Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-10-27

pul UA IHe que UNIFORM anu De LTdiHeu
into artisans, ~machinists, aviators, gun
ners, radiomen, t%orpedomen, eleetrl-
clans, clerks, su~bmarinemen, and the
other vocations necessary to the oper-
alton of Uncle Sans fighting ships
and the naval shore establishments.
FROM now on for many weeks the re-
c%ruiting offices will be busy enlisting
young men who elect to TAKE adyan-
tage of the undoubted opportunities
which the navy offers them.
1t may come as a surprise to some
that the navy SO soon after the dis
armament agreement is seeking $500
new men. The answer is obvious. Even
the reduced establishment permitted
by the treaty permits the American
navy to have $4,000 men in its service.
These men enlist for a relatively short
period of time. The new recruiting
IS to find men to take the places Of
those whose enlistments have expired
or who are leaving the service to 60
into the reserve or retirement.
For instance, the nav this year is
losing 1900 chief petty officers. who
have served the required time and are
now going on the retired list with good
pay. These men. whatever occupations
they may now take up, will continue to
draw from S67 to $134 a month from
the government for the rest of their
lives. This is a reward for long and
faithful service, granted by a law now
four or five years old.
Those who are retiring after 16 years
of service will get S67 a month. Those
who have served a full go years will
get S105. A man who ~retires after 80
years service gets $134 a month for
life. These allowances amount to $S0f,
| SI ctEt and vi flsQ q RAW ~oro~1+trn1-
and, calculating them as income on cap
ital invested at 4 per cent. they are
the equivalent of $20,1O0, S31,5O0 and
$4,000, respectively, handed over by
the government to the retiring petty
officers for their free use during the
remainder of their lives. Inasmuch as
a boy can enlist in the navy at the age
of is, it will be seen that he can gain
the smallest Of these rewards when he
is "a years old and needs only to stay
in the service until he is As in order
to secure the largest.
No Other Nation So Generous
No other nation is SO generous to
its sailors. The existence of this re-
tirement law is one Of the chief rea-
IONS why the navy is able to enlist
men of the caliber of those who now
serve in it.. Because of this and other
nttL ASIiohS. slIC Laval SpIsAIG HAS hO"
become highly selective. OF those APP
parently qualified who apply for en-
listment, only Il in three can get in
at all. The navy is now able to pick
its men with great care.
The young man who enlists in the
navy can do SO in the knowledge that
he is taking up q career Of fundamen-
tai use and value to his fellow coun-
trymen. For every dollar the people
pay him. the people get value received.
and this is tru even if he and his
for their employers. In fact, the view
that a navy is an essential but expen,
sive ornament in time of peace and
only pays for the money invested in it
after Il war ONE is a view that is
rapidly passing away The chief value
Of the navy is It's peace-tlme value, and
1t serves the country well merely by
existing.
The recent revelations made by the
revolutionary governments of Europe
in ransacking their foreign offices and
publishing the secret documents pig
eonholed therein have constituted q
powerful Endorsement of the wisdom of
the policy Of the United States in
maintaining a strong navy during the
past 30 years. We are beginning TO
see something Of the fate we have
escaped. and to understand that for
that escape we can thank the American
navy. Even without its splendid rec
ord in the World war, the navy has
justified all the effort spent upon it.
These formerly secret but now pub
lished archives show that for the gen.
Grafton preceding the outbreak of the
World war diplomacy in Europe was
but another name for warfare. blood
less. but without conscience or conSid-
GRAFTON for the rights of weak nations.
The successful diplomacy has been that
which could command the greatest mil
itary force if it needed to call upon it.
The diplomats masked what they were
doing with such fine words as peace
full penetration spheres of influ-
ence." and the like: but actually all
these words have meant the ~c0nquest
OF peoples too weak to resist. Behind
each set of successful diplomats stood
p~ower-armies and navies. With these
the imppria listir nations carried or
neir expansion by coercian.
Navy Backs Up Diplomats
1t is not so long ago that the school
Biographies showed 4 large part OF
the north coast Of Africa belonged to
Turkey. 1t was territory over which
the sultan had either direct temporal
power or the influence that was his BY
virtue Of his being the head Of the
Mohamlnedan religion. To-day France
has Algiers. Italy has Tripoli, and
Egypt is independent. The Turks were
skilled diplomats: they were even fierce
fighters on land: but they lacked a
navy strong enough TO command the
respect of their more powerful adver-
saries.
And what was true Of the Mediter-
ranean coast and other parts of AT,
RIGA has been true also of Asia. Parts
OF China were Topped off. and 1t was
only the first assertion Of Al open
door policy by our own state depart
ment that prevented perhaps the dis
memberment Of China. In southern
Asia and among the rich archipelagos
of the South Seas has the same story
been repeated-defenseless peoples ex,
plotted by those who had the power t.
; conquer, if need be, by might.
One great section of the world. aDC
only me, has been exempt from the
raids Of European diplomacy--tht
western hemisphere-North and Soutt
America. A hundred years ago this
government eDunciated the Monroe
Doctrine and since that time has beer
prepared to maintain that doctrine by
force. principally by naval force, A.
d result, no European flag flies OF
American soil today except over lant
occupied before the United States be
came a nation. We can thank force