The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-12-18
OPPOSITION TO THE ARMY BILL.

! OPPOSITION TO THE ARMY BILL.
1t is stated that a combination is being
formed to defeat the bill which provides
/ for an increase of the army to 100000 men.
! According 10 this statement, the combi-
nation IS TO include the Democrats, Pop
ulists and Silver Republicans. The bill
has not been reported yet. and will not
be In all probability before the holiday
recess. 1t viii be a difficult matter to
get all of the Democratic, Populist and
Silver Republican members OF Congress
to ioin the combination, for the reason
that some Of them are in favor of the
policy Of expansion. Opposition to the
army bill means. of course. opposition to
the policy Of expansion.
There are two things in connection with
the army bin which are deserving of
careful consideration. one is that before
il can be intelligently determined whether
or not an army Of 100000 men is needed
it is necessary 10 know what we are TO
expect from the people of Cuba and the
Philippines. If they are disposed to per-
nit us to establish governments for them
in accordance with our ideas. and to ac-
cept without question whatever we I'M
dertake to do in respect to them, there
will not be need for any larger army than
that for which the law now provides If,
on the other hand, there are reasons for
apprehending trouble, both in Cuba and In
the Philippines. an army of 100000 men
would not be any too large.
There is a wide difference of opinion Is
to what the feeling Of the Cubans and the
Fnipinos is likely 10 he towards this coun-
try. Some contend that We shall have
trouble with them if we do not make
strong show of force at the outset, while
others are of the opinion that the Cubans
are disposed to trust us, and that there
viii be no difficulty in gaining the conf
dence Of the Fnpinos if we deal with them
frankly but firmly at the start.
The question is, how are we to deter
mine which of these views Is the correct
one? A resolution has been offered in tine
Senate to appoint committees to visit
cuba and the Philippines to find out what
the actual condition of affairs Is and to
learn whether or not the people are will
ling to be guided by us. In view of the
fact that it would be about impossible to
name committees wholly free from bias,
the better way to get the information
needed would he probably to get extended
reports from officers of the army of the
feeling among the people with whom they
come in contact. From the mass of in
formation that would be thus collected,
a pretty fair idea could be gained as to
what is in their minds respecting their
| future government.
The other thing that should be given
thoughtful consideration is the desire of
the volunteers to get out of the army as
soon as their services can be dispensed
with. They have practically performed
their part of the contract they made with
the government when they enlisted. The
war is over, and they have some ground
for asking to be mustered out. Many of
them have business interests which are
! suffering because of their absence, and
It is great hardship, therefore, to them
to be kept in the service to do police duty.
| A very large portion of them would be
willing, doubtless, to enlist In the regular
army after getting out of the volunteer
service, and there would therefore be no
| difficulty in filing the ranks of the reg
ular army if 1t should be determined to
increase the regular army to 100000 men.
| Therefore, there should not be a long de-
| lay in determining the question as to
whether or not the regular army is to
be increased. If a political debate should
be begun on the question of increasing the
army it might last throughout this ses'
sion. and even into the next Congress. AL
interests demand that the question shall
be settled promptly, especially the interest:
of the volunteers.