St. Paul daily globe., 1892-12-05
GEN.ELRINS REPURlS.
The Distinguished West Vlr-
ginian Tells Where the
Blue Coats Are. Il.
ie;
Recommendation That the
Office of Lieutenant Gen Il
eral Be Revived.
The Importance Of Improving
the Militia Of the Several
States.
Expenditures, Appropriations
20
and EStimateS--The Grand ~
Army Eneampment.

W ASfiINGION, IJtC. 4. -CCSlVt"A. -
kins has made his report on the war
department, the salient points OF Whicn
are as follows:
Since the present organization OF our
infantry was adopted, many changes
have taken place in the art or war. re-
sulting, among other things. in ma
terial modification of the form of IN
fantry regiments Our stationary con-
dition in this respect has left us with an
obsolete organization. the defects OF
which, however, have been so eXhals-
lively discussed in former reports from
this department, they are only referred
to in the present instance as means OF
urgently renewing the recommendations
of nearly all my predecessors III behalf
of three-battallon infantry regiments.
A bill which. without any additional
expense, would accomplish the end III
view. has passed the senate, and is now
pending in the house OF representa-
tives. The enactment Of this Dill INTO
law would be of great advantage to
the army and to the nation.
Artillery kseoFga niZation.
AS a further means of perfecting the
army. the reorganization of the artillery
arm has been recommended and ur-
gently pressed upon congress. NeceS-
sary provisions to this end are embodied
in the bill relating to infantry re0rganI-
cation. Ali that now remains for the
war department to do III the premises
is to represent the merit0riOuS character
of the proposed legislation and earnestly
recommend it 10 the attentive consider
alton of the house of representatives.
Lieutenant General.
The interests of the nation demand
that the administration OF military al
fairs shall be attended with dignity and
authority. TO this end 1t is necessary
that the commanding general should be
conSpicuouSly superior in rank to all
subordinates. Experience has shown
that rank, as well as command. is eSSen-
tial TO give proper effect to authority in
any military organization of importance.
Accordingly, it is recommended that
the lieutenant generalcy be revived as
permanent grade Of army rank. The
Immediate effect Of legislation in thIS,
behalf would, it is assumed, create q
promotion at the head of the army by
the advancement of the senior major
general, who, by reason of BRILLIANT
achievements in war and long and dis
tlnguiShed services, Is emincntiy entI7
tied to such recognition. This view OF
the case, although appealing strongly to
individual feelings, is regarded as inci-
dental only to the main argument, which
is advanced exclusively upon the broad
basis of public eXpedency.
Personnel OF the Army. .p
The general conclusion, gathered
from all sources. is 70 the effect that
while the enlisted personnel OF the army
Is. as a whole, very much better than at
any time previous, much remains to 0e
ACCOMPLISHED in this connections before
we can rest entirely satisfied. Every
possible effort has been made to secure
the enlistment of desirable men. The
recruiting service has been adminlS-
tered with exceptional yigor and sue
cess during the past two years; and the
standard OF qualifications has been
raised until the test at recruiting rem
devious is so critical that only 2S per
cent of the applicants for enlistment
were accepted during the fiscal year
ending June 50, 1892. 1t seems that al
most everything has been accomplished
that is possible under existing laws.
Notwithstanding all this. however,
mauv men succeed in entering the army
whose character and antecedents are
such as to render their presence detrI-
mental to the service, ana the complaint
is general as 10 scarcity of material for
nom commissioned officers.
DIstribuEiOn Of tE,c Army.
1t is believed that our Indian wars are
about at an end. In the march of popu-
ton and civilization westward that
which was so long known as the front
ier has disappeared. The necessity of
maSsing the troops in the West no
longer exists. Seventy per cent of the
army is now located west Of the Misss
sippl river. The total number of posts
now garrisoned by United States troops,
not including arsenais ana armories, is
ninety-slx: of these thirty-three are To-
Gated east of the Mississippi river, as
follows:
Maine IiIliinO!S. [