Gainesville daily sun. (Gainesville, Fla.) 190?-1938, 1906-12-06

w wei Whtc young IN the lower no
sitions, but who are not fitted 70 d
well 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 "a
positions which they are not competent
to I'LL 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 he OF real use to them and. II 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 condl-
lions. The conduct Of the Spanish war
showed the lamentable loss OF life. the
useless extravaganza and the inefn.
cheney certain to result II during peace
the high officials OF tho war and navy
departments are praised and rewarded
only II they save money, at no matter
what cost to the efficiency OF the serv-
Ice, and II the higher officers are given
no chance whatever 10 exercise aud
practice command. For years prior 10 |
the Spanish war the secretaries OF war
were praised chiefly II they practlced |
economy, which economy. especially in
with the Quartermaster,
and medical departments,
vas directly responsible for most OF
he acknowledgement that occurred In
he war Itself And parenthetically be
I observed that the very people who
lamored for the mlsdIrected economy
n the first place were foremost 10 de
IOunce the mismanagement loss and
unering which were primarily due 10
his same misdirected economy and 90
be lack OF preparation It involved.
Coast Dsfsnss Needs.
There should soon be an Increase IN
he number OF men for our coast de-
enses. These men should be OF the
lght type and properly trained. and
here should therefore be- an increase
pay for certain skilled grades. o..
eclaIly In the coast artillery. Money :
lOuld be appropriated 10 permit I
oops to DO massed In body aud exer. .
sed in maneuyers. particularly tn I
arching. Such exercise during the Z
immer just past has been Of meal
Stable benefit 10 the army and should ]
lder no circumstances be dlscontin- {
u. II on these practice marches and Z
these mnneuvers elderly officers '
owe unable 10 bear The strain they .
ould be retired AZ once. for the fact =
conclusive as 10 their unftness for 9
ar-that IT, for the only purpose be- 2
use Of which they should be allowed 9
stay In the service. II IL a real mis-
rtune 10 have scores Of small CON. .
ny or eglmentai posts scattered ~
roughout the country. The army "a
ould be gathered In few brigade or ~
Vision posts. and the generals should "
practIeed IN handling the men IN
isses. Neglect 10 provide for ali o. y
Il means 10 incur the risk Of future -
Iaster ana disgrace ~
rhe readiness and efficiency ~ both y, ~
} army and navy In dealing with the -
ent sudden crisis 10 Cuba illustrate
esh their value 10 the nation This -
dlness and efficiency would have y
N very much lees had II not been y,
the existence Of the general STAR y,
the army and the general board IN -,
J navy. Both gre essential 10 the =,
per development aBd use o. our mii
y forces annat and ashore ne
ups that were sent % Cuba were
died nawieasiY Is ives the swift
mobilization and dispatch % troops -
? sca ever accomplished ~ our eev. -
ment The eHpedition landsd CON "a
ely equipped sad ready fss lame -.
- ssrgtcs. teveFai - 10 orSaniEa "a,
= harSi4 rrmaiHinE la Havana ever -,
u befors splitting 40 lHfo dstach. -,
~ and g0inE % thsir several posts.
vas q nns dsu6usiFaflQn ~ ths -.
y snd e,ncsneg q TIE geaertl stan a.
iiariy % uas 0uing 10 hrEs part a..
~ EsneFai boafi nst the navy -
sh,e at 90 5sssFt % meet o. "a. -.
crisis vita F1eh lnsiant sa1asBey. -
after shiP appssnaE % n stort ~.
n0tios 20 ang ufsaiszsi pat =