The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1908-12-08

more comn,a. .s passage or that Of Of,
The cavalry arm should ha sule'
ized upon modern lines TN. eofsan-
arm In which it is peculiarly ,' n ! a.
sary that the field officers shor, usees.
De oid. The cavalry is mnch u not
difficult to form than infantrv more
should be kept up to the mn. aua It
=. notn In efficiency and in strength u, ~
1t cannot be made in hnrrS 'os
present both infantry and artills,r Al
too few in number for orr ah
Especial attention should be na nee0s
development of the machine 1 pa'u u
general service corps should he Gu as.. a
iished. AS things are now the e ss
age soldier has far too much loh a,er
a nonmilitary character to perform ' "
National Guard.
Now that the organized m,,;s. !.
national guard. has been incornor.. ~,
with the army as part of the nat s.s'
al forces it behooves the governmsu,
to do every reasonable THING ~ ~
power to perfect Its eficiencv ~
should be assisted in It's instrnc.,..
and otherwise aided more ,iho.au.
than heretofore. The continuous SOW.
Ices of many we'll trained repnlar -. |
fcers will be essential in this cow
ton. Such officers must no snoo,an.
trained at service schools best to ous,i
~ them as instructors of the nationa,
guard. But the detailing Of of,cas.
for training at the service school.
and for duty with the national grora
entails detnching them from their rss
iments which are already greatly do
pleted by detachment of officers n,
assignment to duties prescribed \,
acts Of the congress.
A bill is now pending before n.
congress creating a number Of e.tr.
officers in the army, which. If passed.
as 1t ought to be, will enable more of
fcers to be trained rs Instructors =,
national guard and assigned to that
duty. In case of war 1t will be Of tho
utmost Importance to have larpe
number Of trained officers to use a.
turning raw levies into good troops.
There should be legislation to pro.
vide complete plan for organiz.
ing the great body of volunteers be.
hind the regular army and national
guard when war has come. Congress,
sional assistance should be given those
who are endeayoring to promote rife
practice, so that our men. Ia the serv.
ices or out Of them. may know how TO
use the rife. While teams represent.
Ing the United States won the rife
and revolver championships of the
world against all Corners in England
this year, 1t Is unfortunately true
that the great body of our citizens
shoot less and less as time goes on.
To meet this We should encourage
rifle practice among schoolboys and
indeed among all classes, as well a,
in the military services, by every
means In our power Thus, ant
not otherwise, may we be able TO as
sist In preserving the peace of the
world. Fit to hold our own against
the strong nations Of the earth. oul
voice for peace will carry to the end
OF the earth. Unprepared and there
fore unfit. we must sit dumb and help
less to defend ourselves. protect 9th
ers or preserve peace. The first step
In the direction of preparation t
avert war IL possible and to be fit fo
war II 1t should come-is to teach ou
men to shoot.
The Navy.
approve the recommendation o
the general board for the increase 0
the navy. calling especial attention I
the need OF additional destroyers an
Golfers and. above ALL OF the four bal
tleships. 1t is desirable to complet
as soon as possible squadron Of egh
battleships of the best existing type
The North Dakota, Delaware. Florid
and Utah will form the first divlsio
of this squadron. The four vessel
proposed will form the second div
sion. 1t will be an improvement
the first. the ships being of the heavy
single caliber. all big gun type. A
the vessels should have the same TAI
teal quallties-that Is. speed and turf
ing circle = and as near as possibl
these tactical qualities should be til
same as is in the four vessels befor
named now heiue b,,iIt
I most earnestly recommend that tn
general board be by law turned int
general STAFF. There Is literally Il
excuse whatever for continuing tn
present bureau organization of tn
navy. The navy should be treated a
purely military organization, an
everything should be subordinated
the one object Of securing militar
efficiency. Such military efficiency ca
/ only be guaranteed in time of war
there is the most thorough previou
preparation in time OF peace-a prep'
ration, may add. which will IN
! probability prevent any need OF wa
The secretary must be supreme, an
! he should have as his official az
visers a body Of line officers WI
| should themselves have the power
| pass upon and coordinate all III
work and all the proposals of the Sc
eral bureaus. A system of promotio
by merit, either by selection or .
exclusion or by both processes, shou'