The Washington herald., 1908-02-06

| The President viii receive within n few
/ days the report of Rear Admiral George
A. Converse, L. S. N, retired, being an
authorized reply to the numerous criti-
cisms which have been directed against
/ Navy Department administration ana
the methods and results of the design,
| construction, and equipment of ships OF
war. The report will be accompanied by
! diagrams required 10 illustrate the text.
and it is safe to say that the document
viii Doe all that may be expected from its
/ able author Rear Admiral Converse has
| labored diligently i'm the preparation of
/ the report, the contents of which repre-
! sent much research, selection, and con
densation from an enormous volume OF
| official statistics and records. IL viii be
/ interesting 10 observe whether this dOcu-
ment, prepared with such discriminating
industry and conscientious application,
will really convince those critics who are
responsible for the attacks upon the naval
bureau system. The points at issue are
/ so clouded 10y the faCtonal squabble with
/ in the service that a layman cannot de-
/ termlue between the conflicting and con-
+ Trajectory testimony offered by experts
/ on each side of a controversy which ia
/ recognized by some as the part of
strategy of a clique of officers who are
| bent on establishing by statute "a general
staff for the navy. obliterating the tech
meal bureaus, and dwarling the impor-
lance Of the civilian Secretary Of the
Navy by having his functions performed
/ by high ranking naval officer or coterie
/ of naval officers. a firm and vigorous
/ Secretary of the Navy would have put an
end 90 this agitation. which has accom-
/ plished nothing beyond creating the pub
/ lie impression that the Navy Department
administration is an M. Oari0us farce, and
/ Lhat our ships Of war are porous fakes.
/ The navy is not a mammoth fraud
which the critics in its personnel would
/ have 10 appear go the people. IL is prob
/ ably not a perfect machine as repre-
J scented by Navy Department admiuistra-
/ ton. it's ships are not without the mis-
takes Of designers; its personnel may
/ need more battle practice. It viii be
/ found. however. when Rear Admiral
/ Converse's report is availablo-aud as
/ soon as it is available the better for the
naval servIce-that there is most assured
/ Is another side TO the story and that
/ criticisms may Doe fully answered.
! The Converse report ought to be more
/ than e. reply 60 criticism. 1t ought TO boz
! something more than an answer to in
| subordinate chatter of officers II comes
/ from a source which may certainly De re-
garded as Of the line. as distinguished
f. from the staff. and It's author IS an officer
/ Of experience which includes the old, as
well as the new. navy. He has contributed
much as chief of the Bureau of Equip
ment. chief of the Bureau Of Ordnance,
and chief of the Bureau Of Navigation
/ and later as president Of the board Of
/ construction To naval efficiency afoat, Tho
report ought 10 determine whether the
/ critics who have made It necessary to
prepare a reply and defense are sustain
ed I'm their attacks. IT they are, those
officers may be considered as rendering q
! distinct service to their country II
! the criticisms are shown TO have been
mistaken, whether or not they are
malicious. those who are responsible for
/ them should bee held accountable.
Nevertheless. politicians are going slow