The record-union., 1898-12-13
General Miles Before the House
Military Commi ttee.
Points Out the Necessity Of an Increase in
Land Forces.
Says the experience Of the Past
The Present Military Estab-
ishment Is Inadequate to Main
tain Our Position as a First
Glass Power.

WASHINGTON, Dec 12-Major
General Miles appeared to-day before
the House Committee on Military Af-
fairs for a hearing relative to the pro-
posed reorganization and increase Of
the army Two bills for this purpose
are pending, one drawn by General
Miles and introduced in the Senate as
the Hawley bill, and another introduced
in the House by Chairman Hull OF the
Military Committee.
At the outset, General Miles ad-
dressed himself to the general need of
increasing the army with reference to
either bill He said he had always IA
vored the establishment of a fixed STAN
dard for the army. The experience of
the last year, he said, had demonstrate
ed that the present military establish
ment was inadequate to maintain our
position as a first class Power.
1t was necessary now to consider both
our military requirements at home and
those in our new colonial dependencies
abroad, and also the rapidly increas
ing demands made by our seacoast for
tifcations. The latter, as far as COM
pleted, required some 1S5 batteries of
artillery and when the entire increase
in coast defenses was completed, 800
batteries would be required.
The war with Spain had shown pref
ty clearly how many men would be re-
quired, General Miles said. The war
had required $1,000 men for actual field
operations at various points. OF these,
22, 600 men went to Manila, 10000 TO
Cuba, and 10000 to Porto Rico. These
were men actually in the presence Of the
hostile enemy. Since then there had
been reinforcements for garrison and
other purposes.
At the same time, the General point
ed out that the necessities at home
must not be overlooked. The entire
frontier had been stripped of troops
during the late war, and complaints
were coming in that the lives, families
and property of those along the from
tier were jeopardized by this condition.
In particular there were fears Of an
outbreak in the Sioux country, because
of the absence of troops. 1t was not
desirable, therefore, to withdraw our
forces from the frontier, SO as to leave
them defenseless or to invite disorder.
These conditions said General Miles,
of one soldier for 1000 population at
home, with the native troops on basis
of two native soldiers for every 1,OOO
population.
IF we are to be a first-class power
in the world" proceeded General Miles,
I'VE must have a military system ade-
quate to meet our responsibilities the
world over T believe in making that
system so small that it will not be
menace to the American people, and
at the same time large enough to make
it adequate for any emergency
He believed that one soldier to 1000
population would give an army en-
tirely adequate for every need. 1t
would give an army of 62,OOO, accord
ing to the last census, and about 1900
on the estimated population of to-day.
In addition to this force, the use Of
native troops would make an effective
body in the several colonies. General
Miles explained in detail the bill drawn
by him.
The hearing took quite a spirited
turn when several of the Democratic
members of the committee began cross
questioning General Miles.
In response to questions, General
Miles said that about 10000 men were
needed abroad and $4,000 at home.
At the afternoon session General
Schof1eld, who preceded General Miles
in command of the army, devoted his
chief attention to the friction inevita-
bly, arising between the Secretary Of
War and the commanding General un-
der the present system. This had oc-
Cured under the command of General
Scott, who removed his headquarters
to New York to avoid differences aris-
ing with the War Department. 1t oc-
CURED also during the command of
General Sherman, who went to ST.
Louis to avoid friction.
The trouble arose out of the system
which gave the head of the army the
name of Commanding General when in
fact he had little or no authority or
even influence as commanding General.
Whether he does anything depends
largely on his personal relations with
the Secretary of War. If these rela-
tions are not close, then the Secretary
of War gets to ignoring the so-called
Commanding General. In that event,
the Adjutant General becomes a more
important official than the Command
ing General.
General Schofield urged that one of
the most essential features Of army
reorganization was to give the sPresi-
dent absolute power to select his own
commanding officer. Instead of Great
ing the permanent grade of Lieutenant
General he favored giving the Presi-
dent authority to select at any time a
Lieutenant General the officer occupy
ing that position retiring to his for
mer grade. The title also should be
that Of General-in-C Chief, instead of
Commanding General. as that would
better express the idea that the head
of the army was the executive officer
for the President and Secretary OF
War
General Schofield urged also that the
heads of all staff bureaus should be
subordjnated to the General-in-Chief.
Considering the size of the army un-
der present conditions, General Scho-
field said he estimated need of about
sc. 200 for the Philippines, 5000 to
20,OQ0 for Cuba, 5000 for Porto Rico,
I 00h1 For nnipO md 40 rsro For For