Evening star., 1924-01-20


~ cernible on the uniforms of
our American naval officers,
these experts of the seven seas an
nually perform yeoman achievements
in settling seething controversies. and
In smoothing out sources OF potential
conflict by the work of their wits and
the clever use OF their talented
tongues.
Scrutinize carefully, though you
may, the detailed curriculum OF the
United States Naval Academy, over
Annapolis way. YOU will not fnS
courses offered in Craftsmanship, po-
Iitical flnesse and diplomacy. II is
by practical experience that the sea
dogs" are trained in the ethics and
sloauence of ninety-cylinder states
manship.
Personal initiative is one of the
priZed assets Of every graduate mid
shipman. He is trained to think
quickly and clearly in times of stress
and emergency. His disciplinary
education is such that he forgets
non-essentials easily and sticks to
skeleton facts. He masters the feat
Of regularly polling out home runs
when they are needed. These are
the attributes OF the educated poll
ticfan OF modern times.
When John Paul Jones, father of
the American Navy, first began to
visualize a scoreboard OF perfection
for the typical American sea COM
mander ne emphasized diplomacy as
an outstanding qualification. In this
regard, Jones once wrote to a friend.
"Our Ideal naval officer should be
thoroughly versed in the usages of
diplomacy, and capable, if called
upon. of maintaining Il d!gn.fied and
judicial correspondence involving
the porteutous issues of peace or war
between great powers"
The naval officers Of today are
tailor-made editions Of John Paul
Jones specifications, drawn up more
than century ago. They are stu
dents OF unusual situations. They
are masters of critical emergencies
They do not think in tongue-and-.
groove lines. They violate and sever
the traditions of national red tape
when the need for so doing arises
nio Gun ci bHS IheN
do not dilly-dally over means or
methods, but get results in a manner
creditable to the integrity and dignity
OF Uncle Sans great federal family.
x x x x
our uniformed diplomats OF the
deep blue sea often have the ext
eencies and intricacies of novitiate
craftsmanship thrust upon them when
they are totally unprepared to assume
such overloads. Nevertheless. in the
customary efficient Annapolis way.
they shoulder the burdens and, as
may be. analyze and dissect them and
reduce them to solvable form
A naval officer out on a tour of
routine inspection may suddenly be
confronted by snarl Of interna-
tionz2 complications that are closely
linked TO the policies of ., dozen diff
ferent countries. He has to think and
act with almost instantaneous de-
cision. Despite the relative inexpe-
rlence in matters Of state Of many
Of the officers who have to decide |
such emergency complications the
errors are but few, the mistakes are
almost negligible. The efficiency OF
this emergency response to abnormal
service is one of the best compliments
that can be paid to the preparation
and training which the naval experts
receive at our national school for Sc
lected midshipmen.
The management of the mammoth
battleships which now constitute the
United States Navy = is admirable
schooling FOR the diplomats of the
quarter deck. Practical common sense
is really the steering wheel of sue
cessful statesmanship. and it cer-
tainly takes an overplus of common
sense to maintain and operate one of
our armored ocean greyhounds
The all-round confidence of Amer |
ican diplomacy, in the efficiency of !
the United States naval officer is apt
~ summed up in a statement by John !
Hay, made when he was Secretary of |
State: "I always feel relieved when
one of our naval officers arrives on |
the scene. for he always keeps well |
within the situation"
To many peoples in many different |
countries of the world the American
naval officer stands for Uncle Sam. |
They never see or meet our official |
diplomats or representatives Of our |
consular service, but regularly they |
como in contact with officers of the |
United States Navy. They visualize |
Uncle. Sam and the United States !
through the plans, actions and con-
of our uniformed naval rep
resentatives.
Particularly in ports where Uncle |
Sam maintains neither consular rep
Tesentatives' nor other government /
officials is the Importance Of the ma
val officers appearance augmented.
The State Department may plan
cautiously and carefully the direc-
tion Of foreign international policies. L
In practice, however, the acts and ac- i
tions Of naval officer may knock