, 1874-01-24
THE ARMY.
Protest Against Reduction of
tho Force.
EVIL 1losults Of Too Groat Economy In
THIS Direction,

Th;s n3rncsion
40 M tae hattor q TVS Chicago Tribune:
on: ~ .he present time, thn fcvor Of re-
s,oaohmont hes attacked Congress with grcat
,.auH onso' Il u ooubtless noe1led. Tisere aro.
.m "eset, ao1"o propositions ttnt. II oarrod out,
"IA oneos no 1fao economy for tho present, md
w oPAos'aot'so VI
t""t =, hAlnA'AaasoE IN THE FurunE.
ono u ,n,' .aoao ~ 10 soduco our alroady small
~a,,s.o ".s. .mn 10 a,"aSs tavorito moasuro with
ooh2iessMo'lt anu mattor of perfect lndffor-
once to tho people.
IN English o1icer. lurrvfn,, forn,,us T..
the forces OF tlo pretonflor VIII, .,,au -,
of troona undor b}a commoa ,..a I oe'y
day before rcaoninr tia accno ~ oa.,n, 4,
!afm OF q ~ealth} tsanltor. Tho farmer cordially
invited him to stay mndcr his roof, nrasipa tho
army md ita oitfcn,s, on1 m y,ro to, In ,1aa
tLom tho nil]ara of I'm @ stato an ~ a. ussne
ne ptesscu LIS guest to apcnd some time With
nun ehonid Ito over come to that region agai.a.
fow ycara afterwards, when poaco
ro!gncd, tho officer callod on his formor
host, expecting warm wo,coro
rim ono1;or ,ngoa .. liz, WIT" '':n welcome
49,. .no VuaAof ea@ea ~ him Will Anrpr'se say
ing ho wondered at his boldncns III visiting one
who waa woll-known to dospiso solliorg.
"Why," said tho officer, "you presaod mn IN
vialt van ,ycr ,roa haro i,asa,a ss'e a , n'e ~
ooma,jora, 49, .,,,a, na Ao.' oaiuo' una sa.a you
coaB'dofod mo pillar OF tho State" "Dopona
upon IT, WINS tho answer, 'that. II said 10,
meant caterpillar" And 80 It IL with orr own
lItt1o armv IN linn n, nooco "''A '"A o"n
Thcro H. nro,,al,,v ~ o,,i'no.,..
II, peeotS Nv ui'""ooity Oh the part OF
tuo Fuohos IL ls merely indifference. With
ConErcBs, Huoh Is not tho caao. American
officers. as c}ass hold tl,omsc,voa o1oo, t.a,.
politics: 30 do mi cout in nnl;t,oo, s,s.., .,oa
thoroso,o ~ :, A.n .1 po.'sa' stl"ee1es !;
she1ol'fo' III II may no dono at tho expense OF
mon mon wllo caAnot inture them. our. Legislators
IL, however, limit Which should never be-
paasoa,
LEST DANGEROUS wEAKHEss nEsu1r.
At the present day, when all natiouy have
large, well-organized, well-equippoa armies,
anu tho magnitude Of our commercial relations
brings .s daily III cloBcr contact with them. wo
| should havo a sufficient force to meet tt,ofn in
caao Ct war.
Ia'f-a-miiEion Of mon arc required to man our
large nj. army, an intelligent, caretulIy-scectcd.
Observation-Disclosures Stuff is needed. Tlle
star III OF prima Importance, aH 1t must clotiio.
feee, arm, equip, and fortify for tho Limo, Staff
officers m,1st bo odNcatcd by experience and con-
stan stant practice; tlloy cannot be improvlucd. 10
advocate iegular army Of 500,U00 men would bo
absurd for II history proves ono thing more
Clearly than any othcr, It is. that standing armies
e aho 70 hspnoe Situated q We
10 lar worse than anything to DO apprchcuiod
from foreign foe. There is portion of tLo
army not TO be foarod, and which, If preserved,
can render olcicnt OUT huge masscBB of nlilitn
~ short timo az compared with that which tho
lacA Of sucll an auxiliary would require.
THAT PORTION IS THE STAFF,
:, It should be SO, maintained ns to suffice for
TUG wants OF tho largest armies wo may be COM
polled to uHc. 1t IL economical to 10 10, for
kuON'lEuCH rnufitH flau, +n
vent tl!o frightful waste Of resources that must
otherwise occur The En8iuears, BY deyoting
themselves a, e to tue profesa1on keep among ,us :
men ~ a%eys posted in thS latest deye
stndYlng tue results arrived ae by oil similar or
ganlzatlona In tho world. and by careful and NIL
morous experiments. maintain our arms and
equipments at as high standard as approprin-
tlona will allow. Tho Pay, Quartermaster. and
ComM!saaty departments continue o knowledge
OF tho proper system Of military accounts, at,l
during tho late War, saved untold sums by their
experience and integrity. The position OF Con-
ing mon all incentive to honorable oxertion,
Therefore, tho Staif, innocuoua aud 90 noccs.
sarY, should not be reduced.
Tho Line has already beqn brought to
than is deemed proper by our bost-informed
military mon. Thirty Thousand eoldic,s nro
scattered from Maine to Texas, from Atasisa to
Mexico. from the Rlo Graudo to tue He'd River
~ IAb 1auILus 4ucI9 are not enough men
goa-coast forts to keep tho guns clean yot It is
gravcly proposed to reduce tlo uumbor atiIl |
moro. Is it not timo to stop tlis folly? Forty
thousand Regulars would hayo put an end to the |
great Rebellion in six months. Had cur foe.
inatead Of being as raw aud dsorga1lizcd as our
selyss, consisted Of veterans from foreign
land, our seaport citios would have fallen WITH |
greator pro1aptituds thnn iu tho War Of 1919,
To-day, thauka to tho false economy Of our
Legislators, wo hayo no riflcd guns equal to tho |
lowest eoa-coast calibres in Europe. Had We
Dccn embroi1cd with Spain. tte probabilities a,o,
that the crude dofeneo of torpedons a1one |
could hayo saved tue almost dofauae- |
less City Of Now York, Thoro aro /
not soldiers enough in the fortl0cations |
sone 9eeo IT, s9ep the
cuniary loss that would layo rosutod' tho dis- dfi
grace '''~ s''~-
WOULD HAVE BEEN UNBEATABLE.
We speak OF the boasiful spauiald ;: VA c,r find |
Bomnastos Furiosos as protontious, and md far
weaker, outside OF Spaiu Sixty thousand Ior,,.