The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-12-31
The Artillery.

y The bill for recognizing the army which
the Committee on Military Affairs has re-
ported to the House through Mr.. HULL, its
Chairman, provides for abolishing the old
time regimental organization of the artil-
jery and substituting a corps formation,
consisting OF 144 coast batteries, "a field
batteries and 10 bands. A reason sug-
rested for this change Is that in the artil-
lery the battery Is the unit. and that where
rs In the other two arms 1t is desirable to
concentrate a whole regiment in the same
garrison for drill purposes, It is not 80 at
hll with the artillery.
It Is probable that artillery officers In
general will assent to this view; but what
they may fairly ask is that IL a corps organ
lzation is substituted 1t shall be real and
effective. Section 8 Of the Hull bill declares
that the new Corps Of Artillery shall be o
part Of the line, land, subject to the com
mand and control of superior authority,
shall, In matters pertaining to its technical
work, be under the supervision OF an officer
whose title shall be Inspector-G General Of
Artillery, who shall have the rank, pay and
Smoluments Of a BrigadIer-General." This
anomalous provision for q simple super
NlDlOu u tu0 COIpb AubJcdu Vi u COLQIlduu
of II. and the restriction even Of that super
Nision to matters pertaining to its tech
Aical work" has excited objections.
In other corps organizations the senior
officers are designated as chiefs and nave
The functions Of chiefs. We find the
Corps OF Engineers headed by a Chief Of
Engineers. the Signal Corps by a Chief
Signal Ofioer. and the Ordnance Depart
Gment by o Chief Of Ordnance. each with
the rank Of q Brlgadler-G General. Analogy
would certainly suggest that the Corps Of
Artillery should have at it's head a Chief OF
Artillery, not az Inspector-General, and
that, subject to superior authority, no
should have the command OF 1t and not q
limited supervision only. II the corps Is
established 1t should have n fully RESPONSE
BE head.
A like defect existed in the original pro-
vision for an Atlantic and Pacific division,
each supervised by an Inspector-G General ;
but since, 1t appears, that has been dropped
Il need not now be dwelt on. Tho point is
that while this part OF the line will, like the
other parts, be subject to superior author
ity, the Chief Of Artillery should direct the
character OF Its work and its steady develop
tnent. He should have access to the Secre-
tary OF War, like the Chief of Engineers and
Chief Of Ordnance, and he consulted in re-
gard to manning the coast defences.
It may be asked why the artillery should
have a stan officer in the War Department,
being a part OF the line, and why there
should be a Chief of Artillery moro than a
Chief OF Infantry or a Chief OF Cavalry.
These questions may be answered by pro-
pounding another. namely: why Congress
should make the artillery u corps, when the
Infantry and cavalry are not, Apparently
q reason is found In the distinctive char.
taeter OF the coast defence work and in the
difference between the great and costly
Armament OF the Notifications and the
in:aItryman's rife or the cavalryman's
sabre. But II Congress deems il important
to creete such a corps, let its chief In Wash
tington stand on a footing equal to that of
the chiefs of other corps.
A correspondent suggests to MS some
other changes In tho bill as reported. One
is the substitution OF three mechanics for
the two mechanics and a WAGNER now pro
vided for each coast battery, since no
WAGNER is really needed. Another is the
substitution Of 25 frst-class and 80 second
class privates for 10 and 10 respectively,
J the aggregate remaining the same and 20
hrStclass prlyates being not too many. A