The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1907-12-03


mas been made to prepare medical
corps Of sufficient size 10 prevent the
rcpetiton OF the same disaster on 4
much larger scale II we should ever be
engaged In a serious conflict
pBut the medical department is not the
only department for which Increased pro-
vision should be made. The rate OF pay |.
for the officers should be greatly in-
creased there Is no higher type OF citizen
than the American regular officer, and ne
should have a fair reward for his ad-
mirabe work. There should be a rela-
lively even greater Increase In the pay Tor
the enlisted men. An especial provision
should be made for establishing grades
equivalent to those Of warrant officers In
the navy, which should be open to the
enlisted men who serve sufficiently long
and who do their work well Inducements
should be offered sufficient to encourage
really good men to make the army a life
occupation. The prime needs OF our press
ent army IL to secure and retain compe-
tent noncommissioned officers. This difii-
Guilty rests fundamentally on the qucs-
ton OF pay. The noncomm'ssonad officer
does not correspond with an unskilled Ia
borer: lie corresponds TO the best type OF
skilled workman or to the subordinate
official in civil institutions Wages have
greatly increased In outside occupations
I'm the last 40 years and the pay OF the
soldier. like the pay OF the officers, shouid
be proportionately increased. The tirst
sergeant OF "A company. II good man.
must be one of such executive and ad-
ministrative ability, and such knowledge
Of his trade, as to be worth far more than
we at present pay him. The same Is true
OF the regimental sergeant major. These
men should be men who had fuily re-
solved to make the army lie oecupa-
ton and they should be able TO look Tor
ward to ample reward: while only men
..ls. ,.tt gha m
chance to secure these final rewards. The
increase over the present pay need NOT
he great IN the lower grades for the frst
one or two enlistmcnts, but the Increase
should be marked for the noncominis-
stoned officers of the upper grades who
serve long enough to make II evident Una,
they intend to stay permanently IN the
army, while additional pay should be
given for high qualifications in target
practice.
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 II should De
understood that man of merely aV.
erage capacity could never get beyond
the position OF ma jor, while every man
who serves in any grade certain
length OF time prior to promotion TO
the next grade without getting the
promotion to the next grade should be
forthwith retired"
President Sees Need OF
Largely Increased navy.
The president asks for continuous
Increase in the navy and asks present
congress for appropriations for four
new battleships. and says:
1--WE need always to remember that
in time of war the navy is not to be
used to defend harbors and sea-coast
cities we should perfect our system OF
coast fortifications. The only efficient
! use for the navy is for ofYense. The
only way in which IL can efficiently pro-
| tect our own coast against the possible
action OF foreign navy Is by destroy
| ing that foreign navy. For defense
| against hostile feet which actually
| attacks them. the coast cities must de-
| pend upon their forts. mines torpedoes
| Submarines and torpedo boats and de-
| stroyers. All OF these together are eff
ficient for defensive purposes. but they
1 in no way supply the place OF thor
| oughly efficient navy capable OF acting
| on the offensive; for parrying never yet
| won fight. 1t can only be won by
hard hitting. and an aggressive sea -go'
ing naty alone can do this hard hittins
OF the offensive type. But the forts
and the like are necessary so that th'
| navy may be footloose. In time OF wal
| there is sure to be demand, under pres
sure of fright for the ships to be scat
| tered so as to defend all kind of ports
| Under penalty OF terrible disaster. this
| demand must be refused. The ships
must be kept together. and their OBJ
| jective made the enemies fleet /
fortihcations are sufficiently strong, M
| modern navy will venture to attaci
them so long as the foe has in exist
ence a hostile navy of anything lik'
| the same size or efficiency. But unless
there exists such navy then the forti
fcations are powerless by themselve
To secure the victory. For of cours
the mere deficiency means that an.
resolute enemy can at his leisure com
bine all his forces upon one point wit
the certainty that he can take II.
Gives Reasons for Despatch
Ot Fleet 10 the Pacific.
Until our battle fleet Is much large
than at present II should never be spill
into detachments so far apart that the
could not in event of emergency b
| speedily united. Our coast line Is o.
the Pacific just as much as on the At
lantc. The interests OF California
Oregon and Washington are as EN-
| phatically the interests OF the Who'll
union as those of Maine and New Yorl
of Louisiana and Texas The battl
fleet should now and then be moved I
the Pacific. Just as at other times
should be kept in the Atlantic. Whe
the isthmian canal is built the trans
of the battle fleet from one ocean
the other will be comparatively cas-,
Until II is built I earnestly hope tina
, the battle fleet will be thus shifted be
tween the two oceans every year q
two. The craftsmanship on all on
ships has improved phenomenally dur
ing the last Ave years. Until With
the last two or three years 1t was M
possible to train a battle fleet in squad
,, ron maneuvers under service condition
! and II Is only during these last two {
. three years that the training unds
,. these conditions has become really ei
.. | foctive. Another and most necessar T
stride in advance is now being takel
| Ihe battle fleet Is about starting b
the Straits Of Magellan to visit III
Pacific coast sixteen battleshps al
/, \ going under the command of Rear At
miral Evans while eight armore
! cruisers and two other battleships wi
| meet him at San Francisco. whiths
: certain torpedo destroyers are also gt
! ing. No fleet of such size has ev,
!, made such voyage. and II will be
very great educational use to all ell
gagged in It. The only way by which
! teach officers and men how to hand
: the fleet so as to meet every possib
? strain and emergency In time OF war
= to have them practice under siml;