for instance. a serious count against
our national good sense to permit the present
practice OF butchering of such a stately and
beautiful creature as the elk for its antlers or
tusks.
Preservation of Government Domain.
30 Tar as they are available for agriculture and
to whatever extent they may be reclaimed under
the national irrigation law, the remaining public
lands should be held rigidly for the homebuilder,
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 per.
verified from the intention with which they were
enacted as to permit the acquisition Of large
areas Of the public domain for other than actual
settlers and the consequent prevention Of settle.
ment. Moreover, the approaching exhaustion Of
the public ranges has Of late led to much dis.
cussion as to the best manner of using these pub
lie lands in the west which are suitable chiefly or
only for grazing. The sound and steady develop