Waterbury evening Democrat., 1907-12-03


 existed. ss
 NAVAL PERSONNEL.
 Promotion of Officers by Strict Seniority [ Not a Good Principle.
 I bespeak the most liberal treatment for the officers and enlisted men of
 the navy. 1t is true of them, as like wise 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 from them.
 The reward should be ample when
 they do their best, and nothing less
 than their best should be tolerated. It
 is idle to hope for the best results
 when the men in the senior grades
 come to those grades late in life and serve too short time in them. Up to
 the rank of lieutenant commander pro- motion in the navy should be as now,
 by seniority, subject, however, to such rigid tests as would eliminate the un- fit. After the grade of lieutenant con- mander-that is, when we come to the grade of command rank-the unfit should be eliminated in such manner that only the conspicuously fit would remain, and sea service should be principal test of fitness. Those who are passed by should after certain length of service in their respective grades be retired. Of a given number of men 1t may well be that almost all would make good lieutenants and most of them good lieutenant com manders, while only minority will be fit to be captains and but three or four to be admirals. Those who ob- ject to promotion otherwise than by mere seniority should reflect upon the elementary fact that no business in private life could be successfully man. nged if those who enter at the lowest rungs of the ladder should each in turn if he lived become the head of the firm, its active director, and retire after he had held the position a few months. On its face such a scheme Is an absurdity. Chances for improper favoritism can be minimized by a properly formed board, such as the board of last June which did such con- scientious and excellent work in elim- ination.
 If all that ought to be done cannot now be done, at least let beginning be made. In my last three annual messages and in special message to the last congress the necessity for leg islation that will cause officers of the line of the navy to reach the grades of captain and rear admiral at less ad- vanced ages and which will cause them to have more sea training and ex- perience in the highly responsible du- ties of those grades, so that they may become thoroughly skillful in handling battleships, divisions, squadrons and fleets in action, has been fully explain ed and urgently recommended. Upon this subject the secretary of the navy has submitted detailed and definite recommendations which have received my approval and which if enacted in- to law will accomplish what is imme- dately necessary and will, as compar- ed with existing law, make saving of more than S5,000000 during the next seven years. The navy personnel act of 1899 has accomplished all that was expected of 1t in providing satisfactory periods of service in the several sub ordinate grades. from the grade of en- sign to the grade of lieutenant com mander, but the law is inadequate in the upper grades and will continue to be inadequate on account of the ex- pansion of the personnel since its en- actment Your attention is invited to the following quotations from the re- port of the personnel board of 1906, of which the assistant secretary of the navy was president:
 Congress has authorized consider able increase in the number of mid shipmen at the Naval academy, and these midshipmen upon graduation are promoted to ensign and lieutenant Gun- for gradel. But no provision has been made for corresponding increase in the upper grades. the result being that the lower grades will become so con gested that a midshipman now in one of the lowest classes at Annapolis may possibly not be promoted to lieutenant until he is between forty-five and fifty years of age. So 1t will continue un- der the present law, congesting at the top and congesting at the bottom. The country fails 10 get from the officers of the service the best that is in them by not providing opportunity for their normal development and training. The board believes that this works a seri- ous detriment to the efficiency of the navy and is a real menace to the pub lie safety"
 As stated in my special message to the last congress. 'I am firmly of the opinion that unless the present condi- tion of the higher commissioned per sonnel is rectified by judicious legisla- tion the future of our navy will be graveIy compromised" It is also ur- gently necessary to increase the efii- ciency of the medical corps of the navy. Special legislation to this end has already been proposed, and trust 1t may he enacted without delay.
 It must be remembered that every thing done in the navy to fit 1t to do