The Idaho recorder. [volume] (Salmon City, Idaho) 1886-1927, 1907-12-12

O The sh,pyards IN which our bastleshIps
must be eeill.
Asks Lacrosse Ia RAY
fer Arms usie-rs aas Wen.
The president aeyotes much space n |
the a2airA OF che army. and strongly
urges char oar regular military orsanf !
1ation be Kept IN 10 the highest pesslbla
standard 81 efficieRcy. and saya.
THE medical corps should he much
greater than the needs OF cur regular
army in war. Yet at present Il il amafl.
81 Than the nesda of thr service demand
even in peace The spAaiah war oc-
Cured less than ten years ago. The
chief loss NC suffered Ia il wAa by dis
ease among the regiments which never
lett the country, AT the moment the
nation seemed derpiy impressed by this
fact; yet seemingly II has already been
forgotten. fer net the slightest effort
has been made to prepare medical
corps Of sufficient size to prevent the
repetition of the same disaster on
much larger scale II we should ever be
engaged In a serious conflict.
but the medical department. Is not the
only department for which Increased pro-
vision should he made. The rate OF pay
Tor the officers should be greatly in
creased, there ts no higher type az citizen
| than the American regular officer, and he
i
| tnirahle work. There should be reta-
| lively even greater Increase IN the pay for
/ the onistsd men An especial provision
| should be made for establishing grades
/ equivalent To those Of warrant officers in
4 the navy. which should he open to the
/ enlisted men VINO serve sufficiently long
| ana who do their work we'll Inducements
| should he offered sufficient 10 encourage
really good men to make the army n iifs
occupation The prime needs OF our pres
| ent army Is TO secure ana retain eampe-
tent noncommissionea officers This Diff
Guilty rests fundamentally ON the ques-
ton OF pay. The noneomtnlsssoned officer
does not correspond with an unAkliled la
horeF, he corresponds to this best type OF
| skilled workman aT to the subordinate
| official In civil Institutions. Wages have
greatly Increased In outside occupations
In the last 40 years and the pay Of tho
soldier, like the pay OF the officers. should
he prnnortiohaiely Increased. The nrst
sergeant OF company. II good man.
must be one OF such executive and adj
minissratiye ability and such knowledge
Of his trade, as to be worth far more than
we AZ present pay him. The Same IL true
ct tho regsmental sergeant major, These
men should be men who had fully re,
solved to make the army life occupa-
tion and they should be nhie TO look for
ward To ample reward, while only men
properly qualified should be given q
chance 10 secure these Anal rewards, This
increase over the present pay need no,
be great In the lower grades for the FIRST
one or two enlistments but tho increase
should be marked for the noncomsnis-
stoned officers OF the upper grades whe
serve long enough TO make u evident thai
they intend to stay permanently In ths
, army, while additional pay should b'
, given for high qualifications In large
practice,
! Among the officers there should b.
: severe examinations to weed out TIA
unfit up 70 the grade OF major, From
, that position on appointments shout,
: be solely by selection and II should b.
: understood that a man OF merely av
: erage capacity could never get beyen,
= the position OF major. while every maj
: who serves in any grade certai'
. length OF time prior to promotion /
Y the next grade without getting tn
{ promotion 10 the next grade should b
! forthwith retired"
. President sees Need Of
! Largely Increased Navy.
I The president asks for a continuon
increase In the navy, and asks preser
= congress for appropriations for fou
= new battieshlps and says.
We need always TO remember this
in TINA of war the navy iR not to b
: used 20 defend harbors and hea-coai
: cities. we should perfect our system {
= coast fortifcations The only eflcier
q use for the navy is for offenHe. Tn
y only way In which IL can efficiently pro
T. tect our own coast against this posslbl
n action OF a foreign navy IN by destroy
g ing that foreign navy. For dafens
i against "A hostile fleet which actual
attacks them the coast cities must Il,
" pend upon their forts, mines, torpedoe
j. submarines and torpedo boats and d.
"A stroyers. All OF these together are e
y tciont for defensive purposes. but ths
~ in no way supply the place of thoi
a oughly efficient navy capable OF actin
y on the offensive; for parrying never y,
Il won n fight II can only he won b
hard hitting and an aggressive sea y,
"a ing navy alone can do this hard hIttin
II OF the offensive type, But tho for
e, and the like are necessary 40 that a
Ie navy may be footloose, In time OF WI
Il there is sure to be demand, under pre-
sure of fright. for the ships TO be sea
tered 10 as TO defend all kind of port
Under penalty OF terrible disaster. IN
demand must be refused. The shII
* must he kept together, and their oh
a. jective made the enemies feet.
y fortifcationa are sufficiently strong Z
A. modern navy will venture TO attae
~ them. so long as the Zoe has in exits
Dr. ence hostile navy ~ anything TN
J. there exists such a navy then the fort
- tcations are powcrieas by thamselv'
- to secure the victory. For OF cour'
r" the mere deficiency means uiat AT
* resolute enemy can ut his leisure cor
= bino all his forces upon one point vii
80 the certainty that he can take H.
J. Gives R~nsop~ fer Despatch
a M Fleet to the pacihe.
T. "t'ptl our battle fleet Is much larg'
re than at present " should never be sri
= into detachmentR so far apart that tn.
l. could not ia event Of emergency :
II speedily united Our coast line IL q
" the Pacific just as much as an the A
u Iantic. The interests Of California
J. OREGON and Washington are AS en-
phatically the interests Of the who
II union rs those Of Maine and New Yorl
~ Of Louisiana and Texas. The batti
u feet should now and then he moved I
, the Pacific just ms at other times
s should be kept In the Atlantic, Whe
q the isthnian canal Is built the tranE
: of the battle fleet from one ocean I
l. the other will BIZ comparatively eAss
= Until il il built earnestly hope tina