The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1906-12-21
ON THE
ARMY AND Navy
HE PRESIDENT IN MESSAGE SEEKS POINT
OUT ADVANTAGE IN PRESERVING PEACE PREPARED
NESS IN THE ARMY AND NAVY AND ESPECIALLY
WANTS A CHANGE IN POLL CY OF PROMOTIONS.

The United States Navy is the surest
guarantor of peace which this coun-
try possesses. 1t is earnestly to be
wished that we would profit by the
teachings of history i'm this matter.
A strong and wise people will study
its own failures no less than its tri-
umphs, for there is wisdom to be
learned from the study of both, of the
mistakes as well as of the success. For
this purpose nothing could be more
instructive than a rational study of the
war of 1872, as it is told, for instance,
by Captain Mahan. There was only
one way in which that war could have
been avoided. If during the preceding
twelve years u navy relatively as
strong as that which this country now
has had been built up, and an army
provided relatively as good as that
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
have ended with our speedy and over
whelming triumph. But our people
| during those twelve years refused to
make any preparations whatever, re-
garding either the Army or the Navy.
They saved a million or two of dollars
by so doing, and in mere money paid
hundredfold for each million they
1 thus saved during the three years of
war which fOllowing--a war which
brought untold suffering upon our peo-
Il pie, which at one time threatened the
greatest national disaster, and which,
in spite of the necessity of waging it,
resulted merely in what was in effect
drawn battle, while the balance of
defeat and triumph was almost even.
1 do not ask that we continue to in
crease our Navy. l ask merely that
it be maintained at it's present
strength, and this can be done only il
we replace the obsolete and outworn
ships by new and good ones, the equals
of any ahoat in any navy. To stoI
building ships for one year means that
for that year the navy goes back in
stead of forward The old battle-shiI
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 theiI
usefulness, while it was waste OF
money to build the modern single-t ur.
ret monitors. All these ships should
be replaced by others, and this can bC
done by a wel-settled programme o
providing or the building each yea
of at least one first-class battle-shiI
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 o.
very heavy guns of one caliber, to-
gether with smaller guns to repel tor
pedo attack, while there should b.
= heavy armour, turbine engines, and, IL
short, every modern device. OF course
from time to time cruisers, Golfers
torpedoboat destroyers or torpedo
boats will have to be built also. Al
this, be it remembered, would not in
crease our Navy, but would merel!
keep it at it's present strength. Equal
, ly, of course, the ships will be abso
lutely useless if the men aboard then
are not so trained that they can ge
the best possible service out of tn
formidable but delicate and compli
Gated mechanisms intrusted to thei
care. The craftsmanship of our mel
has so improved during the last fiV
years that L deem it within bounds t.
say that the Navy is more than twic
as efficient, ship for ship, as half
decade ago. The Navy can only at
tain proper efficiency if enough officer
and men are provided, and if thes
officers and men are given the chanc
(and required to take advantage of it
to stay continually at sea and to exer
else the fleets singly and above all il
/ squadron, the exercise to be of ever.
kind and to include unceasing practic
at the guns, conducted under condi
tions that will test craftsmanship il
p times of war.
In both the Army and the Navy Their
is urgent need that everything posi-
BILE should be done to maintain tn
highest standard for the personnel
alike as regards the officers and tn
enlisted men. do not believe that il
any service there is a finer body of en-
listed men and of junior officers thai
we have in both the Army and tn
2 Navy, including the marine corps. Al
possible encouragement to the enlisted
men should be given, i'm pay and other
wise, and everything practicable don
. to render the service attractive to mel
Of the right type. They should be hell
to the str,test discharge of their duty
and in them spirit should be en-
70 couraged which demands not the mer,