Arizona republican., 1907-12-04

| who. object to promotion otherwise ithan by mere seniority should reflect upon the elementary fact that no bus mess in private life could be success fully managed 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 posi- 1 tion a few months. On it's face such 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 ! tconscientious and excellent work in elimination.
 If all that ought to be done can not now be done, at least let a beginning be made. In my last three annual Messages. and in a 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-admirals at less advanced ages and which will cuse them to have more sea training and experience in the highly responsible duties of those grades. so that they may become thoroughly skillful in handling battleships, divisions. squad rons and fleets in action. has been fully explained and urgently reeOm- mended. Upon this subject the .Secre1 tary of the.Navy has submitted 6etail- ed and definite recommendations which have received my approval, and which. if enacted into law, will accomplish what is immediately necessary. and will. as compared with existing law. make a saving of more than five mill lions of dollars during the next seven years. The navy personnel act of 1899 has accomplished all that was expect ed of 1t in providing satisfactory per iods of service in the several subor- dinate grades. from the grades of en- sign to the grade of >Aieutenant-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 a con- siderable increase in the number of
 
 and these midshipmen upon gradua- ton are promoted to ensign and lieu tenant Gunior grade). But no provis- ion has been made for corresponding increase in the upper grades. the re- suit being that the lower grades will become so consested that a midship- man no" in one O. the lowest classes at Annapolis may possibly not be pro- noted to lieutenant until he is between 45 and 50 years of age. So it will con- tinue under the present law. congest- ing at the top and congesting at the bottom. The country fails to get from the officers of the service the best that is in them by not providing oppOr- tunity for their normal development and training. The board believes that this works serious detriment to the efficiency of the Navy and is a real menace to the public safety
 As stated in my special Message to the last Congress: I am firmly of the opinion that unless the present con- ditions of the higher commissioned personnel is rectified by judicious leg islation the future of our Navy will be gravely compromised It is also urgently necessary to increase the ef- ficiency of the Medical Corps of the Navy. Special legislation to this end has already been proposed; and trust it may be enacted without delay. Tt must be remembered that every thing done in the Navy to fit it to do we'll in ,time of war must be done in time of peace. Modern wars are short: they do not last the length of time requisite to build a battleship; and il takes longer to train the officers and men to do we'll On a battleship than it takes to build it. Nothing effective can be done for the Navy once war has begun, and the result of the war. if the combatants are otherwise equal ly matched. will depend upon which power has prepared best in time of peace. The United States Navy is the best guaranty the Nation has that it's honor and interest will not be neg lected: and in addition it offers by far the best insurance for peace that can by human ingenuity be devised.
 T call attention to the report of the official Board of Visitors to the Naval Academy at Annapolis which has been forwarded to the Congress The re- port contains this paragraph:
 Such revision should be made of the courses of study and methods of conducting and marking examinations as will develop and bring out the av- craze all-round ability of the mid shipman rather than to give him prom thence in any one particular study. The fact should be kept in mind that the Naval Academy is not university but school, the primary object of tt-h fc sn aAf rn he aff cient naval officers. Changes in cur riculum, therefore. should be in the di- rection of making the course of in- struction less theoretical and more practical. No portion of any future class should be graduated in advance of the full four years course. and un- der no circumstances should the stand ard of instruction be lowered. The Academy in almost all of it's depart pents is now magnificently equipped. and 1t would be very unwise to make the course of instruction less exacting than it is today
 Acting upon this suggestion I des- ignated three sea-going officers, Capt. Richard Wainwright. Commander Rob- ert s. Griffin. and Lieut. Commander Albert L. Key. all graduates of the Academy, to investigate conditions and to recommend to me the best method of carrying into effect this general