The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-11-12

report of General Miles. COMMANDING the
army was made public today. The per
sonnet is shown to be in excellent condi-
tloh' well instructed, efficient and atten-
1--WE TO duty. Liberal appropriations are
required for public buildings at the posts
many OF which are out of repairs. Gem
eral Miles believes that the peacaa bla
eoiioltlons now existing among the var
lous Indian tribes is largely attributed
10 the presence of troops at suitable
p POI ana to the admirable conduct of
t t4le experienced army officers who have
peen placed in charge of the nri,n liIr
aseIGles- While it is economical and de-
s srTan TO have the reserve forces of the
"a ton iie 9 tle great centers of communi-
taa!ou, Gneral Miles urgently contends
t that these points should be Selected for
6ana stldteSlc value and that the ten
he cs rr joWa[d concentration should not
western settlements of proper protection.
Coast Defense.
Under the head of coast defense Com
S 5t Miles states the condition of these
i2S is Such as to require decided and
NJ trT1i1iiie..ldte actlon for their Improvement
Inc; Inc uhsuarded condition of our coast is
hhoWn Dy every irst-class power and our
people should not be led into false secur-
a'S: s+r ne quotes from his report of 1884,
a 80, sttong argument for the defense OF
Iuset Sounl, shows that since the time
Lhe new Canadian railroad connections
nave been established there, yet not a
f1rsi dseg gun mas been placed in position
LOT de1ense, While those a the entrance
OF the Columbia are obsolete and of
little value: 1t is true that some pro-
saEss 1,i mas o, been made toward defending
and rifles have been placed These. how
ever, are but a small part of the general
plan for the defense OF the harbor, while
San Diego is in the same condition as
Puget Sound. entirely at the mercy of
any foreign fleet.
Danger of the Pacific Side.
,,t General Miles recalls what he said in
MS report OF 1889 upon the absolute inn
portance OF the defense of the entire
racine coast. In view of the fact that
II II was possible for any naval power to
ninety days, While 1t would take many
years to make a successful resistance and
me country might be required to pay an
indemnity of $1,000 000, 600 While the rail
roads might transport million brave
men to the coast, they would be useless
Wlthout appliances to cope with the mod
ern engines OF war, and with all our in
telligence, pride, inventive genius and
enterprise we are as far behind in the
modern appliances of war as China or
Japan. Such We're the conditions six
are the conditions today with the excep-
ton of the slight progress made at San
FRANCISCO. The. entire gulf coast and
all the great cities of the Atlantic coast
without modern guns In position are
few obsolete guns, and none of those
batteries could stop single first-class
much less a, fleet Some pro-
gress has been made at New York, but
like San Francisco only a small part of
the project has been accomplished. With
one exception the cities north of New
York are in a similar condition. To the
south of it some. guns and mortars have
been constructed and some shipped to
their destination, carriages for them are
have been made to limited extent.
Lesson of Fort sumpter.
General Miles, in support of his recon-
points to the fact that the batteries at
Moultrie and Sumpter kept at bay for
four years the most powerful fleet in
shersh two M de a 9n PfsG 42t
that torpedoes can be depended upon |
TO protect. our. coasts. and second that |
It's 1900 miles of coast can be defended by |
b navy. He shows that torpedo plants |
are useless without protective batteries |
and that the water in our principal har- |
oors is so deep that light draught war
without danger. He asserts that the re-
,ent manouvres in England have showed |
hat even the powerful British navy is
Unable to defend the British coast. against
/ foreign fleet; therefore, he argues, that |
he main reliance must be upon coast |
While he does not anticipate
var in the near future, he shows that in
he last two hundred years in less than
0 per cent. of the wars has there been
my formal warning or declaration before
lostilities, and as it would require years
var, it would be unwise to disregard the
essons of history. In our own country
or nearly 200 years there has never been
period Of thirty-five years in which it
las not been involved in war. He points
o the case of China which
HnJa Mistake
# relying upon it's vastly superior num-
Guarantee of peace is a condition of
badness for war. Therefore he strongly
ecommends the construction of all the
Ugh power guns and systems of defense
allied for in the general plan of the board
f ordnance and Notifications and other
oards, and to meet in part the expense
f this costly undertaking he suggests
he APPLICATION of the funds that might be
eriyed from the sale of abandoned mill
ary reservations. To man these guns
e asks an increase of the artillery arm,
hancock, N Y. for. the accommodation
+ the troops and the systematic detail
f subaltern officers for instruction in
citation at this place.
ecommends the three battalion organlza-
ion and regimental posts to keep the
of regiments together He
hinks that at least one full regiment of
avaIrv should be assembled at Fort
.iley, Kan, where field manouvres might
e undertaken. annually.
To thoroughly demonstrate the utility
bicycles and motor wagons in the
rmy it is recommended that a force of
walve companies be equipped with these
evices to be manned from the 4,0e0 Off
ers and men in the army able to use
bicycle, which has been already found
Stremely useful.
Increase of the Army.
General Miles argues for an increase
the strength of the army, saying that
lere is no reason why it should be crys-
llized and kept at one strength as it has
,r years, 1t should increase, with the
v the census at a minimum of one
slider for every 1900 population and a
aximum of one in LOCO
General Miles concludes his report with
.veral recomendati intended to bene-
the condition of the officers and men
nd attract to the military service the
est element in the community. One |
digestion is that where soldier has |
,ryed honorably for five years and