The DeSmet leader. (DeSmet, Kingsbury Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1890-11-22
AS TO THE ARMY.
Some COpiOuS Extracts From the An
nual Report Of the Secretary
OF War.
Recommendations Of Much Importance
TO the Gentlemen OF the
Army Made.
4 Report That Will BE Read With
Much Interest by All the
People.


Hon. Redfield Proctor, secretary OF
u,or bo. o,,hr,ittad his orru,I rsrort
49,
10 'he pteSl'' -A'ei e'i''iil'i Nv '"E
acts passed 10y thepresent congress for
the benefit of the army, the secretary
discusses cost dafauras and suvs.
,,,o,,I;,.l,, '',.,....1
o"r COAST '.ie Is l'ee''''"''y 'Np''''
TO an attact from the sea. 80 lohSas
an enemy can reach Vulnerable points
J without exposing himself to our land
forces he NAV inhict blows which We
are unable to parry. and which may
cause losses Ill to be endured. No
great civilized nation to-day has more
lust cause than ours to look we'll to
! the condition of it's coast dtfrnsp4.
and none. since the civil war has so
wholly NEGLECTED. thrm. 1t is a matter
of GENERALIZATION that this national
drticiencvis hepirniup to excite the at.
trntion it merits, especially az time,
even more than money, is necessary
tor Its proper prrDaratiOn.
Outlaws iortoasr defense are invest
ments which yeald large interest i'm the
form Of insurance. with ttlrdrtrri0ra-
tion tO prinriual As the sole object
Of harbor fOrtltirations is defence, its
construction should at least keeppace
with. if not prrredp, all other prtpara-
tiOn, for II has been well said that
"whiIe WE may afford TO (,e deficient
in the means of offence. we cannot at.
ford +O no daf.nsalass -
| trust that a fixed policy NAV be
adon+e1 in the line OF a reasonable
vaaiIy nunronriation for the connie.
| fion Gf thl work on which the nation
is hut inst entering With such q mol
icv vmsnufarturerprs could safely nut
in tha necessary nlarts and he able TO
furnish material at q chaaner rate
WIN nm annual aDpronriation Of
eioht or tpn millionLOnnIv a little
n,ora than that of the nresSnt wear
The construction and 4mnIarement OF
onns and m0rtars work. Of toruedo
I4fense for the whole coast can becar-
riad on and in fen wears Olr nrincipal
harbnrs and cities rendered reasonably
secure
Tha runort then datnils the oupra-
| tion 0f tha ordnunce ed4uartment. with
which the public has been familiariled
Inv frenuent press dispatches. Under
tHe head Of '.Northern Frontier" the
secretary SAWS.
Rv onr agreement of 1877 with
Grest Rritoin each marty il restricted
70 a single armed vessel on Lakes On.
tario and Champlain and two on the
npppr lakes. In the absence Of any
prtuaration on Our part the lake
cities might. i'm the event OF war with
the mower holding the highway of the
| St. Lawrence. be in n more defenseless
condition even than the seabOard
cities A!tough we cannot, under the
agreement, build armed vessels on the
lakes to overmatch Oh those waters
the force that might be brought
against us, do not thinkit necessary
TO undertake any elaborate system OF
defeusps as prOuOsed. With land
forces uroperIy disposed we could
doubtless ward of any danger from
this source
Speaking of dcsertiOns, the report
saws.
The number of dpsertlOns from the
army for the twelve months ending
Sept. 10 were 2,OS6, as against 2,75l
for the same period last wear, a de.
crease of "a per cent. This result is
due to such improvements in the ser.
vice rs could be ACCOMPLISHED under
existing legislation. Although deser,
tiOns are already greatly reduced, 20
long as they continue in any consider.
able numbers they must have a bad
effect uDOn the morale of the army.
and entail q large and needless expense
The practical solution OF this some,
what vexed question assumes three
phases: First, how to make the ser.
vice more desirable; second, how to
remove the artificial restraints, which
by binding man nan inliexlby Iy to to a lonf
to him naturally drives him to des.
perate means; third, how to make the
punishment for the crime OF desertior
so certain. that if more worthy mo
tiyes fail men NAV he warned by its
fear As TO the second and third there
is now legislation enough. at least with
our present experience With respect
to the first, there is, | think, need oI
more.
NV experience so far confirms III
observation which | made one veal
400 that "the NTH of the whole Gues
ton is IN male the service worth seek
ino and then enough good men viii
a,spek II and he Glad TO stav in it, So
: : .lr as this is a question OF thoughtful
Nas thus far and will continue tc
we nv earnest attention, and il
yave had the hearty and intelIi