The morning times., 1895-11-30

The report of the Secretary OF War. made
| public last night, opens with suggestive
| tabular statement of insufficient Congress
sional appropriations. The actual eN-
penditlres for the last fiscal year were
| S52 gS7 0O0; while the estimates of the
| department for the next ciscal year run
| up TO 50 ,945 600. thus Indicating pruba-
| biihy of a much larger deficiency than was
| experienced this year.
Regarding the latter occurrence. Sccre-
tary Lamont says:
"A considerable reduction by Congress
| of the estimates uf the pay department..
which failed TO take into consideration
various contingencies. ana The enactment
of extraordinary legislation Increasing tein-
porarily the Demands upon the pay apDfo-
priation. withult making adequate pro-
vision thcrcfur, left The paynaSter general
without sufficient funds Ia meet the Army
payroll for the last half OF the wear.
The situation threatened much hard
ship among Officers and men, who usually
rely upon their munthiy salaries To pay
current expenses. 1t was dverted, however.
by an unofficial arrangement under winch
the necessary amount was advanced tnnieet
these accounts i'll full ard the assignments
of the same are held by the National CITY
Bank New York, the Secretary of war
having assumed the personal responsibility
OF guaranteeing their pa yneat. Adcficiehcv
appropriation of S2I zoo or so much as
may he necessary to eNtrsuish the debt
IL recommended.
The full strength of the enlisted men In
the army Is stated ut 25..O6. The Sccre
tary claims credit Tor having during III"
past two years steadily pursued the policy
of restoring Officers 10 their commands anu
reducing wherever possible the number of
those on detached duty. Officers assigned
to duty at Washington and at department
hea,luua rtcrs have been reduced from sixty
seven To thirty five, and the officers nn re-
cruiting service have been reduced from
ninety-eight IL tbiTty-thrce.
These assigned as military instructors OF
he national guard nr tie States and AT
military schools have been Increased from
90 10 l2s, and those acting as lndian
agents from . Ia 10.
He considers that the mnst essential need
OF the Army today Is the adoption OF the
" ree-battalion' Formation, as recon-
niended in his report ur 1894. He SAYS:
The proposition outlined contenplates
an increase in the number OF line officers.
involving an increase "f salaries OF about
S2O0,O0U. This Increase or expenditures
should be met and nlhre than overcome by
reductions in the expenditures for the staff.
The present chiefs OF bureauX in the
staff organization of tho Army are clDaD
of efficient men. They are In every way
worthy uf the responsible places they
occupy, and Jealous III The faithful per
formanCe uf duty. The wisdom. however.
of continuing the present system OF selec-
ton may well be questioned.
USELESSNESS OF THE STAFF.
There is nothing 10 the nature of the
duties OF some of tbr staff corps that should
ficcrS could be found for these duties in The
line OF in other branches of the staff. In the
case of the Engineer, ordnance, ana Nedl-
cal Departments, whose duties are largely
technical, no change from existing method
Of filling vaca n nciys III the grade OF brigGdler.
general is suggested, but in respect to all
other staff corps and departments the
CiS SIS eligible FOR election To the head OF each
should embrace the whole Army, line and
81 afr.
The head Of each staff corps should, In
my jul gmeDt, toe selected for term OF years.
tue officer at the cXpira tiop OF his term 10
resume duty In his commissioned grade.
unless reappoiDted.
The argument usually advanced IN oD-
position to a r.org6 njzHtion ls the fact that
The existing arrangement as respects sub
division OF starr duties accords with the
staff orga aDizatIou of the war period.
This objection TO change may be dis
posed of by the statement that the efficient
armies of the world have little rcsem-
blance, al respect to organization, to those
mainta ined thirty years ago. Arms. equip
ments, systems of evolution, ana method
of supply, have all been radically changed
so as TO make them conform TO the new
conditions or armament and the require
ments of modern times. The general
tendency is the concentration of chief
authority, and an organization in each
branch SO close, thorough. and complete
that cooperation can be had from each
subordinate.
DEFENsLEss SEA COASTS.
Secretary Lamont recommends that the
act OF October |, 1890, providing for an
examination of certain army officers
prior to promotion be extended to include
field officers. He says the policy of
concentrating the Army and abandoning
unnecessary posts la not only won the
approval OF all those acquainted with the
lines of progress which conditions have
marked out for our Army, but is approved I
by all thoughtful citizens
Secretary Lamont quotes President ticye-
lands message or 1886 in regard tn our
dcfcnselcss sea coasts. and says The rari-
Gus factors il the scheme of defense have
now been SCI accurately determined tnat for
the first time it is possible To forecast from
what has been accomplished the time and
expenses required to complete the project
with existing facilities. We have estab-
lished ana equipped q gun factory able To
turn out yearly thirty-five guns Of the
types required, or enough to arm the
eighteen posts enumerated within ten years.
II is complete except ms 70 the provisions
for finishing and assembling siXtecn-inch
guns, the cXpedicnCy of which is still cues
toned. We have, moreover, by contract
contributed toward the establishment of
a private plant for the Manufacture Of guns.
which In time will he able 10 meet any
unusual demand that could not be supplied
by the Watervliet gun factory