The record-union., 1898-12-16

would The San Francisco newspapers
attacked the amendment and caused
many votes to be thrown against it,
though enough voters to change the re-
suit could have been easily enlight-
ened.
REORGANIZING THE MILITIA.
Benicia New Era: 1t has now been
fully recognized that the militia must
be reformed and organized on differ
ent basis than heretofore. The eiectlon
Of the officers by the men in the dlfer-
ent companies is not conducive 10 gooo
discipline. Men should hold commls-
sionS in the militia by their htness
thereto and should be examined for
promotion the same as officers are In
the regular army, and II TINS RUE is
once established the difference IN dls-
cipline would soon be manifest. AT the
present time if an officer in any OF the
companies wishes to rise, he must De
| hail fellow, we'll met and must not
punish any infraction of military law
AS soon as the State abolishes the
election of the commissioned officers IN
the militia, politicians will steer clear
Of that organization and men VINO nave
its welfare at heart Will enter 1t and
the militia of this country Will soon
become a pride of the nation. We
would suggest to Governor-elect Gage
not to appoint men at the head OF the
militia in this State who simply did
good party service during the last cam
paign, but men who fully understand
the needs of our State soldiery-men
who have been in the regular army.
This branch Of our national defense
should be taken out of the hands OF
| politicians.
THE PARIS EXPOSITION.
| Stockton independents: The prospect
of postponing the Paris Exposition for
| another year and holding it in l9Ol. the
'fftieth anniversary of California, will
| revive the hopes of number of peo-
pie who would like to attend, but had
nearly despaired of finding the leisure
and convenience to make the trip in
| 1900. While another year will doubt
| less bring as much as this of despair
yet anything that revives present hope
cannot be entirely, an evil. Moreover
, as the British ambassador to France
says, the exposition is a mighty factor
for the preservation of the worlds
peace, it may be granted that its post
ponement will be a guarantee Of a
year more Of peace than was originally
| intended
| SIZE OF ARMY NEEDED.
Riverside Enterprises: Even with the
/ Philippines in our hands it is doubt
! full if the United States requires q
standing army of 10000 men, as Cen
era1 Miles recommends. 1t would be
| al a al tn q +.
ter temperately before irretrievably
| committing ourselves to the Miles pro-
gram. Certainly we do not need halt
100000 regular soldiers upon this con-
| tinent, and if the Philippines give
trouble, it will be found, sooner OF
later, that native soldiers are more ef-
fective in that quarter Of the world
than the imported and unacclimated
article. England learned the lesson
long ago; she has her Maroons in Ja-
maica, and her Sikhs and Gurkas III
India. What Hicks-Pasha and his sue
cessors could not do in the Soudan
with European troops, Kitchener has
finally done with native Egyptians. II
| Great Britain'S experience is worth
! anything, the plea that We need the
proposed increase to keep order in ou1
new Pacific possessions will hardly be
accepted. With a backing of old reg
ulars and good non-coms, the material
which Aguinaldo has gathered might
be licked into serviceable shape; it ce.'-
| tainly appears more promising than
| did that furnished by Egypt a decade
| ago, and 1t Will take the survivors OF
| the third generation of transplanted
stock from this country to campaign in
the jungles with a reasonably clean
| medical sheet.