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Show THE NAVY IS ALL RIGHT. Editor Tribuno: When the German critics concludo there Is something wrong with the American navy they ere giving themselves unnecessary concern; con-cern; nor need they flatter themselves we will have to order new guns abroad, "perhaps in Germany." The United States has always given its ships the eeverest test in order to find out the effecto of tho heavy firing upon the structure of the vessels and upon the guno, as well as to accustom the men to such conditions. It Is raid more is spent by this Government for target practice than by Great Britain with Its immensely larger fleet, and the marksmanship marks-manship shown by our gunners would indicate that tho policy is In every way a good one. And the weakness discovered in tho3e tests can be remedied in times of peace. While these same flaws and Imperfections Imperfec-tions and others greater in all probability proba-bility exist in ships less severely tried until such times as actual service brings them to light. Is Germany sure she would not have accidents as serious were she engaged In a naval duel with France or England or America? And what would be the fate of a ship so visited In battle. Is It not better to find them in practice? For certainly they exist in all modern war vessels. The Greeks said, "Know thyself first," and then "know thy enemy," as next in Importance. And these deplorable accidents are incidents in our getting acquainted with ourselves. our-selves. It would be a sign of tome-thing tome-thing wrong had such things occurred in our war with Spain- But they didn't. And the record our navy made then shows whether the dayB spent In target practice before the war has detracted from its "readiness for action," its "ordinance technique," or its "fighting value," to quote our emmlnent critic. What our gunners did then really and actually In battle, not on paper, has never been equaled. Which is more than can be Bald of the theoretically perfect German navy. LEONARD COMPTON. Ray, Utah, April 19, |