The San Francisco call., 1898-12-25
Argument in Support of the House Military
 Measure.
One Hundred Thousand Men Re- quired for Coast and Frontier Defense and to Maintain
 Order in the Islands.
Special Dispatch to The Call.

creased expense each year on the Gov ernment for officers and would materially impair the effectiveness of companies and regiments on the line of battle. General sherman, in his report to the War De- partment in 1876, after full study of the armies or Europe, and after he had seen thelr operations on the field of battle, recommended a company of 250 enlisted men in time of war; and further stated that we could count on one-third of the serving in the field.
 General Schwan said that after twenty one years service as line officer, he re- garded l45 men as the best organization. General Miles, in his testimony before the men.
 The organization provided for in this ment than in the minimum of the leading nations The committee inserted a new seclion n regard to the Record and Pen sion Of1ce, believing that the present efficient services made it only proper for hlm to have the rank of brigadier gen eral His administration of the office has @ resuiteo ssoo in do saving to the Government of oyer S4V0OO0 year in clerk hire alone
 The committee has placed In the bill certain limitations as to age. The Govern ment retires an officer at 64 on three quarters pay. If men are placed in the army at an advanced age they render the government absolutely no adequate sery- ice for the obligations the Government assumes to care for them during life The question of how long a man should serve before being retired was one the commit tee was not at all agreed upon, but com promise was finally placed in the bill limiting appointments to those not over 5O years of age.
 The retired list should not he used as an asylum for men who have spent their active life in civil employment An ex- ception was made in new section ex- empttng all the staff corps now open to appointment from civil life from the operation of the age limit, all men who served in the Civil War and the recent war with Spain. The reasons for the in corporation in the bill of section 5 is found in the following. submitted by an officer from the War Department: q have made calculation that the bill pre- pared, provided all promotion in each arm IS by seniority in each arm respectively, would give the following results as regards promotion to captain: In the infantry all the present first lieutenants and sixteen second lfeutenants. In, the artillery all the present lieutenants and forty-two sec ond l1eutenants- Total for infantry and artillery, fifty-eight. In the cavalry fifty seven of the present lieutenants would be motion to captaincy would. therefore, give hfty-seven captaincies in the artillery and infantry to the fifty seven remaining first lieutenants of cav would be captains and all the second lieu tenants in each arm would become first lieutenants, leaving the vacancies at the foot of the list of first lieutenants and all the second lieutenants to be. filled by pro- motion from the ranks, from the voiun- teers and from civil life"
 The official estimate of the cost of the army under the organization proposed in the bill Chairman Hull states is about S90000,000. Hull estimates the pay of the army at 24,416,SS7 and the additional cost for subsistence and all other expenses to bring the total up to not exceed $S3, 1000, 000