The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1904-12-09

oI uaHltBe upon our opponents, ana SO
| wen protected that they can suffer a
severe hammering In return without fa-
! tai impairment OF their ability to fight
ana maneuyer. or course ample means
must be provided for enabling the per-
! sonnel of the navy to be brought to
! the highest point of efficiency. our great
hghtlng ships and torpedo boats must
in squadrons. The officers and men can
| only learn their trade thoroughly by
| ceaseless practice on the high seas. In
| the event of war IL would be far better
| to have no ships at all than to have
ships of a pdor, and ineffective type, or
| shipS which, however good were yet
manned 10y unframed and unsklllful
crews. The best officers and men in a
! poor ship could do nothing against fair
| ~ good opponents; and on the other hand
modern war ship is useless unless the
| officers and men aboard her have be-
come adopts In their duties. The marks
inanship in our navy has improved in
| an extraordinary degree during the last
three years, and on the whole the types
OF our battle ships are improving; but
much remains to be done. Sooner or
| later we shall have to provide for some
| method by which there will be promo
| lions Tor merit as well as for seniority,
or else retirement of all those who after
a certain age have not advanced beyond
| certain grade; while no effort must
be spared to make the service attrac-
| tive to the enlisted men in order that
| they may be kept as long as possible
| In It, Reservation public schools should
| be provided wherever there are navy
| yards.
THE ARMY
Within the last three years the United
states has set an example in disarma-
ment where disarmament was proper.
| by law our army is fixed at maximum
| OF one hundred thousand and a minimum
OF sixty thousand men. When there was
| lnsurrection in the Philippines we kept
the army at the maximum. Peace came
| In the Philippines, and now our army
which It Is possible to keep il with due
| regard to its efficiency. The guns now
mounted require twenty-eight thousand
men, If the coast fortincations are to
be adequately manned. Relatively to the
nation, 1t is not now so large as the po-
lice force OF New York or Chicago rel
atively to the population of either city.
we need more officers; there are not
enough to perform the regular army
work. 1t is very important that the Of
hcerS OF the army should be accustomed
to handle their men in masses, as it is
also important that the national guard
OF the several states should be accus-
toned to &C. Ial field maneuvering, es-
peclaliy in connection with the regulars.
For this reason we are to be congratu-
Iated upon the success of the field man.
euVers at Manassas last fall maneuv-
ers in which q larger numer of regulars
and national guard took part than was
eyer before assembled together in time
of peace. No other civilized nation has,
relatively to its population, such a dimin-
utive army as ours; and while the army
is SO small we are not to be excused IL
we fail to keep II at Il very high grade
or proficiency. 1t must be necessarily
practiced; the standard for the enlisted
men should be kept very high while at
tue same time the service should be
made as attractive as possible: and
the standard for the officers should be
Kept even higher-.which, as regards the
upper ranks, can best be done by intro
ducing some system of selection and re-
lection into the promotions. We should
be able, In the event of some sudden
emergency, to put into the field one first
class army corps, which should be, as
whole, at least the equal OF any body
OF troops of like number belonging to
Great progress has been made in pro-
tectlng our coasts by adequate fortifi-
cations with sufficient guns. We should,
however, pay much more heed than at
present to the development of an ex-
tensiye system of floating mines for use
m IN an our, our more p important harbors.
most formidable safeguard against hos
tile fleets.
MEDALS OF HONOR IN THE NAVY.
l earnestly call the attention of the
congress to the need of amending the
existing law relating to the award of
congressional medals of honor in the
navy so as to provide that they may
be awarded TO commissioned officers and
warrant officers as well as to enlisted
men. These justly priced medals are
given in the army alike to the officers
and the enlisted men, and 1t is most un-
Just that the commissioned officers and
IN this respect have the same rights
as their brethren in the army and as
the enlisted men of the navy
THE PHILIPPINES
In the Philippines islands there has
been during the past year a contnu-
don Of the steady progress which has
obtained ever since our troops definitely
got the upper hand of the insurgents
Fhe Philippine people or, to speak more
lccurately,, the many tribes and even
or less sharply, who go to make up the
people of the Philippine islands, contain
many clements Of good, and some ele-
stand for progress. At present they
are utterly incapable Of existing in in
dependence at all or of building up a
'ieye that We can help them to rise
higher and higher in the scale of civili-
zation and of capacity for self-govern-
In the end they will be able to stand
II not entirely alone, yet in some such
relation to the United States as Cuba
sight, and it may be indefinitely post
poned If our people are foolish enough
10 turn the attention of the Filipinos
moral and material prosperity, of work.
ing for stable, orderly, and Just govern
ment aud. toward foolish and dangerous
lntrlgueS for complete independence for
which they are as yet totally unfit.
on the other hand our people must
keep steadily before their minds the fact
mat the justification for our stay in the
philippines must ultimately rest chiefly
upon the good we are able to do in the
iSlundS. 90 not overlook the fact that
In the development of our interests in
the Pacific ocean and along it's coasts,
the Philippines have played and will
play an important part and that our
interests have been served in more than
one way by the possession of the is
lands. But our chief reason for contin-
uing to hold them must be that we ought
in good faith to try to do our share of
the worlds work and this particular
piece Of work has been imposed upon
us by the rusults of the war with Spain.
The problem presented to us in the
Philippine islands is akin to, but not
exactly like the problems presented to
the other great civilized powers which
have possessions in the orient There
are points of resemblance in our work
to the work which Is being done by the
British In India and Egypt by the
French in AlEiers, by the Dutch in Java,
by the Russians in Turkestan, by the
japanese in Formosa but more distinct
~ than any OF these powers we are en-
deavoring to develop the natives them
selves so that they shall take an ever
Increasing share in their own govern
ment, and as far as is prudent we are