The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-04

lation needed for the benefit of the army Is a law to equalize and increase the pay of officers and enlisted men of the army, navy marine corps and revenue cutter service. Such bill has been prepared. which 1t Is hoped will meet with your favorable consideration. The next most essential measure Is to authorize mum Der of extra officers as mentioned above. To make the army more attractive to enlisted men, it is absolutely essential to create q service corps. such as exists in nearly every modern army in the world, to do the skilled and unskilled labor, inseparably connected with military ad- minlstration, which is now exacted, with out just compensation. of enlisted men who voluntarily entered the army to do service of an altogether different kind. There are a number of other laws nec- essary to so organize the army as to promote it's efficiency and facilitate its rapid expansion in time of war; but the above are the most important.
 The Navy.
 1t was hoped The Hague conference might deal with the question of the linn itation of arnlaments. But even before il had assembled informal inquiries had developed that as regards naval arma~ ments, the only ones in which this coun- try had any interest, 1t was hopeless to try to devise any plan for which there was the slightest possibility of securing the assent of the nations gathered at The Hague. No plan was even proposed which would have had the assent of more than one first-cass power outside of the United States. The only plan that seemed at all feasible, that of limiting the size of battleships, met with no fla vor at all It is evident, therefore, that 1t is folly for this nation to base any hope of securing peace on any interna- tional agreement as to the limitation of armaments Such being the fact it would be most unwise for us to stop the upbuildng of our navy. To build one battleship of the best and most ad- vaneed type a year would barely keep our fleet up to it's present force. This Is not enough. In my judgment, we should this year provide for four battleships. But 1t is idle to built battleships unless In addition to providing the men. and the means for thorough training, we pro- vide the auxiliaries for them, unless we provide docks, the coaling stations, the collers and supply ships that they need. We are extremely deficient in coaling stations and docks on the Pacific, and thij deficiency should not longer be per mitted to exist. Plenty of torpedo boats and destroyers should be built. Both on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, fortifica- tiOuS Ol lue Dcot y pt bC Pio- yided for all our greatest harbors.
 We need always to remember that in time of war the navy is not to be used to defend harbors and seacoast cities; we should perfect our system of coast for tifications The only efficient use for th navy is for offense. The only way in which it can efficiently protect our own coast against the possible action of q foreign navy is by destroying that for ...xr Irnr dafa ms tile fleet which actually attacks them, the coast cities must depend upon their forts, mines, torpedoes, submarines and torpedo boats and destroyers. All of these together are efficient for defensive purposes, but they In no way supply tae place of thoroughly efficient navy capable of acting on the offensive; for parrying never yet won a fight. It can olIy be won by hard hitting, and an az gressive seagoing navy alone can do this hard hitting of the offensive type. But the forts and the like are necessary so that the navy may be footloose. In tlrne of war there is sure to be demand, under pressure of fright, for the ships to be scattered so as to defnd all kind or ports. Under penalty of terrible dis aster, this demand must be refused. The ships must be kept together, and their objective made the enemies feet If
 
 modern navy will venture to attack them, so long as the foe has in existence a hostile navy of anything like the same size or efficiency. But unless there ex- ists such a navy then the fortificationS are powerless by themselves to secure the victory. For of course the mere defi- ciency means that any resolute enemy can at his leisure combine all his forces upon one point with the certainty that he can take It.
 Until our battle fleet is much larger than at present 1t should never be split into deatchments so far apart that they could not in event of emergency be speedily united. Our coast line is on the Pacific just as much as on the Atlantic. The interests of California, oregon and Washington are as emphatically the in- terests of the whole union as those of Maine and New York of Louisiana and Texas. The battle fleet should now and then be moved to the Pacific, just as at other times it should be kept in the At lentic. When the Isthmian Canal is built the transit of the battle fleet from one ocean to the other will be comparatively easy. Until 1t is built l earnestly hope that the battle fleet will be thus shifted between the two oceans every year or two The craftsmanship on all our ships has improved phenomenally during the last five years. Until within the last two or three years it was not possible to train battle fleet in squadron maneu- vers under service conditions, and 1t is only during these last two or three years that the training under these conditions has become really effective. Another and most necessary stride in advance is now being taken The battle fleet is about starting by the Straits of Magellan to visit the Pacific coast. Sixteen battle ships are going under the command Of Rear Admiral Evans, while eight armored cruisers and two other battleships will meet him at San Francisco, whither cer- tain torpedo destroyers are also going. No fleet of such size has ever made such a voyage, and it will be of very great edu- cational use to all engaged in it. The only way by which to teach officers and men how to handle the fleet so as to meet every possible strain and emergency In time of war is to have them practice under similar conditions in time of peace. Moreover the only way to find out our actual needs is to perform in time of peace whatever maneuvers might be necessary in time of war. After war is declared it is too late to find out the needs; that means to invite disaster. This trip to the Pacific will show what some of our needs are and will enable us to provide for them. The proper place for an officer to learn his duty is at sea. and the only way in which a navy can ever be made efficient is by practice at sea, under all the conditions which would have to be met If war existed.
 l bespeak the most liberal treatment for the officers and enlisted men of the navy. It is true of them, as likewise of the officers and enlisted men of the army, that they form a body whose interests should be close to the heart of every good American. In return the most rigid performance of duty should be exacted