Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1894-12-06
THE ARMY.
seeretsry Lamont Recommend. tho B.s-

secretary Lamont Recommends tho Rat
talon Formation.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 3.-Secretary of War
Daniel s. Lamont in submitting his annual re-
port to the president gives the expenditures
Of his department for the fiscal year ending
June 80, 1884, ut $56,039O09 a. The appropria-
lions for the fiscal year Of 1895 So 429, rs
The estimates for the fiscal year ending June
80, 1896, are s52, 3ls, 620.55.
The reports of the officers IN command o
the several geographical departments corrobo-
rate the opinion. expressed in the last annual
report that Indian warfare is virtually at an
end in the United States, and that beyond oc-
casional calls for police duty in the neighbor-
hood of Indian reservations. the army will
henceforth be relieved to a greater degree
each year OF the labor of armed surveillance
over the tribes Of the west.
There have been no serious attractions of
the neutrality laws on, the Mexican frontier
during the year, but the presence Of a regular
force there for some time to come is clearly
prescribed by the conditions of civilization in
that region.
It was found necessary during the period be
ginning with March and extending through
July of the current year, in various sections OF
the country. to employ considerable part OF
the army to execute the orders of the United
States courts. otherwise successfully defied
and resisted, to protect the dispatch Of the
United States mails, to remove restraints to
travel and commerce. and to guard the proper
ty Of the government. The movement of
troops thus necessitated was the largest which
has taken place since the close Of the civil war.
The number OF enlisted men in service on
October 81 was 1856 Deducting the SICK
those in confinement, recruits not yet joined
those absent on Through. and others employed
In staff departments or on detached service,
the effective field strength on the same date
was q, ia of all arms.
The report says: II earnestly recommend
that congress enact the legislation necessary
to establish in the army the battalion forma-
ton. now adopted by the armies of every other
civilized nation. AS necess Try to effect that
change recommend the removal of the limit
of g. 900 men fixed by the act of June 49, 1874
and return to the limit fixed by the act of
July Is, 1870 Legislative approval of these
two propositions will restore to the effective
force about 1900 enlisted men. bringing the
actual strength Of the army up to the nominal
strength now fixed by law. BY these changes
the army will be increased In efficiency 20 per
cent. in numbers about 16A per cent and in
cost of maintenance only about per cent.
1.-THE organization OF tho line of the army
has undergone no material change since the
close OF the civil war. During this period Of
thirty years every large foreign army has been
completely reorganized Changes and i'm
provements in arms and ammunition and
equipments have forced upon the leading tacti-
ciahs Of the great armies of the world the ne
cessity Of broad departure from the old sys-
TENS. All have adopted the battalion as the
tactical unit for infantry and artillery serv-
ing as infantry, and nearly all tie
equivalent of the squadron as the cavalry
unit. The light artillery battalion has
similar composition. Should our army ever
be brought into collision with disciplined for
eign troops, our present formation would prove
SO defective as to turn the scale against us in a
conflict on terms otherwise equal.
The policy Of concentrating the troops and
abandoning unnecessary posts has been pros
ecuted throughout the year. Where prac-
t1cable small garrisons remote from railroads,
whose further retention has become unnecces-
sary by change OF conditions. have been con-
solidated with garrisons at more important
centers thus reducing the cost of maintenance
and transportation and utilizing improved IA
cilities for the prompt dispatch of troops to
any point where their services may be re-
quired. The changes have In no instance
lessened the protection afforded by the army
to any region In which garrison has hereto
fore been stationed, but have considerably
augmented the extent Of territory over which
that protection can promptly and effectively be
afforded.
On June 3d. 1893. the army was distributed
among ninety-tive independent posts. During
the last year the number Of posts was reduced
$50 men. The aggregate area OF the military
reservations abandoned since the last annual
report is upwards of 208 600 acres.
Army officers on duty with the national
guard Of the states, Of whom twenty seven
were regularly assigned to state headquarters.
concur in reporting steady improvement in the
training and efficiency of the militia. The
fact that state camps of instruction, In which
forty additional army officers participated,
were held by thirty-three states is proof that
state military establishments are on q better
footing now than ever before in time of peace.
In several instances army detachments took
part in state camps, and the profit to
the army in acquaintance with the soldierly
qualities of the militia and to the militia in
observation of the attention OF the regulars to
details, which is necessary to the perfect SOL
dler, is both q present benefit and an invests
ment for the future from which We should
reap returns In any emergency calling for the
cooperation OF the two forces. The strength
Of the militia shows an increase of about 5000
since last year, the latest returns showing a
total organized force of 1883 officers and en-
listed men. The artillery arm, maintained by
thirty three states. has an enrolment Of 1922
Officers and men: the cavalry arm, maintained
by tWenty-SiX states, of 5OS9