Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1893-11-23
The Army in Peace.

At grand banquet in Denver, Colorado,
on the evening of November 18th, Col. II.
C. Merriman, formerly of this State, de-
livered the following admirable address;
What our army .ball do in time of peace
is practically a new question. In the great
wars of our history it has furnished all of
our great commanders, as well as MODELS of
organization and discipline. by which the
hosts of volunteers have been marshalled
and led to victory. This accomplished, your
volunteers have "come marching home,
Justly applauded and honored by grateful
people but the remnant of your regular
army has quietly marched back to the vast
frontiers unfeasted and unsung, to renew
its long struggle with the relentless savage.
So it has known no peace, only change
from the glories of civilized war 10 the ter
rors of the Indian trail in which victory
or death" has been literally the watch word
of its existence.
.'Such has been the work of the main body
of your regular army in the intervals we
have called peace times, until a race war of
four centuries has ended. continent has
been redeemed from the savage. Railroads
have been built on the Indian trails. Cities
have sprung up, and the plains and the
mountains have been dotted with homes of
civilized industry. And nov for the first
time, the army comes marching home by
ha.talions and reporting for orders.
at is for Congress and the President to
dete rhine what those orders shall be. They
surely will not forget the wise injunction
left us by the founder of the rerublic "in
time of peace prepare for var And yet
they will not wish to initiate the armed
peace policy of Europe. so destructive TO
industrial prosperity and welfare.
Fortunately broad oceans still separate
us from immediate danger, but the vast
fleets of swift steamships everywhere avail
able, have reduced the problem of landing
great armies on our shores to q matter
of about ten days In view of this fact.
and of the tempt ition offered by the vast
wealth of our great cities, their exposed
condition, and the jealousy provoked BY
our national prosperity, unparalleled in all
history, we must admit that the possibili-
ties of invasion from beyond he seas are
no longer mythical. Under these conditions
shall We tempt insult and invite disaster by
utter want of military preparation?
LET US congratulate ourselves that Con-
gress has been made aware of our needs,
and that our navy and coast defences, 80
lied and made effective. Second only to
this in Importance comes the military educa-
ton Of cur people on whom We must rely
for prompt and effective service in case of
war Looking at this question from pro-
fessional standpoint. and remembering
what modern invention has added to the
appliances of war in the form of long
range and rapid firing guns, smokeless
ami noiseless powder with their undeter-
mined effect upon battle tactics, as well as
the various uses of dynamite for wholesale
destruction on land and water, it is easy to
see that the art of war has become far more
difficult and at the same time more essen
iial than ever before.
Woe to the general who blunders on the
battlefield today for punishment will come
ike the cyclone and the earthquake. And
wee to the nation that matches mere num-
bers of men against the skill and discipline
Of trained armies: for the greater their
number the more terrible will be their des-
truction.
THE remedy will be found in maximum
of military education smongthe people with
. minimum of disturbance to their produc-
tive industries. To this end the army 10
already At work. More than one hundred
officers have been detailed a. professors Of
military science in the leading colleges
and universities Of the land. Mos
Of them are graduates Of Weae|
Point Military Academy the hest nil-I
itasy sc3soo1 On easfh- snd I'll - 49,