The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1906-12-04

exercise the fleets singly and above all IN
kind and to include unceasing practice
at the guns, conducted under cond1Ions
that will test craftsmanship IN Tune OF
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 men
1 do not believe that in any service there
is finer body OF enlisted men and OF
junior officers than We have IN both the
corps All possible encouragement to the
enlisted men should be given In pay ana
done 10 render the service attraetlys 70
men of the right type They should pc
duty and in them a spirit snoulq De en-
couraged which demands not the mere
perform Of duty. but the performance &c
the honor and the interest of the Amer
lean patton: and i9 return the ampies1
West Point and Annapolis already turn
out excellent officers. We do not need to
On the contrary, we should never lose
sight Of the fact that the aim of each
school is to turn out man who shall
be above everything else a lighting man.
In the army in particular il is not neceS-
sary 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 stand
ard of character and of professional NOR
ale which 1t confers
Fewer and Younger Men.
But in both services there is urgent
need for the establishment of a prlnci-
pie of selection which will eliminate men
after certain age if they can not be
promoted from the subordinate ranks.
ranks fewer men, and these at an earlier
age This principle OF selection will be
pacity who are fitted to do well while
young in the lower positions, but who are
not fitted to do 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 to posi-
tons which they are not competent to
fill should not weigh against the inter-
present our men. especially in the navy,
are kept far too long in the junior
grades and then, at much too advanced
an age, are put quickly through the SEN
Tor grades, orten not attaining these SEN
Tor grades until they are too old to be of
real use in 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 officers of
high rank are actually trained in the con-
tinual 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 corresponding chances to ex-
ereise command over troops under service
conditions. The conduct of the Spanish
war showed the lamentabIe loss of life,
the useless extravaganza, and the inef-
fciency certain to result, if during peace
the high officials of the war and navy de-
partments are praised and rewarded only
cost to the efficiency of the service, and
If the higher officers are given no chance
whatever to exercise and practice COM
nland For years prior to the Spanish
war the secretaries of war were praised
economy, especially in connection with
the Quartermaster, commissary, and med
ical departments, was directly responsible
for most OF the acknowledgement that oc-
CURED in the war itself-and parenthetic-
ally be 1t observed that the very people
who clamored for the misdirected econ
omy in the first placed were foremost to
denounce the mismanagement, loss, and
suffering which were primarily due to
this same nisdirected economy and to the
lack of preparation 1t involved There
should soon be an increase in the num-
Der of men for our coast defenses;- these
men should be of the right type and prop
erly trained; and there should therefore
grades, especially in the coast artillery.
Money should be appropriated to permit
troops to be massed in body and exer-
cised IN rnaneuvers. particularly in march
ing; Such. exercise during the summer
just past has been of incalculable bene-
fit to the army and should under no cir
cumstances be discontinued. If on these
ers elderly officers prove unable to bear
the strain, they should be retired at
their unfitness for war; that is, for the
only purpose because of which they
should be allowed to stay in the service.
1t is a real misfortune to have scores of
small company or regimental posts scat
tered throughout the country; the army
should be gathered in a few brigade or
division posts; and the generals should
be practiced in handling the men in
masses Neglect to provide for all of this
means to incur the risk of future disas-
ter and disgrace.
The readiness and efficiency Of both the
army and navy in dealing with the re-
cent sudden crisis in Cuba illustrate
afreSh their value to the nation This
readiness and efficiency would have been
very much less had it not been for the
existence of the general staff in the
army and the general board in the navy;
both are essential to the proper develop
ncnt and use of our military forces afioat
ha Gaf1f
to Cuba were handled fiawlessly. 1t was
the swiftest mobilization and dispatch of
government. The expedition landed COM
pletely equipped and ready for immediate
" remaining in Havana over night before
splitting up into attachments and going
monstration of the value and efficiency
of the general staff. Similarly. 1t was OW-
ing in large part to the general board
that the navy was able at the outset to
meet the Cuban crisis with such instant
efficiency; ship after ship appearing on
the shortest notice at any threatened
point. while the marine corps in oartic-
ular performed Indispensable service. The
calculable value to the two services, and
they cooperate with constantly increasing
efficiency and Importance.
The congress has most wisely provided
for a national board for the promotion OF
rifle practice. Excellent results have al
ready come from this law, but it does not
go far enough. Our regular army is so
small that in any great war we should
have to trust mainly to volunteers: and
in such event these volunteers should al
ready know how to shoot: for If a SOL
der has the fighting edge, and ability to
take care of himself in the open, his ef-
f1ciency on the line of battle is almost
directly proportionate to excellence in
craftsmanship. We should establish
shooting galleries in all the large pub
lie and military schools. should maintain
national target ranges in different parts
of the country. and should in every way
encourage the formation of rifle clubs
throughout all parts of the land. The lit
tie republic of Switzerland offers - an
excellect example in all matters connected
with building up efficient citizen SOL
diery.
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