Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-12-06

useful, yet that the main reliance, the main
standby, In any navy worthy the name
must be the great battle ships. heavily ar
mored and heavily gunned. Not Russian
or Japanese battle ship has been sunk by
torpedo boat, or by gunflre. while among
cruiser has been DESTROYED whenever the
hostile squadrons have gotten within range
OF one another's weapons. There Will al
ways be large field Of usefulness for
cruisers, especially Of the more formidable
type. We need to increase the number Of
torpedo-boat destroyers, paying less heed
to their having knot or two extra speed
rather than to their capacity to keep the
seas for weeks. and. II necessary. for
months at q time. It IL wise to build SUBJ
| marine torpedo boats, as under certain cir
cumstances they might be very useful But
neet OF battle ships or ships 50 powerfully
armed that they can inflict the maximum
| OF damage upon our opponents, and so
well protected that they can suffer q Sc
impairment of their ability to fight and
maneuver. OF course ample means must
De provided for enabling the personnel Of
the Navy to be brought to the highest
| point OF emciency. Our great fighting ships
and torpedo boats must be ceaselessly train
ed and Unanswered in squadrons.
| Inc omcers and men can only learn their
the high seas. In the event of war it would
pc far better to have no ships at all than to
nave ships of a poor and ineffective type, or
SHIPS which. however good. were yet
manned by unframed and unskillful crews.
Inc best officers and men in a poor ship
could no nothing against fairly good OPP
ponents;, and on the ether hand a modern
war ship is useless unless the officers and
men aboard her have become adopts in
! their duties. The craftsmanship In our
| navy has improved in an extraordinary de-
| gree 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 pro-
motions for merit as well as for seniority,
or else retirement of all those who after a
certain age have not advanced beyond a
certain grade; while no effort must be
! spared to make the service attractive to the
enlisted men In order that they may be kept
as long as possible in it. Reservation pub
nc schools should be provided wherever
| there are navy yards.
The Army.
Within the last three years the United
States has set an example in disarmament
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 insurrec-
ton in the Philippines we kept the army
at the maximum. Peace came in the Phil
ippines. and now our army has been re-
duced to the minimum at which it is pos
sfble to keep 1t with due regard to its eff
ficiency. The guns now mounted require
twenty-eight thousand men. If the coast
fortfications are to be adequately manned.
Relatively to the nation, 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.
1t Is very important that the officers Of
the army should be accustomed to handle
their men In masses, as it Is also i'm
portant that the National Guard of the
n
actual field maneuvering, especially in con-
nection with the regulars. For this reason
we are to be congratulated upon the sue
cess of the field maneuvers at Manassas
last fall maneuvers in which a larger num-
Der Of regulars and National Guard took
part than was ever before assembled to-
gether in time Of peace. No other civilized
nation has. relatively to its population, such
diminutive army as ours; and while the
army is SO small we are not to be excused
If we fail to keep 1t at a very high grade
of proficiency 1t must be necessarily prac- |
ticed; the standard for the enlisted men
should be kept very high. while at the same
time the service should be made as at
tractive as possible; and the standard for
the officers should be kept even higher |
which, as regards the upper ranks, can best |
be done by introducing some system of
selection and rejection 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 |
a whole. at least the equal of any body of |
troops of like number belonging to any |
other nation.
Great progress has been made in protect |
ing our coasts by adequate Notifications |
with sufficient guns. We should, however, |
pay much more heed than at present to the |
development of an extensive system of |
floating mines for use in all our more i'm |
portant harbors. These mines have been |
proved to be a most formidable safeguard |
against hostile fleets.
Medals of Honor in the Navy.
I earnestly call the attention of the Con- |
gress to the need of amending the existing |
law relating to the award of Congress
sional 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 unjust that the commissioned OFF,
GERS and warrant officers of the Navy |
should not 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 Philippine Islands there has been
during the past year a continuation of the
steady progress which has obtained ever
since our troops definitely got the upper
hand Of the insurgents. The Philippine
people, or to speak more accurately. the
one another more or less sharply. who go
to make up the people Of the Philippine Is
lands. contain many elements of good, and
some elements which we have right to
hope stand for progress. At present they
are utterly incapable Of existing In indie
pendence at all or Of building up civili-
cation of their own. I firmly believe that
we can help them to rise higher and higher
in the scale of civilization and of capacity
for self-government, and 1 most earnestly
hope that in the end they will be able to
stand If not entirely alone. yet In some
such relation to the United States as CUBA
row stands This end Is not yet in sight,
and 1t may be indefinitely postponed II our
neople are foolish enough to turn the at
fention of the Filipinos away from the
problems of achieving moral and material
nrosperity. Of working for a stable, orderly,
and lust government, and toward foolish
and dangerous intrigues for complete in
dependence for which they are as yet totally
unfit.
On the other hand our people must keep
steadily before their minds the fact that
the justification for our stay in the Philip
pines must ultimately rest chiefly upon the
good we are able to do in the islands.
do not overlook the fact that in the devel-
onment 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
D,,t chief rea SOn for continuing |