Omaha daily bee., 1906-05-13

America the situation II critical Our navy
Is utterly inadequate and We have no
bases beyond our shores. The great obsta~
Gle in the way of proceeding to make ade-
quate provision is the lack Of public inter
est, constituting an inherent weakness OF
our country. To overcome this weakness
we should bend every patriotic energy
employing the proceedings of the naval In
stitute, the resources of the Navy League
and form a board under the Navy Depart
ment to utilize 10 the utmost the public
press, the same board TO course the CEN
sorship in time OF war.
Along with lessons in policy, the wal
teaches valuable lessons for America In
strategy and tactics. The foremost STRATEGY
cal lesson of the war is the inherent advan-
tage of aggressive operations. The Japan
csc from the start took the aggressive on
land and sea and kept the Russians ON the
defence until the war was over Swift and
vigorous offence is indeed the best method
OF defence. The Romans failed utterly te
drive Hannibal from Italy until they In
vaded Africa Whereupon Hannibal wa
Immediately summoned home to defend
Carthage. The coasts Of Japan and tbs
lines OF communications TO Manchuria
were never menaced because the japanese
kept the Russian fleets on the defensive
Had the japanese fleets stayed at nome q
protect their coasts, these coasts Woulo
have been in danger and the line OF com
lmunication broken and decisive operations
impossible.
The Battle Ship.
Besides lessons in strategy and tactics
the war teaches valuable lessons in ques-
itions of material and personnel, For the
question of type, It clearly shows that to-
day, as Of old the brunt Of battle must be
borne by ships of the greatest offensive
and defensive power. As the war cloud
rises in the Orient We see the battle ship
standing out as the only safe foundation
upon which to build up sea power The
armored cruiser has been conspicuous
though more in scouting and in fighting
each other than in general engagements
service, but these must be placed with
the weaker types in the category OF the
auXiliares. When all is said and done
the fact remains that however important
operations In the attack and defence Of
coast lines and of commerce may be under
special conditions the control OF the sea
has always been settled at last, and must
always be settled In great decisive bat.
ties, where both sides gather the bulk OF
their fighting strength, and in these bat
ties the victory must rise or fall with the
rugged ships that can stand up and en-
idure punishment and strike the heavy
blows.
It must be borne in mind, however, thai
the strongest battle ship can be crtuDle,1
In an unguarded moment by torpedo blow
from the weakest craft or from a fioatinR
mine. Both sides sustained serious dam
age in this way, ana more careful pro-
vision must be made 10 guard against such
injuries Each battle ship should carry
In addition 10 It's usual equipment, at least
four powerful picket launches, capable OF
keeping the sea whenever torpedo vessels
could operate and specially equipped to
drag for hoating mines and torpedoes
These launches should also be fitted TO tow
torpedo nets for the ships protection
while slowly moving al night
I In addition. the battle ships themselves