Daily Kennebec journal., 1908-12-09

from the standpoint CT the service and
the Nation. Of refusing tn Promote re-
ssssa naes sse be ESea q sse oss
deserving men without regard to senior.
| ity, at least seniority should be treatsd
Of Of modern mod MI ind,istriai competion 10 b,isi-
shle for IT'S .nanaEement We're chosen
| simply on the ground that they We're the
oldest people in its employment: yet this
| is the course advocated as regards the
army, and required by law for all grades
| excep! those Of general officer. As a mat at
| ter Of fact, all of the best officers In the
| highest ranks of the army are those who
| have attained their present position Who'll
| ~ Or in part by process of selection,
| The scope of retiring boards should be
extended so that they could consider gen.
eral unfitness to command for any cause.
| in order to secure far more rigid en-
| fnrcement thar at present in the elimin-
alton of officers for mental. physical or
tenperanental disabilities. But this llan
| is recommended only If the Congress does
not see ft TO provide what in my. judg-
ment is far better; that is. for selection
| in promotion. and for elimination Tor age.
Officers who fail to attain a certain rank
inst;trre II man should not attain, field
rank bv the tire he is 45s he should Of
course be placed ON the retired list. Gem
enral officers should be selected as at
present. and one-tbird of the -othe,,. promo
tions should be mada. by selection the
selection to tc made by the Presi1enI or
least two candidates proposed for tacn
vacancy by a board of officers from the
ann Of the service from which the promo
the the Congress having for 1T its e Object ,s to, Sc
cure the prcm6tfor of officers to varinus
grades at reasonable ages through "a
Of the least efficient for retirement with
o on .cngth Of service FL 'Fhhe bill althonsh Ga
not accomplishing al tl'n1 should ne done;
7 earnestly recommend its passage, or
that of more completely effective n:ea-
sure.
The cavalry ann should be reoYganized
which It is peculiarly necessary that the
field officers should not be old. The caval
~ is much more difficult to form. than in
fantly, and it should be kept up to the
maximum both in efficiency and in
strength: for it can not lie made in
hurry. AT present 10th infantry and ar
tillerN are too few in number for our
needs. Especial attention should he paid
to development of the machine gun. A
general service corps should be establish
ed AS things are now the average sold
ier has far toe lanch labor of ronmili-
talN characterize perform.
National Guard.
Now that the organized militia, the Ma
uonal Guard has been incorporated with
the army as a part of the national forces
it bchoovcs the Government to do every
reasonable thing in it's power IT, perfect
its efficiency. 1t should be assisted in it's
instruction and otherwise aided more lib
orally than heretofore, The continuous
services of many well-trained regular Of
ficers will be essential in this connection:
Such officers must be especially trained at
service schools best to qualify them as
the detailing of officers for training at the
service schools and for daty with the Ma
tional Guard entails detaching them from
their regiments which are already greatly
depleted by detachment of officers for as
sisnment to duties prescribed by acts of
the Congress.
Gress creating number extra officers in
the army, which if passed, as it ought to
be, will enable more officers to be trained
signed to that duty: In case of war it
will be of the utmost Importance to have
large number trained officers to use for
There should be legislation to provide
a complete Ilan for organizing the great |
body of volunteers hehird the regular
army anG national guard when war has |
come. Congressional assistance should be !
given those who are endeavoring to pro- |
mote rifle practice so that our men, in |
how to use the rifle. While teams rep
resenting the United States won the rifle |
and revolver championships Of The world
against all comers in England this year
it is unfortunately true that the great |
body of our citizens shoot less and less I
as tine goes on. 70 meet this we should |
encourage rife practice among school,
boys, ard indeed among ALI classes. as
well as il the military services, by every
means II our power Thus, and and not 9th
serving he peace of the world. ri: to
hold on own against the strong rations
Of the th our voice for peace VIII car
ry to IL ends of tho earth. Unprepafed, |
and, tn fore unfit. we mast sit dumb
and he 'ss to defend ourselves, protect l
others preserve peace. The first step
in thu irection of preparation to avert
IL sh"E.'! COMETS to teach our meE to
shoot. l.
The Navy.
L apr e the recommendations of the
Gener; Board for the increase of the
navy, ling especial attention to tine
need iditional destroyCrs and GOLFERS
ana al ell. cf the four battleships. 1t
rs he des e ar6n to e%smplete as as soon as pcss
best e. ting type. The North Dakota,
Lelaw''"' Florida and Utah will fora the
frst q ion of this squadron. The four
vessels opposed will form tile second divi-
SION Will be an Improvement on the
nrSt. ships being of the heavy single
eaiihei n Il big gun type Al the vessels
nea" possible these tactical qualities
that is, speed and turning circle, and as
near : possible these tatical qualities
should the same rs is in the four YES
sells b.: re named now being built.
XIV etliileSty recommend Inat the
General Board be by law turned into a |
General Staff. There is. literally no ex-
cuse whatever for continuing the present
bureaT organization Of the Navy The
Navy should be treated as a purely MILL
tary organization, and everything should
be suhordinated to the one object of se-t
curing military efficiency. Such military
can only be guaranteed in time
of war if there is the most thorough. pre-
vious preparation iii time OF reace-al
preparation. I may ada, which Will. in All
probability prevent any need of war The
Secretary must be supreme, " and he
should have as his official advisors
body of line officers VINO should them
selves have the power to pass upo.l' and
coordinate all the work and all the pro-
posals of the several bureaus. A system |
of promotion by merit. either by Sc
lection or by exclusion. or by both pro-
cesseS, should be introduced. 1t is out Of
the question, if the present principle Of
promotion by mere seniority is kept, to
expect to get tho best results from the
higher officers. Our men come too old
and stay for too short time in the
high command positions.
Two hospital ships should be provided.
The actual experience of the hospital
ship with the fleet III the Pacific has
shown the invaluable work which such a
shin does. and fas also proved that II is
we'll to have it kept under the command
of a medical officer. As was to BE ex-
pected, all Of the anticiDations Of trou-