Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1898-06-09
The Lesson Of Events.

narine the army for active service is
valuable object lesson for the Ameri-
can people. 1t is showing them that
mere agsregat ton of brave men does
MT constitute an effective fighting
force. IT is also showing them that ma
ton that has been devoted for more
than quarter of a century to the pur-
suits of peace is not prepared at short
notice to properly equip such force
however vast and varied its resources.
The modern army does not spring UP,
a matter of growth. Many things
must contribute to its completeness.
It's supplies and equipment must De
drawn from many sources. All %
these facts have for years past peeh
urged upon Congress and the Amerl-
can people by the various dlsAh-
guished soldiers who, from time TO
time, hsye been in command OF that
small though efficient organization
which, in cheerful euphony, has been
called the United States army. APP
parently all of their warnings have
gone ..Hnheeded. Congress has acted
upon the sanguine assumption that
this country would never again be en-
gagedsih war. 1t is only within
comparatively few years that be-
ginning was made upon our present
modern navy, and still more recently
that some effort was instituted to-
wards providing our long sea coasts
with their immense interests, with
some small measure Of defence. There
has never been a time in the past %
years when a strong party in Congress
might not be depended upon to oppose
any effort to strengthen our
national defences. These men have
secuted the possibility Of war, and
have asserted in season and out the
ability of the United States to meet it
promptly and effectually in the re-
mote contingency that it might come
They have also asserted, in season and
but, their sublime faith in Uncle
Sans ability, should occasion ever re-
quire, to get up most any morning
before breakfast and lick all crea-
ton" They have loved to dilate upon
the Immense armies" the lively old
gentleman would he able to rush into
the field" in such a contingency. Wen,
war is here. and these erstWhile boast
ers are strangely silent. Every day
ing how limited was their range Of
vision, and how fallacious their rea-
Had the war been with one of
the really great powers instead of
with decrepid and exhausted old
Spain the country would probably By
this time be suffering the horrors Of
invasion with very inadequate means
for checking its advance.
There has been no dearth of men.
The government has had, and can
have all it asks for-as brave men as
ever served any country in the worlds
history. But before these men can
become effective in the field an inn
mense work of equipment must De
done. When the machinery nee
essary to supply the needs of great
armies is once established and in
operation no one doubts the ability If
this country, with its enormous re-
sources. to easily supply the needs Of
several millions of troops. To estab
1ish this machinery, and thoroughly
organize both the agencies Of produc-
ton and distribution requires time and
an immense amount of work. Our
government has already done wonders
in this direction. Yankee ingenuity
and energy can be depended upon to
accomplish wonders-but it must no
be expected to perform miracles.
1t is safe to say that. under the same
conditions. there is no nation on the
face of the earth that could have ac-
complished as much towards putting Il
we'll equipped army in the field as has
been accomplished by the United
States since the beginning of hos
tiHties With Spain. But all that has
been done. has been under great
handicaps. Probably Spain herself was
far better prepared at the out
break of the war to equip
armies than was the United States
We had comparatively few plants in
the country devoted to the manufac-
ture of military equipments and NUM-
tons of war, and the capacity of these
was extremely limited. The work of
turning plants heretofore employed in
the arts of peace to the immense task
of supplying the pressing needs Of
large armies has been a most eXacting
one, involving an immense amount &C
detail, and requiring no little time
The work of great Industrial plants is
done. under modern conditions. largely
upon contracts, and these cannot be
thrown a side 1t n ppDmpntc nptioa