Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1904-12-06
THE ARGUS. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1904.

as has been witnessed both in Armenia
and Macedonia.
The Navy.
The strong arm of the government in
/ enforcing respect for its just rights in
international matters is the navy of
the United States. / most earnestly
recommend that there be no halt in the
, work of upbuilding 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 country 3
position. We have undertaken to build
the isthmian canal. We have under
taken to secure for ourselves our just
share in the trade of he orient. We
have undertaken to protect our citi-
zens from improper treatment in for
eign lands. We continue steadily to
insist on the application of the Monroe
doctrine to the western hemisphere.
Unless our attitude in these and al!
similar matters is to be Il mere boast
full sham we cannot afford to abandon
our naval 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 il we were impotent
to make them good.
The war which now unfortunately
RACES in the far east has emphasized
in striking fashion the new POSSIBLE
ties of naval warfare. The lessons
taught are both strategic and tactical
and are political as well as military.
The experiences Of the war have shown
in conclusive fashion that. while sea-
going and sea keeping torpedo destroy
crs are Indispensable and fast. lightly
armed and armored cruisers very use
full, yet that the main reliance, the
main standby in any navy worthy the
name must be the great battleships,
heavily armored and heavily gunned.
Not q Russian or Japanese battleship
has been sunk by n torpedo boat or by
gun fire, while among the less protected
Ships cruiser after cruiser has been de-
strOyed whenever the hostile squad
rOns have got within range of one an
others weapons. There will always be
Il large field of usefulness for cruisers.
especially of the more formidable type.
We need to increase the number of tor
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 time. 1t is wise to
build submarine torpedo boats, as un-
der certain circumstances they might
be very useful. But most of all we
need to continue building our fleet Of
hi, fr,1l
ed that they can infiict the maximum
of damage upon our opponents, and so
well protected that they can suffer
severe hammering in return without
fatal impairment of their ability to
fight and maneuver. OF course ample
means must be provided for enabling
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 maneu-
vered in squadrons. The officers and
men can only learn their trade thor
oughly by ceaseless practice on the
high seas. In the event of war it
would be far better to have no ships
at all than to have ships of a poor and
ineffective type or ships which, how
ever good, were yet manned by I'M
trained and unskillfui crews. The best
officers and men in n poor ship could do
nothing against fairly good opponents,
and on the other hand, Il 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 extraOr-
binary degree during the last three
years. and on the whole the types Of
our battleships 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
tions 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 eff
fort must be spared to make the serv-
ice attractive 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 |
where disarmament was |
proper BY law our army is fixed at
maximum of 100000 and minimum
of 10000 men. When there was insur-
rectiOn in the Philippines we kept the
army at the maximum. Peace came in
the Philippines, and now our army has
been reduced to the minimum at
which it is possible to keep it with due
regard to it's efficiency. The guns now
mounted require 2S.000 men if the
coast Notifications are to be adequate
" manned. Relatively to the nation it 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 10 handle
heir men i'm masses. as it is also i'm
Dortant that the national guard of the
several states should be accustomed to