Kansas City daily journal., 1896-12-08
treasury. to which the attention of con-
gress is especially invited.
OUR ARMY AND DEFENSES.
Military Forces. Both Regular and
Militia. Unusually Efiicient-Rapid
Progress of Defense Work.

| the compulsory but peaceful return With
the consent of Great Britain of a baEd OF
| Cree Indians from Montana to the BRUSH
| possessions, no active operations have Teen
required of the army during the year past.
Changes in methods CT administration,
the abandonment of unnecessary posts ana
| consequent concentration of troops. ana
the exercise of care and vigilan .e by the
various officers charged with the reSpons:-
bility in the expenditure of the appTOptla>
tions have resulted in reducing 20 min
imum the cost of maintenance of our MILL
| tary establishment. During the past year
the work of constructing permanent in
fantry and cavalry posts has been con-
| tinued at the places heretofore designated.
The secretary of war repeats his recon-
| mendation. that appropriations for bar
racks and quarters should more strictly
| conform TO the needs of the service as
judged by the department rather than re-
spond to the wishes and opportunities OF
| localities.
More ArtiIIerymen Needed.
1t is imperative that much of the money
! provided for such construction should now
be allotted to the erection of necessary
| quarters for the garrisens assigned to the
| coast defenses, where many men will be
| needed to properly care for and operate
| modern guns. 1t is essential, too, that ear
| ~ provision be made TO supply the neCes-
sary force of artillery to meet the demands
| of this service.
The entire army has now been equipped
| with new magazine arms and wise policy
| demands that all available public and pri-
vate resources should be so employed as
to provide, within a reasonable time, a suf-
| fiCtent number 10 supply the state militia
with these modern weapons and provide
| an ample reserve for any emergency.
| The organized militia numbers 1889
men. The appropriations for its support
! by the several states approximate S2,SOO,O0O
| annually and 100000 is contributed by The
| general government. Investigation shows
| these troops to be usually we'll drilled and
| inspired with much military interest, but
! in many instances they are so deficient in
| proper arms and equipment that a sudden
| call to active duty would find them made
| quately prepared for field service. I there
fore recommend that prompt measures be
| taken to remedy this condition and that
| every encoura cement be given to this de-
| serving body of unpaid and voluntary citi-
zen soldiers upon whose assistance We
| must largely rely in time of trouble.
Rapid Progress in Defenses.
| During the past year rapid progress has
| been made toward the completion of the
| scheme adopted for the erection and arma-
| ment of fortifications along our seacoast,
| while equal progress has been made in pro-
| viding the material for submarine defense
| in connection with these works. 1t is pc
| culiarly gratifying at this time to note the
| great advance that has been made in this
| important undertaking since the date of
| my annual message to the Fifty-third con-
| gress at the opening of the second session
| in December. 1888. At that time l informed
| the congress of the approaching compile
tor of nine Pinch, twenty 10-inch and
| thirty -four S-inch high power steel guns,
| and seventy-five Pinch rifled mortars.
| This total then seemed insignificant when
| compared with the great work remaining
| to be done. Yet ii was none the less a
| source of satisfaction to every citizen
| when he reflected that it represented the
| first installment Of the new ordnance of
American design and American manufac-
| ture which demonstrated our ability to
| supply from our own resources guns of I'M
| eNCelled power and accuracy.
At that date. however, there were prac-
| tically no carriages upon which to mount
| the guns, and only thirty-one emplace-
| ments for guns and siXty-four for mortars.
| Nor were all these empIacements in condi-
| ton to receive their armament. Only one
| high power gun was at that time in posi-
| ton for the defense of the entire coast.
| Since that time the number of guns actu-
| ally completed has been increased to a to-
| tai of twenty-one 21-inch, fifty-six 10-inch,
| sixty-one S-inch high power breech-loading
| steel guns, ten rapid fire guns. and eighty
! Pinch riied mortars. In addition there
| are in process of construction one 16-inch
| type gun, fifty Pinch, fifty-six 10-inch
| twenty-seven S-inch high power guns and
| sixty-sx Pinch rifed mortars-in all 42S
| guns and mortars. During the same year,
| Immediately preceding the message re-
! ferred to, the first modern gun carriage
| had been completed and eleven more were
| in process of construction All but one
were OF the non-dsappearance type.
| These, however, were not such as to
| cure necessary cover for the artillery gun
MOI inst hn into faTaT 0F 1anln
| machine rapid fire and high power guns.
| The inventive genius of ordnance and civil
| ian experts has been taxed in designing
| carriages that would obviate this fault.
| resulting, it is believed in the solution of
| the difficult problem. Since 1893 the num-
| ber Of gun carriages constructed or build
| ing has been raised TO a total of 129 of
| which eighty-nine are on the disappearing
| principle and the number of mortar car
| riages to 152, while the ninety-five en-
| placements which were provided for prior
| to that time have been increased to $50
built and building. This improved situa-
ton is largely due to the recent generous
| response of congress to the recommends
tions of the war departments.
Defense System One-fifth Completed.
Thus we shall soon have complete about
| one-fifth of the comprehensive system the
| first step of which was noted in my mes
sage to congress December I. 1893. When it
| Is understood that a masonry emplaCement
| not only furnishes a platform for the heavy
modern high power gun, but also in every
! particular serves the purpose and takes the
| place of the fort of former days. the i'm
portance of the work accomplished is better
Comprehended. In the hope that the work
will be prosecuted with no legs vigor in the
future, the secretary of war has sub
mittsd an estimate by which. if allowed
there will be provided and either built or
building by the end of the next fiscal year
| such additional guns. mOrtars. gun car
riages and empfacements as will represent
not far from one-third of the total work to
be done under the plan adopted for our
coast defense. thus affording prospect
that the entire work will be substantially
completed within six years. In less time
than that, however, We shall have attained
a marked degree Of security. The expert
ence and result of the past year demon
strate that with a continuation of present
careful methods the cost of the remaining
work viii be much less than the original
estimate
We should always keep in mind that, of
all forms of military preparation, coast de-
fense alone is essentially pacific in its
ture. While il gives the sense of security
due to a consciousness of strength, il is
never the purpose nor the effect of such
permanent fortification to involve US in
complications, but rather to guarantee US
against them. They are no temptation to
war. but security against it. Thus they are
thoroughly in accord with all the tradi-
tions of our national diplomacy
FEnERhI pENITENTjARIES