The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1907-12-07

corps OF sufficient size to prevent tho
repetition OF tie same disaster on .
much larger scale II should ever Be
engaged in "A serious conflict.
But the medical department is not the
only department for which Increased pro-
vision should b. made, The rate OF pay
FOR tho officers should be greatly In
creased. there is higher type of citfzen
than the American regular officer. and hs
should have a fair reward for his ad-
mirable work There should be a rele-
lively even greater inCreas" in the pay fo0
the enlisted men. An especial Igovtsioo
should be made for establishing grades
equivalent 10 those OF warrant officers in
the navy. which should be open to tbs
enlisted men who serv" sufficiently long
and who do their work we'll Inducements
should be offered sufficient to encourage
really good men to mas" the army life
occupation. The prime needs of our pres
"nt army is to secure and retain conpe-
tent nonCommissioacd officers This dim
Guilty rests Fundamentally On the ques-
tion of pay Tn" npucommss!oned officer
does not correspond with an unsiltlled la
horcr. he corresponds to the best type of
SEtll"d workman or to the subordinate
official in civil institutions, Wages have
greatly increased in outside occupations
| in thr last 80 wears and III" pay of tho
| soldier. like til" pay ~ the officers, should
b" pruportionatcly Increased The hrst
sergeant Of company, II "A good man.
| must he one Of So p "NrrutiN" and ad-
mtuist ratiVe ability. and such knowledge
OF his trade. as To he worth far more than
"" at present pay him. tn" same is true
OF the regim"ntal sergeant major. These
meu should he men who had fuzzy re-
solved to make the army "A life occupa-
| tion and they should br able TO look for
ward to ampl" reward while only men
properly qualified should be given
| chance to secure these final rewards. The
increase over the present pay need NOT
be great in the lower grades for the nrsi
one or two enlistm"nts, out the increase
should be marked for the n"ncomniis-
STONED officers of the upper grades who
serve long enough to make IT evident that
they intend to stay permanently In the
army. while additional pay should be
| given FOR high qualifications in target
| practice
severe examinations to weed out tho
| unfit up to the grade of major. From
| that position on appoint tments should
| he solely by selection and II should b.
| understood that man of merely av-
| erage capacity could never get beyond
| tho position of major while every man
who serves in any grad" certain
| length OF tim" prior to promotion To
the next grade without getting tho
promotion to tho next grade should be
prthwith retired
! President See. Need Of
In-.rly Increased NAVY.
The president asks for a continuous
incrca-a in the navy and asks present
| congress for appropriations for four
! new battleships- and SAYS
We need aiwa VS. to remember that
! in tim" Of war the navy is not to hs
| used 10 defend hprhors and sea coast
| rtti.s. we should perfect our system of
| coast fortifcattons The only efficient
| use for the navy is for offerse- The
| only way in which IT can efficiently prc-
| tect our own coast against the possible
action OF foreign navy is by destroy
| ing that foreign navy. For defense
| AGAINST hostile heet which actually
| attacks them. the coast cities must do
pend upon their forts. mines. torDedoes.
submarines and torpedo hoats and de-
stroycrs. All of these together are ef-
! ficicnt for defensive purposes. but they
| in no way supply the place of n thor
| ouEhly efficient navy capable OF acting
| on the offensive; for parrNing never yet
| won fght 1t can only be won By
! hard hitting. md an aggressive sea go
| ing navy alon" can do this hard hitting
| of the offensive type. But the forts
and the like are necessary so that the
navy may be footloose. In time OF war
there is sure to he demand under pres
sure of fright for the shirs to be scat
tered so as to defend all kind of ports
Under penalty Of terrible disa ster. this
demand must he refused The ships
must be kept together and their OBJ
| 1'CtiVc made the enemies fleet II
| fortilications are sur' r'ciently strong no
modern navy will venture to attack
them, long tn" foe has in exist
cnce a hostile navy Of ANYTHING If'te
the Same size or efficiency. RIGt unless
there exists such "A navy then the forti-
hcutions are pow"rl.ss bv themselves
to secure the victory. For Of COURSE
the mere deficiency means that any
resolute enemy can at his leisure COM
hine all his forces upon one point with
the certainty that he can take IT
Gives Ren.ons for Despatch
OF Fleet to the Pacific.
tIrptI our ba much larger
than at present 1t should never be split
| into attachments so far apart that they
could not in event of emergency bO
speedily united. our coast line is on
the Pacific just much the At
lantic. The interests OF California.
Oregon and WASHINGTON are as en-
phatically the interests Of the whole
union those of Maine and New York.
OF Louisiana and Texas, The ba tdlO
feet should now and then be moved to
the Pacific. just at other times ~
should be kept in the Atlantic. when
the isthmian canal is built the transit
of the battle fleet from one ocean to
the other will be comparatively easy
Until 1t is built earnestly hope thAt
the battle fleet will he thus shifted be-
tween the two oceans every year OF
two The craftsmanship on all our
ships has improved phenonenally our
ing the last five years. Until wIthia
the last two three years II was not
possible to train a battle fleet in squad
ron maneuv"rs under service conditions.
| and it is only during these last two
| three years that the training under
| these conditions has become really ef-
feCtive. Another and most necessary
| stride in advance is now being taken
| he battle fleet is about starting by
| the Straits Of Magellan to visit the
| Pacific coast. Sixteen battleshfps are
| going under the command of Rear ad-
| miral Evans. while eight arrrorrd
! cruisers and two other battleships VIII
meet him at San Francisco, whittier
| certain torpedo destroyers also 60
| ing. No fleet of such size has ever
made such voyage. and IT will be Of
| very great educational use TO an en-