The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-12-16
ARMY INCREAsR
General Miles Advocates HIS RilH He.
fore the House Committee ON MIlf.
tary Affairs


General MILES Advocates HI. Rill He.
fore the House Committee on MiIi.
tary Affairs
| Washington, December 12.-Major
General Miles appeared today before
the house committee on military az
fairs for a hearing relative to the pro-
posed reorganization and increase OF
| are. pending, one drawn by General
Miles and introduced into the senate
as the Hawley bill, and another intro
duced in the house by Chairman Hull,
Of the military committee. At the out
set General Miles addressed himself TO
the general need of the increase of the
army with reference to the othr bill.
He said ne had always favored the es-
tablishment Of a fixed standard for
the army. The experience of the last
| year, he said, had demonstrated that
our present military establishment
was inadequate to maintain our posi-
ton as a first class power.
IF we are to keep the Philippines,
and / have no more idea that We will
give up Manila than we will give up
buIlhCT I11Il u dly OlHcI pidIE iii
mortalized in our history, then this ma
tive force will largely augment our
own troops and / understand the ma
ives are ready to enter upon this ser
vice.
General Miles then turned his at
tention to the bill drawn by him. He
had prepared this, he said, simply, in
order to express his views in definite
form. He explained in detail the pro-
visions as 70 cavalry artillery infantry
and staff.
In response to questions, General
Miles said that at least 1000 native
troops and 1000 of our troops were re-
quired to maintain order in Porto Rico.
AT least $1,000 were required for west
ern posts exposed to Indian u%prisings.
When asked how many troops were re-
| quired in Cuba, General Miles said that
as troops were moving there o he
| would not go into details on that point,
as it might be enormously construed as
comment on his superiors in office. He
expected that most of the troops would
be off for Cuba within thirty days.
when will the Cuban government
be organized" asked Mr.. SulZer, dem
ocrat, of lew York.
Il do not know; that is a political
question:" answered the general. He
went on to say that probably $1,000
men would be sufficient for Cuba in
the near future. The officers in the
Philippines estimated they would re-
quire 25, 900 men, possibly more. Alto
gether about 10000 men were needed
abroad and So, 900 at home.
when Cuba is independent the TO-
900 can be withdrawn and the army
reduced? suggested Mr.. Sulzer.
II would wait until that time comes
and then consider the question:" an
swered General Miles. Whatever is
the status of Cuba, it will be necessary
to maintain a stronghold there for a
number of years."
Concerning the size of the army un-
der present conditions, General Scho-
field said ne estimated a need of about
80, 900 for the Philippines, Is, 900 to TO-
900 for Cuba, 5000 to 5000 for Porto
Rico, Is, 900 for manning I'M caring for
Notifications, TO- 600 for the indian
country and $4,000 as a reserve. He
did not believe in Understanding the
seriousness of our task in the Phil
ippines and the only thing to do was
sible n
When Mr.. Cox asked what would be
done if the Philippine natives were
whipped, but would not stay whip
ped" General Schofieid replied, amid
laughter, that he would advise whip
ping them till they stayed whipped
After General SchOfield had conclud.
Ell, Ell dl NIl1SS opohc VI th VIZ
had been said as to the commanding
general. He said the laws now clearly
recognized this position as command
ing general, and n of these laws
made the general commanding the
army a member ex-officio Of the board
He did not approve the suggestion
tina the head of the army be an Elk.
ecutive staff officer to the president
During most of the time for the las
100 years the army had been under
the command of a general or a lieu
tenant general and that was the prac
tice the world over.
General Miles said he did not speal
from a personal standpoint, as he wa:
ready to be retired at any time: blu
he believed in the principle of a ranl
and authority commensurate with TIL
responsibility.