Carson daily appeal. [volume] (Carson City, Nev.) 1873-1877, 1877-02-25
THE ARM y.

The House Military Committee have
agreed upon bin relative to reduction
in the army. 1t provides that there shall
be no new enlis'men.s until the number
of men already in the service shall have
been reduced to twenty thousand; and
there is provided further that the num-
Der of cavalry regiments shall be reduced
to eight and the inf lntry regiments to
sixteen. After the manner of reduction
is stated. then there is clause that any
officer may resign with one years pay
for each and every term Of eight years
service. The President is authorized to
assemble from time to time board. OF
not less than three nor more than hive
officers, who shall be invested with the
powers of court of inquiry and court
martial, and whose duty it shall be to
examine into the propriety OF conduct
aud capacity of any officer reported. and
if the decision should be adverse then,
upon the approval of the President, such
officer may be discharged. Twenty thou
sand men, all told, is seemingly very
small army for such great country as
ours; but then considering our geo.
graphical position and the absence of
any cause for war, the number of men is
probably as great as the exigency re-
auires. One of the most difficult mat
tiers for a foreigner to understand on ar
irving in this country is the fact that the
United States is considered one of the
most powerful nations on the earth, pos
sesses territory very many times great
er than the largest State in Europe, and
yet the standing army of the country is
so small as to be almost insignificant
when compared with that of France.
Germany or the other countries Of the
Old World. In Germany, for example,
every young man is obliged to serve
three years in the army, no matter
whether the country is in a state of war
or peace. A few only escape with one
years service, and these are made to
pay dearly for their luxury of exemption.
In short, the standing army is at least
fifty times as large as that of the United
States, and yet in extent the latter coun-
try is many times greater. while the pop
ulation itself shows no very unequal
comparison. At Potsdanl, in the neigh
borhood of Berlin, there is a single gar
rison which boasts of more men, than
the entire army in this country; while at
Dresden, Munich, Coblenz and other
smaller cities and towns there is an equal
proportion Of the whole. As in Ger
many, SO in Russia, France and else
where on the Continent. Every city and
town fairly bristles with bayonets and sol
diers, and these must all be supported
by the people at large. And yet it is
necessity in the countries we have men,
toned. If the old scriptural saying rel
alive to brethren dwelling together in
unity could everywhere obtain, if some
universal peace policy could be adopted
by the world at large, then, perchance,
such an array of power could easily be
dispensed with; but until such shall be
the case wars and rumors of war will
everywhere obtain. Russia needs
million or more of men to compete sue
cessfully with the Turks; Germany must
have as many to retain Alsace and Lor.
raine, while England and France must
alike have the power to maintain their
sovereign rights. Here in America We
are peacefully inclined; we are separated