The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-12-06

single -turret monitors built immediately after the close of the Spanish war. fof instance 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 it would have been far better never to have built a single one of these monitors and to have put the money into an ampls 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 poliea 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 has emphasized certain lessons which ought not to, but which do need emphasis. Seagoing tor pedo boats or destroyers are indispensable not only for making night attacks by surprise upon the enemy, but even in battle for finishing already crippled ships. Under exceptional circumstances subma- rne 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 armed cruisers also play a most useful part, and unarmed cruisers, if swift enough, are very useful as scouts Be- tween antagonists of approximately equal prowess the comparative perfection of the instruments of war will ordinarily de- termine the fight But it is of course true that the man behind the gun, the man in the engine room, the man in the con- ming tower, considered not only individ- ually, but especially with regard to the way they work together. are even moro 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
 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 cannot be handled at all without long and careful training. This training can under no circumstances be given when once war has broken out. No fight ing 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-
 lection. To put a new and untrained crew upon the most powerful battle ship
 and send 1t out to meet formidable en-
 emy is not only to invite but to insure disaster and disgrace. To improvise crews at the outbreak of war, so far as the
 serious fighting craft are concerned, is absolutely hopeless. If the officers and
 men are not thoroughly skilled in, and
 have not been thoroughly trained to,
 their duties. 1t would be far better to
 keep the ships In port during hostilities
 than to send them against a formidable
 opponent, for the result could only be
 that they would be either sunk or cap
 tured. The craftsmanship of our navy Is
 now on the whole in gratifying con
 dition, and there has been a great im-
 provement in fleet practice. We need ad- ditional seamen; we need a large store
 or reserve guns, we need sufficient mo- ney for ample target practice of every kind at sea. We should substitute for comparatively insufficient types-the old third class battleship Texas, the single turreted monitors above mentioned, and in deed all the monitors and some of the old cruisers-efficient, modern, seagoing vessels. Seaging torpedo boat destroyers should be substituted for some of the | smaller torpedo boats. During the present l Congress there need be no additions to | the aggregate number of units of the ! navy Our navy, though very small rela- | lively to the navies of other nations, is 1 for the present sufficient in point of
 numbers for our needs, and while we must l constantly strive to make it's efficiency | higher, there need be no additions to the total number of ships now built and | building, save in the way of substitution as above outlined. I recommend the re- | port of the Secretary of the Navy, to the | careful consideration of the Congress, es- | pecally with a view to the legislation l therein advocated.
 Naturalization Laws.
 1 During the past year evidence has &C., cumuIated to confirm the expressions | contained in my last two annual mes 1 sases as to the importance of revising l by appropriate legislation our system of | naturalizing aliens. I appointed last | March a commission to make a careful | examination of our naturalization laws, and to suggest appropriate measures to | avoid the notorious abuses resulting from | the improvident or unlawful granting of | citizenship. This commission, composed | of an officer of the department of state, | of the department of justice and of the | department of commerce and labor, has
 discharged the duty imposed upon it, and | has submitted a report, which will be
 transmitted to the Congress for its con- sideration, and, I hope, for Its favorable I action.
 The distinguished recommendations of | the commission are:
 | First, a 1edefal bureau or ndIufdllZd- l ton, to be established in the department of commerce and labor, to supervise the | administration of the naturalization laws | and to receive returns of naturalizations | pending and accomplished.
 | Second. uniformity of naturalization | certificates, fees to be charged, and pro- cedure.
 Third, more exaeting qualifications for l citizenship.
 Fourth, the preliminary declaration of
 be naturalized until at least ninety days l after the filing of his petition.
 l Fifth, jurisdiction to naturalize aliens | to be confined to United States district
 courts and to such state courts as have 1 Jurisdiction in civil actions in which the
 amount in controversy is unlimiteo' m | cities of over 100000 inhabitants the | United States district courts to nave ex- | elusive Jurisdiction in the NATURALIZATION | of the alien residents of such cities.
 Criminal Laws.
 | In my last message I asked the atten- l tion of inc Congress to the urgent need l of action to make our criminal law more l effective. and I most earnestly request
 that YOU pay heed to the report of the | a attornev general on this subject Cen
 turtles ago it was especially needful to | throw every safeguard round the ac- | cused The danger then was lest he | should be wronged by the state. The | danger is now exactly the reverse. Our l laws and customs tell immensely m Ia vor of the criminal and against the in- l terests of the public he has wronged. ! Some antiquated and outworn rules which
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