The times., 1898-05-29


itGry Affairs.
There is every prospect of complete
reorganization of our military system.
The experience of the past month has de-
veloped a number of radical defects in
existing laws Our standing Army has
been shown to be too small. Our Ma
tional Guard has proved itself anything
but "national"-in short, many weak
nesses in our military organization have
| been made apparent to the War Depart
ment IN the present crisis
The people of this country now see that
they are not located on another planet
They are made TO realize as never before
that they belong to the human family,
and cannot isolate themselves from its
| interests Whether for veal or woe, they
are an integral part of the world. and
must share in its passions and problems.
! They discover that steam and the cleo
| tric telegraph have brought the Old World
| and the New World very close together,
| and that nations once separated by fifty
| days sea-voyage, are now scarcely five
days distance from us. and are, para
! doxicaI as it may seem, our very neigh
| bors. Moreover, the United States is on
the point of casting off its swaddling
clothes. Unless all signs fail. there is TO
be a complete change of policy, opening
I'D tremendous possibilities 10 us. Com
modore Deweys victory seems as pro-
phetic as was Commodore Perrys In
] 1873 In a word, we are apparently
entering upon an era Of territorial
ACKNOWLEDGMENT. In our infancy, we
adopted a policy of isolation; having
J grown TO manhood, We are inclined TO be
! inclusive rather than exclusive. Such
| IS the logic of events" Unless con-
! scjentious and conservative observers are
| very much mistaken, the confines OF this
| continent will no longer contract our
! powers" but many of the sea-isies will
be ours.
It follows from all this that our military
| system must be reorgani2ed TO meet the
| requirements of our manifest destiny We
must have bigger army, and our mill
! tia, as the Constitution names them'
| must be ready TO move as promptly at the
call Of the President as the city firemen
do at the first tap of the alarm bell
1 had an interesting chat with Lieut..
| Gen John NJ Schoheld the predecessor
of Gen. Miles in directing the Army, on
this subject. Said Gen. Schofeld:
I'VE will have to change our present
military system to meet the demands of
| the future. II viii not do to have all
this trouble every time the National
| Guard IS called out. ! think that the
| proper course for the country to pursue
is TO make a military training part of
the college curriculum. Indeed. it should
be required in the public schools. In
| 9TH -Drdc iOX Ehp np
knowledge of military affairs. 1t would
surely do him more good than the re-
suits attained from practice at football
or baseball. ] am inclined to think that
young America would enter such
course with great enthusiasm. and be
glad to know how TO carry gun and to
perform the different military eYolutions
While l viii not go so far as to say
that our military system should be mod
eled after those in vogue in France and
Germany, I do think that every youth in
the United States should have n practical
knowledge of the soldiers profession. 1t
is all the Veriest rant and rot to say that
such a course would beget a military
spirit. 1t would do nothing of the kind.
On the contrary, 1t would make our
young men more peace-loving, more
manly, and more healthy. Our colleges
and schools give great deal of time TO
athletics now Why not devote a portion
|
rangement would work no harm but ac-
complish a great deal of good. Instead
of giving so much attention to football,
| baseball boating, etc, why not let the
athletic spirit take shape in practicing
the arts of the soldier? In this way, the
boys would learn TO be brave, they would
be more soldierly and straight in car
riage, and would make splendid material
for minute men in a sudden emer-
gency. And we would have a nation from
which we could draw the bravest and
best troops in the world.
'If we are liable to have war at differ
ent times, it is only right that we should
have the best reserve material possible
from which to recruit our army. Look at
the good results obtained in the Old
World.
'I admit, of course, that there are a
number Of schools and colleges IN the
land where Army officers are detailed for
| purposes of instruction. But nothing
ever comes of the good work done There
is no organization afterward, and the stu
dents are scattered to the four winds of
heaven.
"a military education ought to be part
of the common school curriculum. The
boys should be taught how to handle a
| gun, march in column, and go through
military evoIutions before they reach six
teen years of age.
IN this way we would have the stuff
from which good soldiers come. We are
far from the millennium, and the nations
| have not yet beat their swords into plow
shares or their spears into pruning hooks.
The Spanish proverb says: An ass in
armor is still an ass Give our boys a
good military training, and American
| soldiers will continue to be invincible."
Senator Joe Hawley of Connecticut, is
a distinguished scholar, statesman, and
soldier, and is chairman of the Senate
Committee on Militay Affairs. The SEN
ator has all along insisted that there Is
a great deal of room for Improvement In
our military system as well as our coast
defenses.
Said the Connecticut senator to me:
"I think that the Army and Navy De-
partments have done marvellous work in
the present emergency. But how much
better 1t would have been, could we have
had fifteen more battleships, stronger
coast defenses, and a National Guard that
would have been ready to move like fire.
| men, at the first tap of the bell We
| must get things into better shape, so that
we shall have no repetition in the future
WAR PUZ