Morgan County democrat. (Versailles, Mo.) 1900-1906, 1905-12-08
now pending IN the senat with the repubs
The Army and Navy.

The Army and Navy.
In connection with our foreign policy the
president discusses the condition Of our
army and navy. Considering the small
number Of our soldiers. he says, they should
be trained as nearly perfect AZ possible.
Continuing. he says: provision should
be made by sufficient appropriations for
maneuvers Of a practical kind so that tire
troops may learn how to take care Of them.
selves under actual service conditions;
every march. for Instance. being made with
the soldier loaded exactly as lie would 10
in an active campaign. The number of
posts In which the army Is kept in time OF
peace should be materially diminished and
the posts that are left made corresponds
ingly larger. Promotion by mere
seniority can never result in a thoroughly
eficient corps of officers In the higher
ranks unless there accompanies 1t a Wig
orous weeding-out process. Such a weed
ing-out process-that Is, such a process OF
sc.ection-is "a chief feature Of tie four
years course Of the young officer at West
Point. There Is no good reason why It
should stop Immediately upon hts gradu-
alton. After a certain age has been
reached the average officer IL unfit to do
good work below a certain grade. Provi-
sion should be made for the promotion OF
exceptionally meritorious men over the
heads OF their comrades and for the retire.
ment OF all men who have reached a given
I Nsch ~ dfsH
this age OF retirement Of course changing
from rank to rank. In both the army and
the navy there should be some principe Of
selection, that Is of promotion for merit,
and there should be IA resolute effort to
eliminate tie aged officers OF reputable
character who possess no special eff
cheney. There should be an increase in the
coast artillery force, 80 that our coast for
tlications can be In some degree adequate.
~ manned"
The president believes that our navy
Eas al present reached a strength sufficient
Tor our present needs, and says: 'Our navy
must, relatively to the navies Of other ma
Tors, always be Of greater size than cur
army. We have most wisely continued fer
a number Of years to build up our Iavy,
and 1t has now reached "A fairly high stand.
ard OF efficiency. This standard Of eff
c.ency must not Only be maintained, but
increased. 1t does not seem to ne ncces-
sary, however, that the navy shouldn't
least in the Immediate future-be In
creased beyond the prcscat Eumber OF
units. What is now clearly necessary is
to substitute efficient for Inefficient
units as the latter become WORKOUT or as
1t becomes apparent that they are useless
What We need nov is addi,iJna. seamsn;
"A large store Of reserve guns, ard sutti-
Gent money for arrp.c target practice and
al forms Of sea practice.
Immigration Question.
Tte cu,s.io, ~ iu,,r,,o, o,. a..
r,osiIon, is ava ', ',' 49,.
country, and legis. alton governing the in
fux of aliens Is badly needed. on this SUBJ
l"rt t." says: The prime reed Is to keep
out all immigrants who viii not make
good American citizens. Tie laws now ,X-
ni,,on.s .ta,rI '' "a
o,a,a .on oha,,I 80
w.. s,aiaia,, ,nsa 49,
.6in ror,nnia nnnn, "'r wa"
bu.t,..g - aIa...
,ybinh ea,h,tn 60. "a So ~ u -"
mn ~ ~ " son,'
r.n .o "'' $50 -
;,r,saa - n' "a '"".p
nor,s a. ~ ,sn rnhnr ., u,,Is ~
ratio to the tonnage which each vessel
can carry. This ratio should be high
enough to insure the coming fi,t,r of as
good a ciass Of alien. as uossib,e. ProyI-
sion should lie made for the surer punish
mcnt of these who induce aliens to cone
to this country under promise or assur-
ance Of employment. 1t should be made
possible to iniict a sufficiently heavy
penalty on any employer violating this
law 20 deter him from taking tie risk. II
seems Ia ne wise tha. thor. shou,d to an
international conference he'd m Geal win
this question OF Immigration. which has
more than "A merely national sirrIlcarco.
such "A conference could among other
things enter at length into n, methods for
securing a thorough INSPECTION of would
be immipran,sa a, Tho norts from which ,tey
desire "a embark h.fore rcrni,,inp ,ncm
tn embark" In regard tn n, Chinese cx-
Clusion laws .lc president SAWS ..ChInese
students business and prc I, ssinral mon Of
all kirds-not only merchants I'M, hank.
ers. doctors, manufacturers professors,
travc,ers and he uke-shou.d lie encour.