The Irish standard., 1896-01-11
Strength They Would Have Should
They Be Placed on War
Footing.
Our Own Littie Standing Army
Would Soon Be .Swelled to
Large Proportions.
And All the rIen From Cape Horn
to Canada Would Fight
Like Fiends.

It is agreed by the best authorities
tha if John Bull should move against
Uncle Sam he would soon find himeslf
entangled in a fierce war with all of the
twenty republics of the Western Hemis-
phere. The question is, How would
either side fare in such complicated
war? says the Baltimore correspondent
of the Boston Transcript.
Since the appearance of President
Cleveland's Venezuelan message there
of the British and United States mill
tary and naval strengths. The war and
navy departments are always we'll sup
piled with the latest data concerning
the strengths and conditions Of Old
World armies and navies. Their infor-
nation relating to the fighting strengths
Of the smaller American republics to our
south. however. is very limited.
From the Bureau of American Repub-
lies the writer has omtained the latest
available information concerning the
military and naval strengths Of all these
Independent governments, which extend
from Canada to Cape Horn. It is be-
lieved that, in the event of war, we may
look for aid from the republics Of Argen-
tine, Bolivia, Brazil, Chilli, Columbia,
Costa Rica, Ecuador Guatemala, Hondu.
.ras Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru
Salvador, Uruguay, Venezuela, and prob
ably the islands and republics of Hawaii,
Hayti, and Santo' Domin ngo-nineteen in
ALL
Our little standing army of $4,000 men
would make an insignificant showing
oil of T1-no{ p1pSf i,o3o
listed regulars. Even if Uncle Sam
should call out his full militia OF over
Iii 500 men and add it to the regulars,
making in all an army of about 142 900,
we would stand as small minority with
John Bulls $4,000 regulars, reserves,
militia, yeomanry, and volunteers. These
last four classes form what is called the
reserved and auxiliary force of the unit
ed kingdom. This is counting on present
conditions, disregarding the fact that we
have within our boundaries more than
100000 Of men who, it is calculated, are
available for fighting and who might be
drafted during the severest emergencies
Of bloody war;
Ready to be united with ours, the sis
ter republics to the south have standing
armies aggregating altogether 100000
men In round numbers. All (two) ct
these are regulars. kept always in fight
ing trim, as are the standing armies cf
Europe. If concentrated they alone
would count 1900 more than the stand
Ing army Of Great Britain. When added
to our standing forces they would make
total of 261 900 regulars.
Thus an alliance between all of the 20
American republics, including of course
the United States, would possess a
standing army outnumbering the regular
British redcoats by about 42.0O0 In ad-
dition to their standing armies. our 10
sister republics maintain organized mil
itias aggregating in all about 587 900
men. These alone outnumber the British
reserved and auxiliary troops by 144 900.
Adding our organized militia, as it now
stands, John Bull would have to meet
about 100000 of national guard troops,
exclusive of the great host of regulars
mentioned
Making a grand total, the American
republics have today, equipped and
armed, over 965,000 men, regulars and
militia, against the $4,000 regular, re-
served, and auxiliary forces which the
United Kingdom of Great Britain has sta
toned in England, India and her colonies.
Without adding single man. volunteer
ing Or drafted, this side of the water thus
appears TO have the advantage OF num-
bers, as far as the now organized land
force is concerned.
AS doubtless the best authority on
these people told the writer, the men of
Central and South America are warlike
races. They appear to crave battle, as
Indicated ly their almost constant revO-
lllt:onary or civil conflicts. What some
OF them might lack in firearms and mod
ern equipment they more than make up
for in bravery and individual fire. The
countries from which we can look for the
strongest military aid are of course Bra
= FL and Mexico. Brazil has a standing
eIany about the size of ours, but which
would be doubled from a reserved force
upon the slightest provocation- About
three years ago Brazil ordered $4,000
titles OF the German pattern. These are
OF smaller caliber and Of the modern bolt
lock design. This is twice as many mod
ern rifles as our regular army possesses.
The standing army Of Mexico is larger
than ours by 5000 men. and according to
Information gathered by our military at
tache. this republic has a total available
fighting strength Of 162 ,0OO Every Mex
ican able to bear arms is obliged to serve
in the national guard. The military Of
Mexico is adopting small caliber maga-
zine light arm of the most modern pat
tern. Chile has a standing army about
one-quarter the size of ours and a nation
al guard of over $4,000 men. All these
/ are armed with small calibeI rifles.
Argentina maintains standing army
Of ene-third the size of ours, but she
has a tremen dous national guard, NUM-
bering 304, 600 almost three times the
size of our organized militia. She has
only lately equipped herself with the most
modern firearms. Her forces alone. if
added to ours, would make an army Of al
most a million. Peru, although with a
smaller force, has likewise procured mod
ern rifles, not forgetting her recent de-
feat by Chile. In fact, the strifes which
all these Southern nations have suffered
i among themselves have made them pro-
u gressdye il. al lof the par raphernalia Of war
Il and have whetted their bravery to a
q 4 much sharper edge thar that Of any other
3