Arizona republican., 1905-12-06

3AN. WEDNESDAY MORT should be allowed to stand in the way of assembling the greater part of the troops which would at need form oul field armies in stations of such sizC
 as will permit the best training to be
 given to the personnel of all grades including the high officers and staff
 officers. To accomplish this end we
 we must have not company or regi-
 mental garrisons, but brigade and di-
 vision garrisons. Promotion by mere
 seniority can never result in a thor ! oughly efficient corps of officers ir 1 the higher ranks unless there accom- panies it a vigorous weeding-out pro-
 cess. Such a weeding-out process
 that is, such a process of selection | is a chief feature of the four years
 course of the young officer at West Point. There is no good reason why it should stop immediately upon his graduation. While at West Point he is dropped unless he comes up to a certain standard of excellence, and when he graduates he takes rank in the army according to ais rank of
 
 West Point; and there should be in the army itself something that will achieve the same end. After a certain age has been reached the average of ficer is unfit to do good work below a certain grade. Provision should be made for the promotion of exception ally meritorious men over the heads of their comrades and for the retire al,o =, given age without getting beyond a given rank; this age of retirement of course changing from rank to rank. In both the army and navy there should be some principle of selection, that is of promotion for merit, and there should be a resolute effort to elimi- nate the aged officers of reputable character who possess no special ef- ficiency.
 THE SUPERIOR NAVY.
 Our navy must relatively to the na- vies of other nations, always be of greater size than our army. We have most wisely continued for a number of years to build up our navy, and it has now reached a fairly high stand ard of efficiency. This standard of efficiency must not only be maintain ed, but increased. It does not seem to me necessary, however, that the navy should-at least in the immediate fu- ture-be increased beyond the present number of units. What is now clearly necessary is to substitute efficient for inefficient units as the latter be- come worn out or as it becomes ap- parent that they are useless. Proba- bly the result would be attained by adding a single battle ship to our navy each year, the superseded or out worn vessels being laid up or broken up as they are thus replaced. The four single-turret monitors built immedi- ately after the close of the Spanish war, for instance, are vessels which would be of little use in the event Of war. The money spent upon them could have been more uSefully spent in other ways. Thus it would have been far better never to have built a single one of those monitors and to have put the money into an ample supply of reserve guns. Most of the smaller cruisers and gunboats, though they serve a useful purpose so far as they are needed for international po- lice work would not add to the strength of our navy in a conflict with a serious foe. There is urgent need of providing a large increase in the number of officers, and especially in the number of enlisted men.
 Recent naval history nas emphasiz- ed certain lessons which ought not to, but which do, need emphasis. Seagoing torpedo boats or destroyers are indis- pensable not only for making night attacks by surprise upon an enemy, but even in battle for finishing already crippled ships. Under exceptional cir cumstances submarine boats would doubtless be of use. Fast scouts are needed. The main strength of the navy, however, lies and can only lie in the great battle ships, the heavily armored, heavily gunned vessels which decide the mastery of the seas. Heavy cruisers also play most useful part, and unarmed cruis- CTS, if swift enough, are very useful as scouts. Between antagonists of approximately equal prowess the com parative perfection of the instruments of war will ordinarily determine the fight. But it is of course true that the man behind the gun, the man in the engine-room, and the man in the coming tower, considered not only in dividually, but especially with regard to the way in which they work to- gether, are even more important than the weapons with which they work, The most formidable battle ship is of course helpless against even a light cruiser if the men aboard it are un- able to hit anything with their guns; and thoroughly well-trained cruisers may count seriously in an engagement with much superior vessels, if the men aboard the latter are ineffective, whether from lack of training or from any other cause. Modern war ships are most formidable mechanisms. when well handled, but they are utterly use less when not well handled; and they can not be handled at all without long and careful training.
 NATURALIZATlON LAWS.
 During the past year evidence has accumulated to confirm the eXpres- s;ons contained in my last two annual messages as to the importance of re- vising by appropriate legislation our system of naturalizing aliens. l ap- pointed last March a commission to make a careful examination of our naturalization laws, and to suggest appropriate measures to avoid the mo- toriO11s abusese resulting from tho inn