Rensselaer Journal, Volume 11, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 May 1902 — HONOR DEPENDS UPON THE NAVY [ARTICLE]

HONOR DEPENDS UPON THE NAVY

Prime Object of Americans Should Be to Build Up the Service. PRESIDENT TO NAVAL CADETS Impresses Hi* Hearer* with the Necessity of Being Prepared to Bring Victory to the Stars and Stripe* by Beaching the Highest Efficiency. “We all of us earnestly hope that the occasion for war may never come, but if it has to come tnen this nation must win, and the prime factor in securing victory over any foreign foe must of necessity be the United States navy. If the navy fails us then we are doomed to defeat, no matter what may be our material wealth or the high average of our citizenship. It should, therefore, be an object of prime importance for every patriotic American to see that the navy is constantly built up and, above all, that it is kept to the highest point of efficiency, both in material and personnel." President Roosevelt thus defined the importance of the navy to the nation in his address to the graduating class at the Annapolis Naval Academy. “In receiving these diplomas,” said the president continuing, “you become men who above almost any others of the entire Union are to carry henceforth the ever-present sense of responsibility which must come with the knowledge that on some tremendous day it may depend upon your courage, your preparedness, your keen intelligence and knowledge of your profession whether or not the nation is again to write her name on the world’s roll of honor or to know the black shame of defeat.

“It cannot be too often repeated that in modern warfare, and especially in modern naval war, the chief factor in achieving triumph is what has been done in the way of thorough preparation and training before the beginning of the war. It is what has been done before the outbreak of war that is allimportant. After the outbreak all that can be done is to use to best advantage the great war engines and the seamanship, marksmanship and general practical efficiency, which have already been provided through a course of years of the navy department. “The best ships and guns and the most costly mechanism are utterly useless if the men are not trained to use them to the utmost possible advantage. From now on throughout your lives there can be no slackness on your part. Your duty must be present with you, waking or sleeping. You have got to train yourselves and you have got to train those under you in the actual work of seamanship, in the actual work of gunnery.” The president’s speech was followed by the presentation of prizes, which were awarded as follows: For excellence in target practice with guns— Frank D. Hall, Illinois, first prize, gold medal; Frank C. Martin, Illinois, second prize, silver medal. Gilbert J. Rowclift, Illinois, silver medal, for being the best cadet cane fencer. Earl P. Finney, Winnebago, Wis., pair of binoculars as second prize for handling boat under sail.