To Reorganize Navy Department

A movement is now on foot to reorganize the entire naval administration. Mr. Moody, the Secretary of the Navy, now has a plan in his hands providing for the creation of a naval general staff. If this plan is adopted, the department institutions, such as the war college, or the bureau of navigation, will be merged with the general staff, whose chief will exercise the same supervision over the military divisions as the Assistant Secretary over the bureaus, and in the absence of both Secretary and Assistant Secretary, the Chief of Staff will be Acting Secretary. The present functions and authority of the Secretary will be maintained.

This reorganization plan should, and undoubtedly will, be adopted. Ever since the outbreak of the Spanish-American war it has been apparent that the Bureau of Navigation is in need of a thorough overhauling. It has been a hotbed of political intrigue and chicanery. The impertinent role that some of the officials played in the Sampson-Schley controversy is well remembered. Anything that is calculated to remove the navy and army departments beyond the sphere of politics and offensive intrigue will have the nation's approval.