New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-12-02

tanS list are large, ana thelr l,i,iDN -
will count from one to three arS onIA on
me active list IT is obvious that TINS
length of time is absolutely inadequa,e W
permit these flag officers 10 develop sui, s
efficiency i'm their commands. The aVerase
British flag officer has twelve or lou'evn
Years In flag rank and the youngest mas III
the neghborhood of twenty 800,
. No provision is made for any cNcePt
the lowest grade i'm flag rank that OF rear
admiral The recognized grades IN orusi
are admiral OF the feet, admlral. NGte,',Id
mlral. rear admiral. \ battle neGl shG;utu
be commanded by an admiral WIN w. WI
admiral I'm command of each OF the squ"urr
rons and a rear admiral IN commahu "
each Of the divisions. our great oattr
feet is commanded by rear adlhiI"l, 49,
four other rear admirals under MS orutlS
This violates the principle of rank, Wnlcn
is that each separate degree Oh uu'H sn"
authority. all depending one OH INC o'''''
requires a separate rank ,,-
8 No provision is made Tor lhcI'dS.nS
the various grades i'm proportion a. tne
total Of all the grades is lnCIv"Seu, ,d,,aIiv
been stated. the present law Is BiausatI
bringing up the Total to that required iol
the existing and prospective neet. ~
grades, however remain az my in
when the total was scarcely more tndu
half the present total That Is. the auul-
tions are all at the bottom. conSulutlhs
what is commonly described as NUM- ma,
T. Midshipmen are not commissioned u in
two wears after graduation. during Wnlcn
time they are officers IN a quaIntu StnTI,
and serve at sea. but are deineu tne i,I -.
"A right conceded 10 all other Objects anu
men. , Ice
( The above faults, and others of only less
iuportance than those enumerated. ar
corrected in the bill introduced in the extra
session of the present Congress. TINS nll
has the added merit of not lncreaslhe lne
expense. number Tor nu ni,aesc ,Sndcr the
nresent law goes on increa sing from year
TO year. and must in fact increase uL ni,s
any system II the number ana SIC 9u S,P3,
] md
commensurate with such increase. IN.
propoSed law does not increase thc PFeAent
ner CAPITA expense. nor would II hcI'dsc
the total expense in the future over lIle
nrosent or any other law that should pro-
vide an adequate personnel for the nee9,
I have recently recommended an ainaiSd-
nation Of certain stan corps WIN INC ''''
The underlying principles have been lh la,I
all the combatant elements ABOARD sup
should belong TO the same c0rI .so, @ni that
co-onerates TO produce the tnsheu snip
should also belong to one corps that - inc
line.
The abandonment Of the turbine engine
in favor of the old leCiprocatinS type Il ue-
clared 10 have followed an exhaustive com
harrison of the two kinds of machinery II
was found that the reciprocatlng engine =
about 80 per cent moro economical Al C'"i'-
Ing speeds than the turbine and OF apou'
the same economy at high speeds rs one
result Of the use Of oil burners instead oil
coal furnaces the new battleships Oklahoma
and Nevada will each have only one smoke
pipe thus clearing the upper decks ana
improving the arc of train of the turrets'
~ tho close of last year twonty-nine
sbips from battleshps to Golfers, were ueo
M AT navy yards under repair. AS result
of the new policy by next March every one
NJ Thorn will be ready for active service.
The Secretary regards il as a waste OF
money to erideavOr TO improve old ships
and bring them up to date. and he cites the
case Of the New York now the Saratoga,
where 81 per cent Of her original cost was
spcnt on alterations without making the
ship equal in yauc to modern vessel oi
light type
The report dwells At some length on the
successful results Of the experimental Wo'N
for the development Of aviation in the navy
and especially in The direction OF TN" pro-
6uction Of aeroplanes fitted for use from
shiphoard il is the purpose TO issue
few Of these machines 10 the fleets rs soon
as they have been sufficiently developed
Foreign Building Programmes
grammes. the report says that England is
LAYING down four battleships and one
armored cruiser Germany three battleships
and one armored cruiser, and Japan four
armorcd cruisers and one battleship. All
the battleships are being increased in size
and so are the cruisers, dostroyers ana
submarines.
Secretary Meyer proposes new Office
the director of navy yards. lie makes a
strong recommendation for the creation. OF
the rank of vice-admiral the graded retire
ment Of enlisted men and the increase of the
enlisted force by two thousand.
Regarding the abolition Of navy yards
Secretary Meyer promises 10 present the
whole matter afresh TO Congress when he
receives the report Of the Joint board OF the
army and navy Meanwhile he sees no rea-
son 10 change his views, already expressed.
as to the propriety OF closing a number of
Yards or changing their functions.
The Secretary also directs attention TO
the fact that some provision must be made
/ Immediately for accommodating on the 18th
mus Of Panama "A sufficient supply Of coai
TO meet the needs Of the vessels using that
waterway.
! Speaking Of the construction OF the Flor
ida at the New York yard, the Secretary
/ says:
The completion Of the Florida at the New
York Navy Yard and her readiness for ser
vice with the fleet as early as her sister
ship. the Utah, built by contract. is Il mat
ter Of qualification TO the department. and
indicates that the organization OF that
yard il not inferior to that of the pest
shipbuidinS establishments OF the couh-
/ try. IL has always been known that the
! character Il the work turned out in navy
| ards challenged comparison with WORK
done elsewhere. but hitherto the navy
/ wards have not been able TO build as eN-
peditiOuslY as have private nrms. The
completion Of the Florida. much of whose
work was not authorized for some months
! after the contract for the Utah was signed,
| has, however. shown that the equipment
and organization of this yard can con
struct a first class batteship as quickly
as the best private yards.
The department is meeting with success
| H. its cndeavOr to get closely in touch
with and 10 profit by the manufacturing
\ ana business methods of large concerns
are conspicuOusly successful In their spc-
cial lines.
Council of Defence Urged.
The report closes with an argument for
the establishment Of council of national
defence. The Secretary says in part:
! Last winter there was presented to Con-
| gress a bill TO establish n council Of
| tional defence, TO be composed OF the secre-
| taries Of War and the Navy, the chairmen
/ If the financial committees Of the Senate
ana House. the chairmcn OF the Military
| and Naval committees Of the Senate and
/ House. the chief of staf of the army, a
naval officer designated by the Navy De
lpartment and the presidents Of the Army
/ and Navy War colleges.
/ The purpose Of this council was 10 de-
/ t,rmine general policy Of national de-
/ fence and 20 recommend to Congress and