River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1895-11-14
THE ARMY.
synopsis of the Annual Report of Maj.
Ten. Miles.

Washington. Nov. 12.-The report
OF Maj. Gen. Miles. commanding
the United States army, which was
made public Monday, differs in many ma
terial respects from statements in regard
to .ts contents previously published
Gen. Miles believes that the peaceable
condition among the various Indian tribes
Is largely attributable TO the presence OF
troops at suitable points. and to the adj
mirable conduct of the experienced army
officers who have been placed in charge
OF the principal agencies. While ii is eco
nomical and desirable to have the reserve
forces of the army near the great centers
of communication, Gen. Miles urgently
contends that these points should be
selected for their strategic value. and that
the tendency towards concentration should
not be carried to the point of depriving the
western settlements of proper protection
U.ader the head of coast defenses Gen.
Miles states that the condition of these
defences is such as to require decided and
immediate action for their Improvement.
Some progress has been made towards
defending San Francisco, and a few mod
ern guns and rifles have been placed
These, however, are but small part of
what is needed for the defense of the har-
Dor, while San Diego is I'm the same condi-
ton as Puget Sound. entirely at the mercy
of any strong naval power. which could
blockade every important port on the Pa
cific coast within 80 days. While the rail-
roads might transport a million brave men
to the coast, they would be useless without
appliances to cope with the modern en-
gines OF war, and with all our intelligence.
pride, inventive genius and enterprise we
are as far behind i'm the modern appliances
o. war as China or Japan. Such were the
conditions, says Gen. Miles, as stated by
HIM In his report six years ago and sucl,
are the conditions to-day, with the excep-
ton OF slight progress made at San Fran
cisco.
The entire gulf coast and all the great
cities of the Atlantic coast northward TO
Philadelphia are entirely without modern
guns. With one exception the cities north
of New York are In similar condition to
those south of II. Some guns and mortars
have been constructed and some shipped
TO their destination, carriages for them are
under construction and emplacements
have been made to a limited extent
He shows that torpedo plants are useless
without protective batteries and that the
water in our principal harbors is so deep
that light draft war vessels might pass
over torpedo mines without danger. He
asserts that the recent maneuvers I'm Eng
land have shown that even the powerful
British navy is unable to defend the Brit
ish coast against foreign feet. There
fore he argues that the main reliance must
be upon coast batteries. He strongly rec
ommends the construction of all the high
power guns and systems of defenses called
for In the general plan of the board Of
ordnance and Notifications, and to meet in
part the expense of this costly undertaking
he suggests the application of the funds
that might be derived from the sale of
abandoned military reservations.
He approves the use of bicycles and mo-
tor wagons I'm the army and recommends
that a force of twelve companies be
equipped with these devices.
Gen Miles argues for an increase in the
strength of the army, saying that there is
no reason why ii should become crystal
lized and kept at one strength, as IL has
been for years. It should increase with the
growth of the country and be determined
by the census at minimum of one soldier
for every 1900 population and a maximum
| of one in I,000.