The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1906-12-04

squadron, the exercise to be Of every
kind and to include unceasing practice
ut the guns conducted under condi-
tons that will test craftsmanship In
time Of war.
Maintain High Standard.
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.
! do not believe that in any service
there is finer body Of enlisted men
and Of Junior officers than we have in
both the army and the navy, including
the marine corps. All possible encour-
agement to the enlisted men should be
given in pay and otherwise and every
thing practicable done to render the
service attractive to men Of the right
type. They should be held to the
strictest discharge Of their duty, and In
them a spirit should be encouraged
which demands not the mere perform
ance Of duty, but the performance Of
far more than duty If it conduces to
the honor and the interest of the Amer
lean nation, and in return the amplest
consideration should be theirs.
West Point and Annapolis already
turn out excellent officers. We do not
need to have these schools made more
scholastic. On the contrary, we should
never lose sight Of the fact that the
aim Of each school Is to turn out a
man who shall be above everything
else a fighting man. In the army In
particular it Is not necessary that either
the cavalry or infantry officer should
have special mathematical ability.
Probably in both schools the best part
Of the education Is the high standard
Of character and of professional morale
which it confers.
But in both services there is urgent
need for the establishment Of a prin-
ciple of selection which will eliminate
men after certain age If they cannot
be promoted from the subordinate
ranks and which will bring into the
higher ranks fewer men and these at
an earlier age. This principle Of Sc
lection will be objected to by good men
Of mediocre capacity who are fitted to
do we'll while young in the lower po-
sitions, but who are not fitted to do
we'll when at an advanced age they
come into positions Of command and
Of great responsibility. But the de-
sire Of these men to be promoted to
positions which they are not competent
to fill should not weigh against the In
terests Of the navy and the country
At present our men, especially in the
navy, are kept far too long in the
Junior grades and then, at much too ad-
vanced an age, are put quickly through
the senior grades, often not attaining
those senior grades until they are too
old to be Of real use to them and, If they
are Of real use, being put through them
so quickly that little benefit to the
navy comes from their having been In
them at all.
The navy has one great advantage
over the army In the fact that the Of
fcers Of high rank are actually trained
in the continual performance of their
duties-that is, in the management Of
the battleships and armored cruisers
gathered into fleets. This Is not true Of
the army officers, who rarely have cor
responding chances to exercise COM
mand over troops under service condi-
tons. The conduct Of the Spanish war
showed the lamentable loss of life, the
useless extravaganza and the inefh-
cheney certain to result If during peace
the high officials Of the war and navy
departments are praised and rewarded
only If they save money, at no matter
what cost to the efficiency of the serv-
ice, and If the higher officers are given
no chance whatever to exercise and
practice command. For Yeas prior to
the Spanish war the secretaries Of war
were praised chiefly if they practiced
economy, which economy, especially in
connection with the quartermaster,
commissary and medical departments,
was directly responsible for most Of
the Encouragement that occurred in
the war itself. And parenthetically be
it observed that the very people who
clamored for the misdirected economy
In the first place were foremost to de-
nounce the Encouragement, loss and
suffering which were primarily due to
this same misdirected economy and to
the lack Of preparation it involved.
Coast Defense Needs.
There should soon be an increase in
the number Of men for our coast de-
lenses. These men should be of the
right type and properly trained, and
there should therefore be an increase
Of pay for certain skilled grades, es-
pecially In the coast artillery. Money
should be appropriated to permit
troops to be massed in body and exer-
cised in maneuvers, particularly in
marching. Such exercise during the
summer just past has been Of meal
culable benefit to the army and should
under no circumstances be discontin-
ued. If on these practice marches and
in these maneuvers elderly officers
prove unable to bear the strain they
should be retired at once, for the fact
Is conclusive as to their unf1tness for
war-that is, for the only purpose be-
cause Of which they should be allowed
to stay in the service. It Is real mis-
fortune to have scores Of small COM
pany or regimental posts scattered
throughout the country. The army
should be gathered in few brigade or
division nOsts and the generals ah0uld