Ashtabula weekly telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1880-1886, 1880-11-26
Report Of General sherman.
wAsnrNnrnr. Nnremhor 1N.

~ agree with General Sheridan that the army
is 100 small in enlisted men to fulfill the heavy
duties now imposed on it, and is overworkod.
/ 1, therefore, renew my recommendation of
last year that Congress bo asked to give 5000
! enlisted men specifically TO the troops of the
line Of tho army und TO make a separate pro-
! vision for detaohments 'of advance mcn,'
engineer battalion, hospital Stewards
'commissary sergeunts,' West Point detach-
ments, detailed clerks ETC., in the same
manner as has already been done for the
| Signal Corps. In this connection 1 will ven
ture to call your attention TO the fact that the
! Revised Stututes, edition OF 1873, Sec. 1,1l5,
! defining the organization Of the army, limits
| the strength to not more than 3O,0JJ enlisted
men,, but subsequent appropriation bills by
prOvisOs have limited the expenditures to 2j,-
JOO enlisted men. Still the legal strength Is
| 3OOJO enlisted men, and that number is the
least possible at which we can maintain the
| present organization of forty regiments in
anything like good order, discipline and econ
| omy, and infer this end can DO reached by
simply emitting the provsos in the next ap-
preparation bill.
"The prosperous times and easy financial
! condition Of the Treasury may now enable
| Congress to provide suitable armaments for
the forts which guard the chief harbOrs Of the
| country"
~
citc and Southern Pacific Railroads, General
| Sherman says;
"These railroads have completely revolu-
/ tionized our country in the past few years.
| and impose on the military an entire change
/ of policy. Hitherto we have been compelled
| to maintain small posts along wagon and stage
| routes of travel These are no longer needed,
| because no longer used, and the settlements
which grow up speedily along the new rail
0 10. A.
| regular stations built for storage at conYe-
nient distances afford the necessary shelter
fOrstOres, and for the men when operating in
/ the neighbOrhOOd. We should now absolutely
/ abandon many of the smaller posts hitherto
| necessary, and concentrate at strategic points,
| generally near the National frontier or whore
railroads interect, so as to send out de-
taohments promptly TO districts where need
! ed
ain my Judgment the time has now come
for the military authorities to select a suita-
bic strategic point for permanent occupation
and Improvement, whence detachmpnts can
be sent out for special service. As long as we
possess and must care for these small posts it
! Is impossible to abandon them to waste, and
| we al forced to hold them, but II ifCongress will
designate to the President, the Secretary of
| War and Board of Officers the right to sell
these posts and appropriate the proceeds Of
sale to strategic points, am certain Il will re-
suit in great economy and enable US to main
tain lurge garrsons with increased discipline
and better service. For similar reasons and
because the commerce Of the world is carried
on in ships of 5000 tons and over, and because
Of the heavy draft of war vessels, most Of our
sGa-coast defenses are supcrhuous. We now
have 5JlOJ,OJO people, and the idea Of any
hostile force landing on our coast is
! prCpOstcruus; yet our great commercial ports
| should be made so safe that even an upprehen-
| sion of danger would not be felt Portland,
/ Boston, Newport, New York, Philadelphia,
Hampton Roads, Port Royal, Key West, PEN
sacOla, New Orleans, san Diego San Francis
co and Port Townsend should all be properly
/ fortified and garrsoned. ALI minor forts
should be sold or abandoned An annual APP
preparation Of SlOOO,OOO would in ten years put
these forts in good order, aud another million
year would properly arm them, and the Sec
rotary of War and President should have dis
CretiOn in the disbursement Of this money,
| Artillery officers should also be associated
with engineers in constructing altering and
repairing seu-coRst dcfenses, because tho men
who have to fight these batteries should have
something to do In their construction"
Referring to the reports of General Schohcld
and Colonel Getty relative to West Point and
the artillery school at Fortress Monroe, Geu-
era Sherman SAYS;
ain my Judgment both those institutions are
I'm as good order as possible and both are an
honor to the country. Education must always
be the surest basis of National security and
honor. The education and manly training inn
| parted TO young men at West Point have IT paid
| the United States II thousand times their cost,
and have moro than verified the predictions of
| General Washington. From time to time
periodical complaints have arisen to its preju-
dice, such rs occurred last year in regard to
the cOlOrCd cadet Whitaker. A thorough,
patient, close investigation In the midst of a
tumult of abuse resulted in the perfect vindl.
cation of the authorities Of that Academy.
Every cadet at West Point is an uppointee OF
amembor Of Congress, each member having a
cadet Of his own nomination there, with
only ten appointed by the President ut
large. Tho corps Of cadets Is thero.
fore youthful counterpart of our
| National House of Representatives.. Tho
same laws, the same regulations, tho same in
sstruction books, clothing and food are com-
mon to all, and II more democratic body never
existed on earth than is the corps OF cadets.
Prejudice Is alleged against colored cadets.
| Prejudice Of race Is the most difficult 10 con-
tend against of any in this world. There ia no
more such prejudice at West Point than In the
country ut large, and the practice Of equality
| at West Point Is In advance of the rest of th Q
country. Tho authorities mt the Academy
have no voice In the selection Of candidates,
and must receive train and educate such as
are there, regardless OF nationality, color, or
| previous condition. To discriminate in favor
Of a colored boy by reason Of his color is as
much violation of the Fourteenth Amend
ment to the Constitution as to discriminate
against him, perfect impartiality being the
| rule, and that, believe, the authorities at West
| Point have endeavored to follow. In this con-
neotion desire to state that in my Judgment
the requirement that all enlisted men Of the
| Ninth and Tonth Cavalry and of the Twenty
! fourth and Twenty-ffth Infantry shall be coz
ored men, while the officers are white, is not
consistent with the amendment of the Consti.
! tuition referred to. All men should be enlisted
! who ure qualified, and assigned to regiments
regardless Of color or previous condition.
! Such has been the law and usage in the navy
| for years, and the army would soon grow 40
! oustomed to IT,. No body OF men ON earth has
more reverence for the Constitution and laws
than the army, and pledge my own and the
good faith of all in the service to enforce faith
fully every part of the Constitution Of the
! United States, and every law made I'm pursu-
| ance thereof. General SchOneld is abundant-
! ly able to enforce the laws and regulations Of
| the academy.
"The education at Fort Monroe, under the
supervision of Colonel Getty, is purely profess
| sional, and limited chiefly TO the artillery arm
| Of tho service. This education cannot bo
found In another college In America, and is
! valuable because the use OF artillery Is limited
| to war on a large scale, and cannot be learned
! I'm our Indian wars or in common life When