Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1895-11-16
THE ARMY.
Synopsis of the Annual Report of Mai.
ten. Miles.

Ucns Miles.
Washington, Nov, 12-The report
the United States army, which was
made public Monday, differs in many ma
terial respects from statements in regard
to its contents previously published.
Cen 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 ad-
mirable conduct of the experienced army
officers who have been placed in charge
of the principal agencies While 1t 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.
Under 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 a small part Of
what Is needed for the defense of the har-
Dor, while San Diego is in the same condi-
tion as Puget Sound, entirely at the mercy
of any strong naval power, which could
H
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 in the modern appliances
OF war as China or Japan. Such We're 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-
tion of slight progress mede 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 It, 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 oar principal harbors is so deep
| that light draft war vessels might pass
over torpedo mines without danger He
asserts that the recent maneuvers in Eng
| land have shown that even the powerful
| British navy is unable to defend the Brit
| ish coast against a foreign fleet. There
| fore he argues that the main reliance must
| be open 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 in the army and recommends
! that 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 it should become crystal
| lized and kept at one strength, as it has
been for years. 1t should increase with the
growth of the country and be determined
| by the census at minimum of one soldier
for every 1000 population and a maximum
| of one in 1000