Evening star., 1916-01-16

| Gus about this preparedness campaign,
| and that We are not simply indulgtng
| in an emotional outburst which Will
lead to the expenditure and waste Of
some hundreds of millions Of dollars
without any public supervision.
Promotion by Selection Essential.
| If we expect such efficiency as they
have in the British navy and in the
European armies, the army and the
navy must be prepared to make some
sacrifice. We must have promotion by
| selection. The place where patriotism
and the sense of self-denial for a coun-
| try should be the strongest is in the
| army and navy which are to defend 1t.
The better and Industrious element
! services. They should not be handi-
capped by the mediocre men who mere
| ly keep step.
J I was talking to a British naval OFF,
| Ger who had been made a captain at
thirty-nine. I said to him:
| You are pretty young to be cap
tain. You may get the fleet some day.
| NO" he replied. mot unless my
for it. A man to command the feet
must be physically strong to stand the
! strain" He had partially broken down
from overwork.
/
ing Of himself; he was thinking of eff
cient command Of the fleet. There you
get the real spirit of the service, the
| thing most universally overlooked in
America. and usually misunderstood by
civilian secretaries of war. Self must
be sacrificed to team play. The thing
| Is a. good army and good navy, and
not that you should be well cared for
because you are an officer of the army
or navy. The officer who is brought
| through West Point or Annapolis owes
his country a great deal He cannot
have any justifiable feeling that the
| nation is under obligation to maintain
| him for life unless he gives the nation
| as much effort as a man in any other
profession.
Promotion by selection existed in the
British navy and the German army be-
fore the war. They are applying it
now in the British army. The British
navy system simply means that promo
tion goes by the selection of boards of
their superfors from lieutenant to lieu
tenant commander and so on up to those
officers who have the best records and
have shown the most ability and capac-
ity for command. When you ask IL
there is any favoritism. the answer is:
almost never II never Intentionally.
Every one realizes that the fate Of the
nation is with the navy
| TWO young men come out from An
napolis, for example. Both are able
to pass the mental and physical exam
|
be a clergyman than an officer of the
navy. He stays right on. as well as
the fellow whom nature has given the
quality of command. The admirals of
the British navy are all young, because
only young men are able to stand
twelve or fifteen hours Il day of strain
In war We don't put man in charge
OF a fleet until his age is against him.
men when they are in their formative
period. while they have the skill to
learn responsibility, as much as it is
the system of putting a prize on me-
diocrity which we practice
| We insist that one man who goes
through the Naval Academy and keeps
from court-martial is as entitled to
command and the rewards of the serv-
zee as any other Recently we had
what is known as the "plucking boa re"
1t retired certain number Of officers
every year. but row was made in be-
half of one officer by his friends. They
said individual injustice had been done
| The outcry succeeded and the board
was abolished.
| "Greatest Military Weakness
| French officer once said, in talking
pressed the greatest military weakness
of the Anglo-Saxon race. They have
not been thinking of individual injus-
tfce over in France. where they have
sent over 100 generals to the rear.
There is story of Joffre saying to
general: "In case / had failed as you
have failed. and you were the COM
mander-in chief, what would you ex-
pect?" And the general had the man
| hood to answer. THAT you should 60
for the good of France
Individual injustices occur all the
time In civil life. Jones, who is capa-
BILE man, happens to have a chance to
make good. He gets promotion Smith.
who is capable man. may never get
a chance. Robinson. who is bad man.
| finds he loses his place altogether. No
American army or navy officer can lose
his place except by court-martial. He
can only be retired.
! But If you start promotion by selec-
tion, say the critics. then the politi-
clans will get in their fine work" How
VIII they If you leave it to boards of
officers? Can We trust the patriotism
OF the United States admira Is and high
oHlcers sufficiently to choose men on
their patriotism? But perhaps Jones is
just as good as Smith-the two men
at the top of the list. In that case. one
must be chosen, by lot if necessary in
order that one may learn to command
/ before it is too late. The deadwood
fellows. who take life easy, who just
shuttle along. keeping safe from court
martial, must go altogether.
/ If we have not the courage or the
character as a people to have promo
! tion by selection. to put good men at
the top. as they do in our corporations.
through the survival Of merit and apti-
I tude III civil life. then there must be
something materially wrong with us
as Il nation. The efficient work done on
the Panama canal entirely disproves
any such libelous suggestions. Goe-
! thals chose the men he wanted Re-
sponsibility and the trust of the people
strengthen men. 1t will ours, both on
| the army and navy staffs.
| Copyright. 19lG, by the Wheeler Syndicate Inc,
| (This is the fifth article The sixth
| article Will be printed next Sunday)
SEVEN VILLAGERS SHOT