Training.—­Before this state of readiness can be attained, however, a great deal of training has to be carried out; and this training must naturally be designed and prosecuted solely to attain this end.  Unless this end be held constantly in view, and unless the methods of training be adapted to attain it, the training cannot possibly be effective.  To go from any point to another point, one must proceed in the correct direction.  If he proceeds in another direction, he will miss the point.

The training of the fleet naturally must be in doing the things which the fleet would have to do in war.  To decide what things these will probably be, resort must be had to the teachings of history, especially the most recent history, and to the teachings of the war problem, the chart maneuver, and the game-board.

The part of the personnel which it is the most important to train is, of course, the commander-in-chief himself; and no reason is apparent for supposing that his training should be conducted on principles different from those that control the training of every other person in the fleet.  Men being the same in general, their qualities differing only in degree, it is logical to conclude that, if a gun-pointer or coxswain is best trained by being made first to understand the principles that underlie the correct performance of his work, and then by being given a good deal of practice in performing it, a commander-in-chief, or a captain, engineer, or gunner, can be best trained under a similar plan.  Knowledge and practice have always been the most effective means of acquiring skill, and probably will continue to be the best for some time to come.

Owing to the fact that navies have been in existence for many years, the general qualifications of efficient naval officers are fairly well known; and they have always been the same in the most important particulars, though the recent coming of scientific apparatus has made available and valuable certain types of men not especially valuable before this scientific apparatus appeared.

In all navies, and equally in all armies, the qualification that has been the most important has been character.  To insure, or rather to do the utmost toward insuring, proper character in its officers, all countries for many years have educated certain young men of the country to be officers in the army and navy, and they have educated young men for no other service.  If knowledge were the prime requirement, special training for young men would not be needed; the various educational institutions could supply young men highly educated; and if the government were to take each year a certain number of graduates who could pass certain examinations, the educational institutions would be glad to educate young men to pass them.  In securing young men of proper education and physique, little difficulty would be found.  Special schools could even give sufficient instruction in military and maritime subjects to enable young men to become useful in minor positions on shipboard and in camp, after a brief experience there.  In fact, for some of the positions in the army and navy, such as those in the medical corps and others, military or naval training is not needed, or exacted.