Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1922-10-27
Opportunities In The Navy
By Frederic J. IIaskio

Washington. Dot. 27--The Navy :
the week is beginning an intensive |
campaign for recruits. Tlirty-etght |
thousand young Americans are want-
cd TO put on the blue uniform and be
trained into artisans. machinists, |
aviators. gunners. radlomen. torpedo !
mon. electricians. clerks. submarine
mon, and the other vocations necessary
TO the operation OF Uncle Snzn's fight
ing ships and the naval shore estab-
llshments. From now on for many
weeks the recruiting offices will be
busy enlisting young men who elect
20 take advantage Of tho undoubted
opportunities which the Navy Offers
them.
It may come as a surprise 10 some
that the Navy so soon after the dis
armament agreement Is seeking $4,000
new men. The answer Is obvious.
Even the reduced establishment per-
mitted by the treaty permits the
American Navy to have $4,000 men
in its service. These men enlist for
n relatively short period of time. The
new recruiting is 70 find men 20 take
| the places of those whose enlistments
I tlelNt t&DAAtA VI hllO HIt AtdNAU6 Aut
service TO go into the Reserve or re-
! tiremCnt.
| For instance. the Navy this year
! is losing $500 chief petty officers who
! have served the required time and
iare now going on the retired list with
good pay. These men, whatever
! occupations they may take up, will
| continue TO draw from SGT TO s134 a
fmonth from the Government for the
rest cf their lives. This is a reward
for long and faithful service. granted
by law now four or five years old.
Those who are retiring after l6
years of service viii get s67 a month.
Those who have served a full 90 years
will get s105. 4 man who retires
after so years service gets s134 a
month for life. These allowances
amount 70 Ss04, $3.50. and s1.6OS. a
year respectively; and. calculating
them as income on capital invested a;
I per cent. they are the equivalent OF
$50, 100 S31.500 and $4,000 respective
ly. handed over by the government &c
the retiring petty officers for their
free use during the remainder Of theiI
lives. Inasmuch as a hoy can enlist
In the Navy al the age Of IS, Il W l
be seen that ne can gain the smallest
of these rewards when he Is "a years
old and needs only to stay in th'
, service until he Is 4S in order TO Sc
, cure the largest.
No Other Nation SO Generous.
No other nation is so generous Z
its sailors. The existence OF this re
tirement law is one OF the chief rea
sons why the Navy IS able to enlis
men of the calibre Of those who nov
. serve in it. Because OF this and othe
, attractions. the naval service has nov
, become highly selective. OF thos
6 / apparently qualified who apply 70
! enlistment, only one in three can sc
in at all. The Navy is now able {
pick It's men with great care.
The young man who enlists in tn
. Navy can do SO in the knowledge tha
: he is taking up a career of funda
mental use and value to his fello'
: countrymen. For every dollar tn
a ! people pay him the people get valu
. received, and this is true even il h
and his mates never have to go I
actual war for their employers.
fact. the view that a Navy Is an esser
tial but expensive ornament in tim
OF peace and only pays for the meme
invested in 1t after a war comes
"A view that is rapidly passing ava
The chief value of the Navy is 4
peace-time value, and it serves II
4 country well merely by existing,
The recent revelations made by Il
revolutionary governments OF Eurol
in ransacking their foreign offices al
publishing the secret documen
! pigeonholed therein have constitute
a powerful endorsement OF the wisdo
of the policy OF the United States