The Lexington intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1901-1949, 1906-12-15
THE ARMY AND NAVY.
Asks for Maintenance OF Our Present
Sea Strength.


The United States navy is The surest
guarantor Of peace which this country
possesses. 1t is earnestly to be wlsht that
we would profit by the teachings of his-
tory In this matter. A strong and wise
people will study its own failures no less
than It's triumphsl for there Is wisdom to
be learned from the study Of both, of the
mistake as well as Of the success. For
this purpose nothing could be more in
structive han a rational study of the war
of 1912, as II is told, for instance, by Capt.
Mahan. There was only one way In which
that war could have been avoided. If
during the preceding - years a navy rela-
lively as strong as that which this coun-
try now has had been built up, and an
army provided relatively as good as hat
which the country now has, there never
would have been the slightest necessity
Of fighting the war: and If the necessity
had arisen the war would under such cir
cumstances nave ended with our speedy
and overwhelming triumph. But our peo-
pie during those IL years refused to make
any preparations whatever, regarding
either the army or the navy. They saved
a million or two Of dollars by so doing;
and in mere money paid a hundredfold
for each million they thus saved during
the three years of war which followed
a war which brought untold suffering
upo our people, which at one time
threatened the gravest national disaster,
and which, in spite Of the necessity Of
waging II, resulted merely in what was
in effect a drawn battle, while the balance
Of defeat and triumph was lmost even.
l do not ask that we continue to in
crease our navy. l ask merely hat II be
maintained at its present strength; and
Ibis can be lone only II we replace the
obsolete and outworn ships by new and
good ones, the equals of any afoat in any
navy. To stop building ships for one year
means that for that year the navy goes
g Instead Of forward. The old battle
ship Texas, for instance, would now be
Of little service in a stand-up fight with
a powerful adversary. The old double
turret monitors have outworn their use
fulness, while It was a waste Of money to
build the modern single-turret monitors.
All these ships should be replaced by
others; and this can be done by a we'll
settled program Of providing for the
building each year Of at least one first
class battleship equal In size and speed to
any that any nation is at the same time
building; the armament presumably to
consist Of as large a number as possible
Of very heavy guns of one caliber. to-
gether with smaller guns to repel torpedo
attack; While there should be heavy ar
NOR, turbine engines, and In short, every
modern device. OF course, from time to
time, cruisers, %colliers, torpedo-boat de-
stroyers or torpedo boats, will have to be
built also. All this, be II remembered,
would not Increase our navy, but would
merely keep 1t at its present strength.
Equally Of course, the ships will be abso-
lutely useless II the men aboard them
are not so trained thatNthey can get the
nEnN NNnoAIAG NEGN WIZ OAA Va the lOIlHIuaDIe
but delicate and complicated m~echanisms
intrusted to their care. The marksman-
ship OF our men has 80 improved during
the last FIVE years that I deem 1t within
bounds to say that the navy is more than
twice as efficient, ship for ship. as half a
decade ago. The navy can only attain
proper efficiency II enough officers and
men are provided, and II these officers
AS Een are given the chanc (and re-
quired 10 tax advantage Of III 10 STAY
continually at sea and to exercise the
fleets singly and above all IN squadron,
the exercise to be Of every kim and to
include unceasing practice at the guns,
conducted under conditions that will test
craftsmanship In time Of war.
In both the army and the navy there IS
urgent need that everything possible
should be done to maintain the highest
standard for the personnel, alike as re-
CARDS the officers and the enlisted men.
40 not believe that IN any service there
is a finer body Of enlisted men and OF
junior officers than we have In both
the army n the navy, including the
marine corps. All possible encourage
m0At to the enlisted men should be civen.
IN pay and otherwise, and everything
practicable done to render the service at
tractive TO men Of the right type. They
should be held to the s~trictest discharrs
OF their duty, and In them a spirit should
be encouraged which demands not the
mere performances Of duty, but the per
formance OF far more han duty. II II
conduces to the honor and the Interest
Of the American nation; and IN return
the amplast consideration should be
theirs.
Need New PromOtIonas System.
west Point and Annapolis already turn
out excellent officers We do not need
to have these schools made more scholas.
tic. On the contrary we should neve
lose sight OF the fact that the aim OF
sadA school 10 to turn out a man who