The Kemper herald. (Scooba, Miss.) 1875-1908, 1907-12-05


forgotten, for not the slightest efYor
has been made to prepare medica
corps of sunicient size to prevent thu
repetition of the same disaster on
much larger scale II we should ever b.
engaged In serious conflict.
But 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 he
should have a fair reward for his ad,
mirable work. There should be a rela.
lively even greater increase in the pay fol
the enlisted men. An especial proyisioI
should be made for establishing grader
equivalent to those Of warrant officers IN
the navy, which should be open to the
enlisted men who serve sufficiently lons
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 pres
ent army is to secure and retain compe.
tent noncommissioned officers. This diff
Guilty rests fundamentally on the ques
ton of pay. The noncommissioned Officer
does not correspond with an unskiiled la
borer he corresponds to the best type Of
skilled workman or to the subordinate
official In civil institutions. Wages have
In the last 40 years and the pay of thu
soldier, like the pay of the officers. should
be proportionately increased. The FIRST
sergeant of company, IL good man
must be one of such executive and ad'
ministrative ability, and such knowledgt
Of his trade, as to be worth far more thar
we at present pay him. The same is true
OF the regimental sergeant major. These
men should be men who had fully re,
70 10 ha II nCCiinp.
ton and they should be able to look for.
ward to ample reward; while only mel
properly qualified should be given
chance to secure these final rewards. Tht
increase over the present pay need moi
be great in the lower grades for the firs'
one or two enlistnents, but the increase
should be marked for the noncommis'
stoned officers of the upper grades VIE
serve long enough to make 1t evidsn. thai
they intend to stay permanently In the
army. while additional pay should b
given for high qualifications In target
practice.
Among the onicers there should b,
severe examinations to weed out the
UNIT up to the grade of major. From
that position on appointments should
be solely by selection and 1t should b
understood that a man of merely av.
erage capacity could never get beyond
who serves in any grade certain
length of time prior to promotion ta
the next grade without getting the
promotion to the next grade should bt
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 foui
new battleships. and says:
I'VE need always to remember that
in time of war the navy Is not to bs
used to defend harbors and sea-coast
cities; we should perfect our system OF
coast fortifcations. The only efficient
use for the navy is for offense. Tho
only way in which 1t can efiiciently pro
tect our own coast against the possible
action of a foreign navy is by destroy
Ing that foreign navy For defense
against q 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 ef.
ficient for defensive purposes. but they
in no way supply the place Of a thor
oughly eff1cient navy capable of acting
on the offensive; for parrying never yet
won a fight II can only be won BY
hard hitting. and an aggressive sea-go.
ing navy alone 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 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. II
fortihcations are sufficiently strong, no
modern navy will venture to attack
them, so long as the foe has in exist
ence a hostile navy of anything like
the same size or efficiency. But unless
there exists such a navy then the forti-
flcations are powerless by themselves
to secure the victory. For Of course
the mere deficiency means that any
resolute enemy can at his leisure com
bine all his forces upon one point with
the certainty that he can take II.
Gives Reasons for Despatch
OF Fleet to the Pacific.
Until our battle fleet Is much larger
than at present 1t should never be split
into detachments SO far apart that they
could not in event of emergency be
speedily united. Our coast line Is on
the Pacific Just as much as on the At
lantic. The interests of California,
Oregon and Washington are as en-
phatically the interests of the whole
union as those OF Maine and New York
of Louisiana and Texas. The battle
feet should now and then be moved to
the Pacific, just as at other times II
should be kept in the Atlantic. Wher
the isthmian canal is built the transi,
of the battle fleet from one ocean Il
the other will be comparatively easy
Until il Is built earnestly hope thai
Ia hat . 10 f1nA will hn uh tad ho,
tween the two oceans every year oil
two. The craftsmanship on all ouI
ships has improved phenomenally dur
ing the last Ave years. Until within
the last two or three years II was not
possible to train battle fleet in squad.
ron maneuvers under service conditions
and 1t is only during these last two OIL
three years that the training under
these conditions has become really ef-
fective. Another and most necessary
stride in advance is now being taken
n he battle feet is about starting by
the Straits OF Magellan to visit the
Pacific coast Sixteen battleships are
going under the command Of Rear Ad.
miral Evans, while eight armored
cruisers and two other battlsships will
meet him at San Francisco. whittier
certain torpedo destroyers are also GO
ing. No fleet of such size has ever
made such q voyage, and II will be OF
very great educational use to all en-.
gagged in It, The only way by which tc
teach ofiicers and men how to handle
the fleet so a. to meet every possible
strain and emergency In time Of war IL
to have them practice under similar
conditions in time of peace Moreover
the only way to md out our actual
needs IL to perform In time Of peace
whatever maneuvers might be neces-
sary In time of war. After war Is de-
clared II Is too late to find out ths
needs; that means to invite disaster
Tho trip to the Pacific will show whai
some of our needs are and will enable
us to provide for them. The proper