The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-12-07

been witnessed both in Armenia and Macedonia
 THE NAVY.
 The strong arm of the government in enforcing respect for It's jrst rights in international matters is the navy of the United States. l most earnestly recom- mend that there be no halt in the work of upbullding the American navy. There is no more patriotic duty before us as a people than to keep the navy adequate to the needs of this countrys position We have undertaken to build the isthmtan canal We have undertaken to secure for ourselves our just share in the trade of the Orient We have undertaken to pro- tect our citizens from improper treat ment In foreign lands We continue steadily to Insist on the application of the Monroe doctrine to the Western Hem isphere. Unless our attitude in these and all similar matters Is to be mere boastful sham we cannot afford to aban- don our nval programme. Our voice IS now potent for peace and Is so potent because we are not afraid of war. But our protestations upon behalf Of peace would neither receive nor deserve the slightest attention if We were impotent to make them good.
 The war which now unfortunately rages in the far east has emphasized in striking fashion the new possibilities or naval warfare The lessons taught are both stragetic and tactical, and are po- l litical as well as military. The experi- ences of the war have shown in conclu- l sive fashion that While sea-gong and l ea-keeping torpedo destroyers are indls- pensable, and fast lightly armed and ar | mored cruisers very useful yet that the main reliance, the main standby, in any navy worthy the name must 0e the great I battleships, heavily armored and heavily l gunned. Not Russian or japanese bat l tleship has been sunk by 8 torpedo 1 boat, or by gunire, while among the less | protected ships, cruiser after cruiser has | been destroyed whenever the hostile | squadrons have gotten w--lin range or I one anothers weapons. There will always l be large field of usefulness for cruisers, 1 especially of the more formidable type. | We need to increase the number Of tor l pedo-boat destroyers paying less heed to | their having a knot or two extra speed than to their capacity to keep the seas | for weeks, and. If necessary, for months | at a time It is wise to bu..d submarine | torpedo boats under certain circum- I stances they might be very useful. But most of all we need to continue building our fleet of battleshps, or ships so pow erfully armed that they can infiict the | maximum of damage upon our opponents,
 
 fer severe hammering in return with l out fatal impairment of their ability to 1 fight and maneuver. of course ample l means must be provided forenabling the | personnel of the navy to be brought to | the highest point Of efficiency. Our great | fighting ships and torpedo boats must be ceaselessly trained and maneuvered in squadrons. The officers and men can ] only learn their trade thoroughly by | no ipb the event of war it would be far better l to have no ships at all than to have ships | of poor and ineffective type, or ships
 which, however good, were yet manned | by untrained and unskilled crews. Tho best officers and men in poor ship could do nothing against fairly good op-
 ponents; and on the other hand mod
 ern war ship is useless unless the oh-
 cers and men aboard her have become
 adepts fin their duties The markmans- shin in our navy has improved in an ex- | traordinary degree during the last three | vears and on tho whole the types of our
 battleships are improving; but much re- , mains to be done. Sooner or later we shall have to provide for some method by which there will be promotions for merit as well as for seniority, or else ; ; retirement of all those who after cer- tain age have not advanced beyond cer-
 tain grade: while no effort must be 2 snared to make the service attractive to
 the enlisted men in order that they may be kept as long as possible fin it. Reser- vation 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 dlsarma-
 ment where disarmament was proper. By
 law our army is fixed at maximum or
 100000 and a minimum of 60OOO men.
 When there was insurrection in the Phil
 ippines we kept the army at the maxi-
 mum. Peace came in the Philippines, and
 now our army has been reduced to the
 minimum at which 1t Is possible to keep
 1t with due regard to it's efficiency. The
 guns now mounted require 2s,000 men if
 the coast Notifications are to be ade-
 auately manned. Relatively to the na-
 ton, 1t is not now so large as the police
 force of New York or Chicago relatively
 to the population of either city. We need
 more officers; there are not enough to | perform the regular army work. It Is very important that the officers of the
 army should be accustomed to handle | their men in masses, as it is also impor-
 tant that the national guard of the sev- | eral states should be accustomed to &C.,
 tual field maneuvering, especially in con- nection with the regulars. For this req
 son we are to be congratulated upon the
 success of the field maneuvers at Manas-
 sas last fall, maneuvers in which larg-
 CT number of regulars anu national guard
 took part than was ever before assem-
 bled together in time of peace. No other
 civilized nation has, relatively to It's pop
 ulation. such a dminutive army as ours: and while the army Is so small we are
 not to be excused if we fail to keep it
 at a very high grade of proficiency. It must be necessarily practiced: the stand-
 ard for the officers should be kept even