New-York tribune., 1911-12-22

| definite informa ti0n concerning INC p,,''
| tical operation OF n general system ana Az
tho same time extend the beneit ol tIl9
| service to a class of people who. above All
others. are specially IN need of IT,
| The suggestion that We have GcneIfl
parcels post has awakened great opposl-
| tion on the part of some who thlnk iodl
| II will have Tho effect ,o destroy ia" huSi ,
moss of tho country storekeeper. IIHtosn,
| of doing this. 7 think tho change WIZ
| greatly Increase business, for the benenl
] of all The reduction I'm tho cost or nNluS
| n will bring about ought TO make its COM
I ing certain.
The Navy Department
/ on Noyembor last I reviewed the tight
| ing feet of battlcships and other vessels
| - assembled In New York uarbor, consisting
Of q bsttleships. armored cruisers, :
cruisers, - destroycrs. II torpedo boats' .
! submarines aud other attendant vessels
making as vessels of all classes. Of tom
mage of t76,@i tons: Those who aIssS saw anS ,ng
| with its high military efficiency. Al Amer
! teams should be proud of its personnel. =,
The fleet was dehcicnt In the numoer 2i
torpedo destroyers. in cruisers ana III @ COZ.
Hers. as well as i'm large battleShlp cfuis'lH,
which arc now becoming a very inlPoI1,dni'
feature of foreign naves, notably the Brit
ish. German and japanese.
The building plan for this year contem-
plates two battleship9 and two GOLFERS
This is because the other and smaller yes
scls can be built much more rapidlS III
case of emergency than the battleSnipS'
and We certainly ought to continue tUe
policy of two battlcships a year until after
the Panama Canal is finished and until IN
our first line and in our reserve line we can
number 10 available vessels OF proper ar
mamcnt and size.
The reorganization Of the navy and the
appointment of four aids 10 the Secretary
have continued TO demonstrate their use
fulneSs. II would be- difficult now 10 ad-
/ minister tho affairs Of the navy without
the expert counsel and advice OF these aids,
| and | renew the recommendation which !
made last year. that the aids be recoS-
II is certain that the navy with its pres
ont size, should have admirals In active
command higher than rear admirals the
| recognized grades in order are. Aunllrdl
! of the fleet. admiral, vice admiral and rear
admiral. Our great battleship fleet IS COM
manded by rear admiral, with four other
rear admrals under his orders This IL not
AS it should be, and when questions of pre-
cedcncc aris" between our naval ohcerS
/ and those Of European nayies the Ameri-
! can rear admiral. though I'm command OF
/ ten times the force OF "A foreign Vicc-ad-
mral, must yield precedence 10 the latter,
! Such an absurdity ought not to prevail
and IL can be avoided by the creation OF
/ two or three positions OF flag rank above
| that Of rear admiral.
/ attended the opening Of the now train
| ing school at North Chicago, ILL., and am
| glad to note the opportunity which this
gives for drawing upon young men Of the
country from the interior, from farms
stores shops and Offices. which insureS a
| high average Of intelligence and character
among them, and which they showed in
| the very wonderful Improvement in disci-
/ pine and drill which only few short
weeks presence at the naval station had
! made
! l invite your attention to the considera-
tion Of the new system OF detention and Of
| punishment for army and navy enlisted
men which has obtained I'm Great Britain,
and which has made greatly for the better
| Hnta troll Of sltg
similar system here
Like the Treasury Department and the
| War Department. the Navy Department
| has given much attention to economy i'm
administration. and has cut down a number
or unnecessary expenses and reduced IT'S
| estimates except for construction and the
| Increase that that involves
| ] urge upon Congress the necessity for
| an immediate increase OF 1900 men i'm the
enlisted strength OF the navy, provided Tor
in the estimates. -Four thousand more are
sells.
There are in the service to-day about
i1,l50 enlisted men of all ratings.
| Careful computation shows that i'm April,
| lel2, 49,l66 men Will be required for vessels
| IN commission. and 5000 apprentice seamen
should be Kept under training at all times.
/ Abolition of Navy Yards.
The Secretary Of the Navy has recon.
| mended the abolition OF certain Of the
smaller and unnecessary navy Yards. and
! ia order TO furnish d complete and compre-
/ hensve report has referred the question Of
! all navy yards to the joint board of the
army and navy. This board Will shortly
! make its report and tho Secretary Of the
| Navy advises me that his recommendations
on the subject will be presented early I'm
| the coming year. Tho measure OF economy
contained in d proper handling of this SUBJ
| iect T. so great and so important to the
interests of the nation that 7 shall present
| 1t to Congress as a separate subject apart
from my annual message. Concentration
a few navy yards on each coast IS a vital
| necessity If proper economy i'm government
| expenditures is to be attained.
The Secretary Of the Navy is striving 10
/ unity the various corps Of the navy 10
| the extent possible and thereby stimulate
"A navy spirit as distinguished from d corps
spirit. In this he has my warm support.
| All officers arc 10 be naval officers first
| and specialists afterward. This means
that officers Will take up at least one spe-
cialty, such as ordnance construction or
done now. only some of the specialists, like
the pay officers and naval constructors,
are not Of the line. 1t Is proposed 10 make
them all of the line.
| All combatant corps should obviously be
! Of the line. This neceSsitateS dmalgsmat-
ing the pay officers and also those en-
gagged i'm the technical work Of producing
the finished ship. This is. At present the
case with the single exception of the naval
! constructors whom II is now proposed to
amalgamate with the line.
Council Of National Defence.
urge again upon Congress the DE-
STABILITY of establishing the council Of
national defence. Tho bill to establish this
1 council was before Congress last winter,
and il Is hoped that this legislation viii
pass during tho present session. Tho pur-
pose of the council is TO determine The
general policy Of national defence and 10
recommend 10 Congress and TO the Presl-
dent such measures relating TO II as II
shall deem necessary and oXpedient.
No such machinery IS now provided ny
! which the readiness of tho army and
navy may be improved and the programmes
! Of military and naval requirements sha
! bc Co-orduatcd and properly scrutnlZed
/ with a view 10 the necessities OF the whole
nation rather than of separate depart
ments.
! For the consideration of matters which
| are pending or have been disposed OF in
the Agricultural Department and IN the
! Department of Labor and commerce, |
! refer 10 the very excellent reports Of the
/ Secretaries of those departments. ! shall
not he able 10 submit to Congress until
! after the Christmas holidays the question
| of conservation Of our resources arising
I i'm Alaska and the West and the question
vi the rate for second class mail matter
I'm the Postofficc Department.
! The law does not require the submission
| OF the reports of the commission On econ
| owy and efficiency until December 81.
! shall therefore not be able 10 submit re-
/ port Of the work Of that commission until
| tho assembling of Congress after the holl-
days
! / have already advoca tod. In my last an
! uu2l message tho adoption OF a civil ser
| vice retirement system. with contributory
/ feature 20 II 80 as to reduce to a minimum
! the cost 10 the government of pensions
/ to be paid After considerable reflection.
/ am very much opposed to u pension system
/ n at involves no contribution from tho en-
pOycs. I think the experience of other gov
IcIHmcuts UsiiHcS this view; but the crying
necessity for some such contrbutorN sNS-
I IT, > nrgllnlI9IN
| mental outlay. I'm order to cover the Initial
! nnsi aud ~ sot Tho sv.iem going - oncc