The news-democrat. (Providence, R.I.) 1906-1909, 1907-12-03

should be treated as what he is-that
is, as pre-eminently one Of the best cit
liens of this republic. After twelve
years service In the army my own be-
lief is that the man should be given
preference according to his ability for
certain types Of Office over all civilian
applicants without examination. This
should also apply, OF course, to the
men who have served twelve years In
the navy. A special corps should be
provided to do the manual labor now
necessarily demanded of the privates
themselves.
Among the officers there should be
severe examinations to weed out the
unfit up to the grade of major. From
that position on appointments should
be solely by selection, and 1t should be
understood that man of merely aver
age capacity could never get beyond
the position of major, while every man
who serves in any grade certain
length OF time prior to promotion to
the next grade without getting the pro-
motion to the next grade should be
forthwith retired. The practice marches
and field maneuvers OF the last two or
three years have been invaluable to the
army. They should be continued and
extended. A rigid and not perfume
tory examination of physical capacity
has been provided for the higher grade
officers. This will work well. Unless
an officer has a good physique, unless
he can stand hardship. ride we'll and
walk fairly, he is not fit for any posi-
tion even after he has become colo.
nel.> Before he has become n colonel
the need for physical fitness In the Of
ficer is almost as great as in the en-
listed man. hope speedily to see in
troduced into the army far more rigid
and thoroughgoing test of horseman-
ship for all field officers than at pres
ent. There should be a chief of cav
airy just as there is chief Of artillery.
Perhaps the most important Of all
legislation needed for the benefit Of the
army Is law to equalize and increase
the pay of officers and enlisted men Of
the army. navy, marine corps and reve.
nue. cutter service. Such a bill has
been prepared. which 1t Is hoped will
meet with your favorable considera-
tion. The next most essential measure
is 90 authorize number of extra Of
ficers as mentioned above. To make
the army more attractive to enlisted
men it is absolutely essential to create
a service corps, such as exists in near
ly every modern army in the world, to
do the skilled and unskilled labor in
separately connected with military ad-
ministration, which is now exacted
without 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 necessary to so organize the army
as to promote its efficiency and facili-
tate its rapid expansion in time OF
war. but the above are the most i'm
portant.
The Navy.
" was hoped The Hague conference
might deal with the question Of the
limitation Of ornaments. but even be-
fore it had assembled informal in
quiries had developed that as regards
naval ornaments, the only ones I'm
which this country had any interest, it
was hopeless to try TO devise any plan
for which there was the slightest pos
sibility 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 class power outside of the United
States. The only plan that seemed at
all feasible, that of limiting the size
of battleships, met with no favor at
all. 1t Is evident, therefore, that it is
folly for this nation to. base any hope
OF securing peace on any international
agreement as to the limitation of arma-
ments. Such being the fact, it would
be most unwise for us to stop the up
building Of our navy. To build Que
battleship OF the best and most ad-
vanced type year would barely keep
our feet up to its present force. This
is not enough. In my judgment, we
should this year provide for four bat
tleships. But it is idle to build battle
ships unless in addition to providing
the men and the means for thorough
training we provide the auxiliaries for
them, unless we provide docks, the
coaling stations, the GOLFERS and supply
ships that they need. We are extreme
ly deficient in coaling stations and
docks on the Pacific, and this deficien-
cy should not longer be permitted to
exist. Plenty of torpedo boats and de-
stroyers should be built. Both OH the
Atlantic and Pacific coasts fortifica-
tons Of the best type should be pro-
vided 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 fortifcations. The only eff.
cient use for the navy is for offense.
The only way in which it can efficient
ly protect our own coast against the
possible action OF foreign navy is by
destroying that foreign navy. For de-
H.