The San Francisco call., 1898-04-24
Call Office, Riggs House,

Washington, April 23.
 The House to-day passed the army reorganization bill lat the urgent request of the President and Secretary of War, but the Senate didnot remain in session as was expected. and the bill will not go to the President until next week. Some fear was expressed on the Demo- cratic side that the bill might increase the regular army in time of peace, but an amendment prepared by Bailey which removed all doubt on this score was accepted by Hull, and the bill passed by a unanimous vote.
 The bill reorganizes the army Into the three battalion formation, and author izes the twenty-five regiments of the infantry arm of the service to be re- cruited up to a total of 31.800 enlisted men. It authorizes the recruitment of the ten regiments of the cavalry arm of the service to a total of F, 900 enlisted men, the seven regiments of the artil- lerv arm of the service to 16,457 men. and the engineer battalion of five com- panies up to 752 enlisted men, includ- ing two on-commissioned officers, which makes a total for these four arms of the service, when at maximum strength, of 61 ,0lO
 The increase of officers provided for in the bill is: First, twenty-five ma jors. as provided in the first section of the bill. These majors are to be per manent addition to the command off Cers of the regular army.
 Second, 15O commissioned officers to provide for the two infantry com panies in the third battalion for each of the twenty-five regiments of in- fantry.
 Third, eighty-four second lieutenants, being one for each of the eightyfour batteries of artillery when recruited to a war strength. The second lieutenants are only to be added in the discretion of the President, but assuming that the extra lieutenant is necessary and will be commissioned for each battery of artillery, il is q total of commissioned officers in excess of the present number authorized by law of 259. Of this num- Der. as above stated, twenty-five are majors for the permanent second bat taliOn, and the other 235 officers, it is provided in the last section of the bill, shall, on the conclusion of hOStilities, be either absorbed by filling any vacan- Cies existing in the other companies of the service or by an honorable dis charge. which may be deemed neces- sary to reduce the commissioned off cers of the army to the number now provided for by the first section of this act.
 immediately called up the army bill. The bill has been materially modified since it was recommitted by the House a fort night ago. The following important pro- Viso was offered by the committee as an amendment: Provided. that in the event of a call by the President for either volunteers or the militia of the country the President is authorized to accept the quotas of the troops of the various States and Territories, including the District of Columbia, as organized under the laws of the States and Territories, including the District of Columbia" ."
 It was decided to limit the general de- bate to half an hour. Hull briefly ex- plained some of the features of the bill. He said the infantry force of the army as at present organized was not efficient in time of war with only fifty priVates. It placed but twenty-five men to each company in the fighting line and made the regular army, which cost on a peace footing $23 900 per annum, merely or namental The number of privateS in each company had been placed in the bill at eighty-four to conform with the or ganizatiOn of the National Guard in the majority of the States.
 Hull said that it was the Turpose of the general army to effect a landing In Cuba at the earliest possible moment It would take six weeks or two months to equip the volunteer army. The United States was doing what no other country on earth would dare do-it was going into war without provision for a land force. Congress made no provision for war until war was at hand. The volunteer army would be organized while war existed. Our experts on coast defenses said 1t would be absolutely impossible to place volunteer forces upon the coast defenses within three months, owing to the com- plicated character of the new machinery on the siege guns. This made the in- crease in the regular army artillery force imperative.
 Hull was besieged by questions as to the manner in which the reduction of the army would take place when host1lities ceased, and he explained that the officers