The St. Louis Republic., 1905-09-10

at six,v-threc. Porter was iif,v during
the Mississippi Campaign. Dewey WIS
sixty at Manila. and Sampson and
Schlcy We're both over ;iftv-cisht at
Santiago.
That the existing condition must Ia
rc'!lciicd Is PLAIN 10 the powers a; Wash
in.ton: and something has l,,r', done Ia
relieve i; hv reducing the length of the
Naval .Aca,iciny course for :. few months
at the end. 50 :.> To get the graduates
more rap,ily into active s-rv;cr-.,
doubtful cXlc.iic:; which a, lest merely
substitutes quantity for quality. Hall
4 dozen CAPTAINS. Civil War veterans.
recently have voluntarily retired a fac,
considered Ill ;'lc foregoing s,a,,>t,c>,.
some Of them attracted bv th.. advanced
grade "i rear r-.,i;uir..l thus acquired. But
Civil War veterans are growing few. and
this bait To- withdraw will Last only :,
little while longer.
The Navy Department appears To have
no definite plan. and III fact the rloSt
recent Interpretation III the personnel
Law hv the .\t;"rncv-i;cn,ral has I.r..-
duccd a rcsul, ;h.., = rather astonishing.
Here We are irving to find a Way to
rcjuvcn,;c the grades Of officers in Co,n-
,nani which will irr,!iii It's To r,.'r"vc the
veterans al from ;ifiv-,hr,. {" si>tv-"nc
wears oi age and substitute men in the
fnrticS III their place. The men III th..
frr;irS rl-IS, "i course !c experienced
naval "iiic,rS oi twcntv-iivc wears. and
over. standing. and the only source L.,
them i the list -. lieutenant commanders.
Yet through the present Interpretation ri
probably th,. most imperfect statute tE.,;
MS ever i'rccI;I'ai,d "n the navy. Hu
les than thirty eight rf these C,,'uI,lr-
.,,,v-iv v"u-. an.! highly educated
officers have ircn Irr:ni,,..! voluntarily
I" retire WIKI advanced rank and with
what III ;i,.Ir ci>- il - clear ;".nS,"',
averaging some twcntv-i":i- hundred dol
Lars each Il v,ar We are H., removing,
the >r,;-.ra'IIi,I..--i. i,. !, Observed. W..
ar, rr:gnyin, ;i..n rn whom Ne :clv. and
indeed have educated. 1. replace. them,
an: thrS, wr arc practically PAWN. h,.!v-
:.y L. Z" "'!i AMI engage III other business.
S,..'lv ~ IN, - ";,iC;-> thus retired iuaV
perhaps ir willing :. accept active duty.
B,:i u! any event i."i. =, the ;-'>>i'lr cost
oi the proceeding: about ri"il,y-ci.ii:
Thousand dollars Il year expenditure inr
which no service necessarily need ic
rendered. AN! this 10 continue ior the.
i.f-riinc> "i ti,r;v-ri-hi i;lrn. al. with
one exception. under :.itv. And This we
are dong al :. time when We are cutting
DOWN the Naval .Ac.,,!cInv c"trSc. keep
~. Young officers on practically con-
tinuo,:S SEA duty for SIX and seven wears
4, :. stretch. sending hai,lc->hI,,S :" SEA
with yti",..s "i officers numbering not
much ,ilor,. than hall those assigned Ia
Ike vessels III other navIc>. imposing
upon 'uIi>hi,',ncn lust "1:t "i the .\cai-
c:nv ;h, responsible work "f liru:rnant>.
and Incidentally wondering why We
occasionally hear ,h.., this "- ,h., officer.
heavily "vcrw",kri. has h"l..lcS>ly broken
down az taken HIS own life.
Most ;-,p;l governed hv ordinary COM
s!,icra,,n-i> e.: h,:>;r,>> ci,.C,-rcv will say
that the "-iv way :" end an evident
abuse = :" md u, and ,i,nv that s,.r;i-
,nc-gt h.> any ilIc,. IN he matter Ger
;a,;liv II My suddenly found Us IL our
present status mighty short wo-,; would
bc made "i The ;:,-~c:l. ,i,!;ri-.,l> and