Evening star., 1935-09-27
INCREASING NAVY
URGED IN FORUM
Assistant Secretary Roose.
Welt Declares Service Is
J "WoefuIIy Lacking"
tcontinued From Fourth Page.)

eress to authorize these increases as
their need is indicated.
oficer personnel presents another
problem. The naval oficer is a spe-
cialist and q technician. His edu-
cation for his profession begins the
day he enters the Naval Academy,
and continues as long as he wears
the uniform. The officers corps of
the Navy presents the continuity of
the tradition and devotion of 160
years Of naval history. When the
young midshipman puts on his blue
coat he joins the company of John
Jaul Jones. Of Porter, and Decatur,
and Farragut. He becomes kin, in q
very intimate sense, to generations Of
able and loyal men who have found
1t good to devote their lives to the
eervice Of the Republic. The life that
he elects is not an easy life; its STAN
dards are high and rigid and its
requirements are exact. ItS rewards
are in the realm of the spirit, rather
than in material things. His service
pay will never make him rich, but
with prudence, he and his family can
get along. After he has accomplished
his years of active service he can
look forward to retired pay for the
rest Of his life; something modest,
but assured.
For long time promotion in the
naval service went by seniority. You
were elevated when the man ahead of
you was elevated or died of. Since
simple longevity is, in itself, no con-
ceivable claim to advancement, it
readily can be seen how such a system
became intolerable. In 1916 the
Navy adopted a plan of promotion
by selection for the higher ranks.
1t has worked excellently well, and
has had the merit, for one thing, of
bringing able men to high command
while they were still young enough
to function at something like their
highest usefulness. After due con-
sideration, the system of selection has
been, in the last two years. applied
to the Marine Corps; and the Navy
selection laws were extended to reach
officers in the lower grades.
Retirement Explained.
No human institution ever func-
tions perfectly, and the Navy is a
very human institution. The actions
OF selection boards, as formed and
proceeding along the lines indicated
by law, have failed to please every
body. They have resulted in the re-
lease from the active service of young
men. otherwise perfectly able, on re-
tired pay computed according to the
length of service each individual has
had. Formerly, the laws governing
retirement strictly limited the lines
OF activity which an officer on the
retired list might follow He was
cut of, by their provisions, from
many occupations which, by reason
of his naval experience might other
wise have been open to him. Taking
this consideration in mind, with the
increased number of retirements
brought about by the new laws, the
Navy Department has procured SUBJ
stantial relaxations in the restrictions
surrounding retired officers. A young
ofhcers, now placed upon the inactive
list, has his small but assured stipend
from the Government as long as he
lives, and his energies and abilities
may be directed pretty much as he
desires to apply them. About the
only restriction remaining upon him
is that he cannot act as a direct sales
agent for concern selling material
to the Navy. Let it be remembered.
finally that an ofiicer on the retired
list is still part Of the Navy, and
may be called back in a period of
emergency
AS for the principle of selection, it
Is so sensible and logical that I do
not consider it to need extended
comments. 1t simply applies to the
naval service the governing factor
in every civilian occupation; ability
and initiative are made eligible for
reward. I find it in no way unrea-
sonable that competence be made the
basis for naval promotion. The naval
service has never been attractive to
the type of weakling who fears life
and the problems of life or doubts
himself and his abilities I believe
that our officers find. in the enlarged
scope Of selection, sharper and more
yestful challenge to their manhood.
I wish that there were time, also,
to speak to you of the officers who
fill the high command posts in the
naval service. They, every one, are
offlcers who have come up through
years of rigorous selection and elimi-
nation. In the Navy the reward for
hard work is more hard work; and
the recompense for responsibility ad-
equately administered is higher re-
sponsibility. The admirals afioat
and tine chiefs Of bureaus and COM
mandants ashore have proved their
competence many times before they
attained their present high station.
1t we have in this country a class
of men more able more loyal, and
more intelligently confident in them
selves and in their co-workers,, have
never heard of them.
There is much more that could be
said on this subject Our air force
is superb. The Marine Corps, the
Oldest combatant arm Of the Federal
service, has always been adequate
to its occasion. The Navy, in any
emergency, will do its best with the
tools that you provide for it. And
its best is very good best Observ-
ing events in the world today, we
wish only that there was a little
more Of it. But. the remedy for that