Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1905-12-05

he IL dropped unless he canes up {
a certain standard Of excellence, an
when he graduates he takes rank Il
he army according to his rang OF grad
lati0n. The results are good ~ Yves
Point; and there should be In the arm,
tself something that will achieve tn
same end. After "A certain age ha.
1een reached the average officer 1
unfit TO do good work below a certain
srade. Provision should be made To-
he promotion OF exceptionally merlto
| ious men over the heads OF their com
| aides, and for the retirement OF al
men who have reached a given agi
without getting beyond a given rank
his age of retirement of course chang
,rmy and the navy there should be
some principle Of selection, that Is OF
promotion for merit, and there should
be a resolute effort to eliminate the
iged officers or reputable character
who possess no special efficiency.
There should be an increase In the
coast artillery force, 80 that our coast
Notifications can be In some degree
adequately manned. There Is special
need for an Increase and reorganiza.
lion OF the medical department Of the
army. In both the army and navy
there must be the same thorough
training for duty In the staff corps as
in the fighting line. Only by such
training In advance we can be sure
that In actual war field operations
and those at sea will be carried on
successfully The Importance Of this
was shown ~conclusively In the Span
lsh-American and the Russo-Japanese
wars. The work OF the medical de-
partments In the japanese army and
navy Is especially worthy of study. |
renew my recommendation OF January
?, 1905, AS to the medical department
II the army and call attention to the
equal importance Of the needs Of the
STAFF corps Of the navy. In the medi
raj department Of the navy the first
In importance Is the reorganization of
hospital corps, on the lines OF the
Gallinger bill Is. 1854, February l.,
1904, and the reapportionment OF the
different grades Of the medical omi-
to meet service requirements. II
seems advisable also that medical Of
icers OF the army and navy should
have similar rank and pay In their
respective grades. so that their duties
can be carried on without friction
when they are brought together. The
base hospitals OF the navy should be
pnt In condition to meet modern re.
luire ments and hospital ships be pro-
vided. Unless WI now provide with
ample fo%rethought for the medical
needs Of the army and navy appalling
suffering OF a ~preventable kind is
sure to occur II ever the country goes
to war. 1t Is not reasonable to expect
successful administration In time of
war Of a department which lacks a
third Of the number OF Officers neces-
sary to perform the medical service
In time OF peace. We need men who
are not merely doctors; they must be
trained In the administration of mill
sary medical service.
Our navy. must. relatively to the
navies OF other nations, always be OF
greater size than orr army, We have
most wisely continued for q number OF
years 10 build up our navy, and It has
now reached a fairly high standard of
efficiency. This standard Of efficiency
must not only be maintained, but In
creased. II does not seem to ME nee
essary, however, that the navy should
least In the immediate future-be
increased beyond the present number
OF units. What is nov clearly neces-
sary Is TO substitute efficient for In
efficient units as the latter become
WORKOUT or as 1t becomes apparent
hat they are useless. Probably the
result would be attained by adding a
single battleship to our navy each
year, the superseded or Outworn ves
sells being laid up or broken up as
they are replaced. The four single-tur-
ret monitors built Immediately after
the close Of the Spanish war. for in.
are vessels which would be of
but little use In the event of war.
The money spent upon them could
have been more usefully spent In
other ways. Thus II would have been
far better never to have built a sin
BILE one of these monitors and to
have put the money into an ample
supply OF serve 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 zoe. There is urgent
need Of providing q large increase In
tie number Of officers, and especially
In the number of enlisted men.
Recent naval history has emphasiz-
ed certain lessons which ought not to,
but which do. need emphasis. Sea.
going torpedo boats or destroyers are
Indispensable, not only for making
night attacks by surprise upon an en-
envy, but even In battle for finishing
crippled ships. Under excep
tional circumstances submarine boats
would doubtless be of use. Fast
scouts are needed. The main strength
" the navy, however. lies and can
only lie in the great battle ships, the
armored. heavily gunned yes
sels which decide the mastery Of the
seas. ~Heavy-armed cruisers also play
4 most useful part, and unarmcd cruis.
,rs, II swift enough, are very useful
rs scouts.
Naturalization Laws.
During the past year evidence has
accumulated to confirm the express
sions contained In my last two annual
Messages. as to the Importance of re
Using by appropriate legislation our
Of n%aturalizing aliens. ap-
last March q commission to
make a careful examination Of our ma.
uralization laws, and to suggest appro-
,riate measures to avoid the notorious