The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-04-03
irresoluts can fail to desire to put 1t into ~ stridss Have B.sh Taksn.

Well. in the last two years am happy to say we have taken long strides Tn ad- vance as regards our navy. The last n. in aSS aa F essah sh ing ships upon which the real eflicienry of any navy in war ultimately depends. It provided. moreover, forgthe addition cf officers and enlisted men to make the ships worth having. Meanwhile the Navy Department has seea to if thst our ships have been constantly exercised at sea, with the great guns, and In maneuversl so that their efficiency as fighting units, both individually and when acttng to- gether. has been steadily improved. Re niemper that all of this is necessary. A war ship Is a huge bit of mechanism. well nigh as delicate and complicated as 1t is formidable. It takes years to build it. It takes years to teach the ofhcers vantage. It is an absolute impossibiiity to improvise . navy at the outset of war. No recent war between any two nations has lasted as long as 1t takes to build improve the officers or the crews as to
 10 lay up a pattleship and only send 1t afloat at the outset of war, with raw crew and untried officers, would he would invite both disaster and disgrace. The navy which so quickly decided in our favor the war in 1898 had been built and made efiicient during the preceding fifteen years. The ships that trtumphed off Ma nila and Santiago had been built under previous administrations with money ap- propriated by previous Congresses. The officers and the men did their duty 50 well because they had already been train ed to 1t by long seaservice. All honor to the gallant officers and gallant men who actually did the fightins; but renember, too, to honor the public men. the ship wrights. and steel workers, the owners of the shipyards and armor plants, to whose united foresight and exsrtion We guns 90 excellent. and American seanien of so high a type in the coming towers. in the gun turrets, and in the engine rooms. It is too late to prepare tor war when war has come: and If we only pre- We wish a powerful and efficient navy, not for purposes of war, but as the surest guaranty of peace. If we have such navy--if we keep on building It up-we may rest assured that there IS 6at sne come to this nation; and we may nke- wise rest assured that no foreign power will ever quarrel with us about the Mon
 Impromptu Reception.
 At the conclusion of the address. there was renewed and continued applause. and while the greater part of the audience was leaving the hail, the President was holding an impromptu reception on the platform as all the members of the cori- mittee had been seated with him on the platform and many from the audience pr essed round to offer congratulations on the address. Scant time was allowed for this however. and the secret service men closed about the President during the short hand-shaking and quickly escorted him back to his apartments Ia the hotel
 This afternoon after luncheon, the Pres ident was escorted to the University of Chicago, where he received the degree of ILL. D.. in the presence of the profes- sors and 5000 students of the university and Morgan Park Academy. Later he assisted in the laying of the cornerstone of the new school building and made brief address.