Daily Arizona silver belt., 1908-12-09

ha assisted in it's instruction and otherv;s. aided more liberally than heretoforo The continuous services of many well trained regular officers will be essentia, in this connection. Such offiyers mnS, be specially trained at service sebools best to qualify them as instructors os the National Guard. But the detailira Of officers for training at the se,,,i. schools and for duty with the N,,i.e Guard entails detaching them fro ntGlal mtSaa regiments which are already greatI,, pleted by detachment of officers fo. ee' signment to duties prescribed bv ,"s as of the congress. "'"
 bill is now pending beforo . congress creating number of .ne onicers m the army, which if passed as It ought to be, will enable mora ot neers to be trained as instructors of g. National Guard and assigned to Hae tnt duty. In case of war it will be of ta' tp utmost importance to have a larga nr.D ne per of trained officers to use for tn." ing raw levies into good troops
 There should be legislation to proc;, a complete plan for organizing tho o.als ue body of volunteers behind tba roeL.,' sa' army and national guard when was bal come. Congressional assistance sbo,,pS De gwen to those who are endeavo,iauu 10 promote rife practice so that s men, Tn the services or ont of tbo may know how to use the rife VII, teams representing the United S,a. won the rifle and revolver champior snlps or the world against all comers <. England this year, it is unfortunatoiua true that the great body of our citizar9, shoot less and less as time goes o- To meet this We should eneourape ,is. practice among schoolboys, and ipdeaJ among all classes, as well as in tbo n,;I' tary services, by every means in ''i. nn. power. Thus, and not otherwise r WI We De able to assist in preseryiDy ,t, peace of the world. Fit to hold opr on' agalnst the strong nations of the cart our voice for peace will carry ,o ,Lr ends Of the earth. Unprepared .rS therefore unfit, We must sit dumb a-S S helpless to defend ourselves. nro."'. others, or preserve peace. The frs, s'ep-in the direction of preparation to avert war if possible, and to be <, Tor war If 1t should come-is to te,nb our men 70 shoot.
 approve the recommendation =. the general board for the increaso ot tee navy, calling especial attentior ,a the need of additional destrovers .nS eolliers, and above all, of the fou, ha, tleships. It is desirable to comnIe,a .. soon as possible squadron of eiob, Dattleships of the best existing tyne The North Dakota, Delaware. FIo,id, and Utah will form the first diyisior of this squadron. The four vessels n,a posed will form the second d;visio. It VIII be an improvement on the first the ships being of the heavy. sipgis' caiIber, all big gun type. Ali the yes. seis should have the same tac ctieal op.E. tAes, that IS, speed and turning circle and as near as possible these tactiesi qualities should be the same as in tba four vessels before named now bo;no built. "eiHs
 most earnestly recommend that the general board be by law turned into general staff. There is literally m ey. euse whatever for continuing the pre,. ent bureau organization of the navy The navy should be treated as q pureir military organization, and everytbpo should be subordinated to the ono ob' Jeet Of securing military efficiency. Such military efficiency can only be guarap. teed Tn time of war if there is the mos, thorough previous preparation in time or peace-a preparation, I may add. which will in all probability prevent any need of war. The secretary must be supreme, and he should have as his official advisors a body of line officers who should themselves have the power to pass upon and coordinate all the work and all the proposals of the sev, eral bureaus. A system of promotion by merit, either by selection or by e1. elusion, or by both processes, should be introduced. It is out of the ques tien, if the present principle of pro, motion by mere seniority is kept, to expect to get the 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 prOvid- ed. The actual experience of the hos pital ship with the fleet in the Pacific has shown the invaluable work which such ship does, and has also proved that 1t is well to have it kept under the command of a medical officer. AS was to be expected, all of the anticiPa tions of trouble from such command have proved absolutely baseless. It as absurd to put a hospital ship under a line officer as it would be to put hospital on shore under such com mand. This ought to have been real ized before. and there is no excuse Ter failure to realize it now.
 Nothing better for the navy from e' cry standpoint has ever occurred than the cruise of the battle fleet around the world. The improvement of the ships in every way has been extraordinary' and they have gained far more exPei,I, ence in battle tactics than they Wouiu have gained if they had stayed m the Atlantic waters. The American PeoPlc have cause for profound gratlhcatlon, both in view of the excellent condition of the fleet as shown by this crulse, anu in view of the improvement the eruiS' has worked in this already high conO,
 ton. It do not believe that there any other service in the world Tn "nEu the average character and efhclene! % the enlisted men is as high as IS pv" the ease in our own. l believe that 'n, same statement can be made as to ou. officers, taken as a whole; but '1' .o
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