Los Angeles herald., 1905-12-06

time of war Of a department which
lacks third OF the number Of officers
necessary 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
tary medical service.
Navy Larger Than Army
our navy must. relatively to the
navies of other nations, always be of
greater size than our army We have
most wisely continued for number of
years to build up our navy, and 1t has
now reached a fairly high standard of
efficiency. This standard of efficiency
must not only be maintained, but in
creased. 1t does not seem to me neces-
sary, however, that the navy should
at least in the immediate future-be In
creased beyond the present number of
units. What Is now clearly necessary
Is to substitute efficient for inefficient
units as the latter become worn out or
as 1t becomes apparent that they arc
useless. Probably the result would be
attained by adding a single battleship
to our navy each year, the superseded
or outworn vessels being laid up or
broken up as they are thus replaced
The four single-turret monitors built
Immediately after the close OF the Span
ish war; for instance, are vessels
which would be of but little use in the
event OF war. The money spent upon
them could have been more usetuily
spect I'm other ways. Thus II would
have been far better never to have
built single one of these 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 police
work. would not add to the strength
of our navy in a conflict with serious
foe. There is urgent need of providing
"a large increase in the number of Off
GERS, and especially in the number of
enlisted men.
Lessons of Recent History
Recent naval history has emphasized
certain lessons which ought not to, but
which do, need emphasis. Seagoing
torpedo boats or destroyers are inois-
Tensable not only for making night at
tacks by surprise upon an enemy, but
even in battle for finishing already
crippled ships. Under exceptional cir
cumstarces 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 battleships, the heavily -armored,
heavily -gunned vessels which decide
the mastery of the seas. Heavy
cruisers also play a most useful part,
and unarmed cruisers, If swift enough,
are very useful as scouts. Between an
tagonists of approximately equal
prowess the comparative 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
Individually, but especially with regard
to the way in which they work to-
gether, are even more important than
the weapons with which they work.
Men Behind the Guns
The most formidable battleship is of
course helpless against even a light
cruiser if the men aboard it are unable
to hit anything with their guns; and
thoroughly well handled 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 useless
when not well handled; and they car
not be handled at all without long and
careful training. This training can
under no circumstances be given when
once war has broken out. No fighting
ship of the first class should ever be
laid up save for necessary repairs; and
her crew should be kept constantly
exercised on the high seas, so that she
may stand at the highest point of per-
fection. To put a new and unframed
crew upon the most powerful battleship
and sent 1t out to meet a formidable
enemy is not only to invite but to in
sure disaster and disgrace To improvise
crews at the outbreak of war, so far
as the serious fighting craft are con-
cerned, is absolutely hopeless. If the
officers and men are not thoroughly
skilled in, and have not been thoroughly
trained to, their duties. it would be far
better to keep the ships in port during
hostilities than to send them against
formidable opponent for the result
could only be that they would be either
sunk or captured. The craftsmanship
of our navy is now on the whole in a
gratifying condition, and there has been
great Improvement in fleet practice.
More Seamen Needed
We need additional seamen; we need
large store of reserve guns; we need
sufficient money for ample target prac-
tice, ample practice of every kind at
sea. We should substitute for COM
paratively inefficient types-the old
third class battleship Texas, the single
turreted monitors above mentioned,
and indeed all the monitors and some
of the old cruisers-efficlent, modern,
seagoing vessels. Seagoing torpedo
boat destroyers should be. substituted
for some of the smaller torpedo boats.
During the present congress there need
be no additions to the aggregate num-
Der of units of the navy. Our navy,
though very small relatively to the
navies of other nations, is for the pres
ent sufficient i'm point of numbers for
our needs, and while We must con-
stantly strive to make its efficiency
higher, there need be no additions to
the total number of ships now built
and building, save in the way of sub
stitution as above outlined. / recon-
mend the report of the secretary of the
navy to the careful consideration of the
congress, especially with view to the
Legislation therein advocated.
| NECESSITY FOR
REVISING AVIS