of the improvement the cruise has worked in this already high condition.  I do not believe that there is any other service in the world in which the average of character and efficiency in the enlisted men is as high as is now the case in our own.  I believe that the same statement can be made as to our officers, taken as a whole; but there must be a reservation made in regard to those in the highest ranks—­as to which I have already spoken—­and in regard to those who have just entered the service; because we do not now get full benefit from our excellent naval school at Annapolis.  It is absurd not to graduate the midshipmen as ensigns; to keep them for two years in such an anomalous position as at present the law requires is detrimental to them and to the service.  In the academy itself, every first classman should be required in turn to serve as petty officer and officer; his ability to discharge his duties as such should be a prerequisite to his going into the line, and his success in commanding should largely determine his standing at graduation.  The Board of Visitors should be appointed in January, and each member should be required to give at least six days’ service, only from one to three days’ to be performed during June week, which is the least desirable time for the board to be at Annapolis so far as benefiting the Navy by their observations is concerned.

The white house,

Tuesday, December 8, 1908.

*** End of the project gutenberg EBOOK of addresses by Theodore Roosevelt ***

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