The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1898-12-26
DON'T CRAMr TIE ARMY.

Putting their hands to the pillow and
looking back; stopping midway of the
stream and refusing to pass on to the
only obviously sure and safe landing
.repudiating the logical and inevitable
consequences Of their own forward
movement describes the atti-
tude Of expansionists who oppose a
permanent increase of the regular
army.
Granted the absorption of the Philip
pines as commercial, political or mill
tary necessity. or as simply an accom-
plished fact. without any why's or
Wherefores. it is imperative that ample
military forces should be provided both
to maintain peace. quiet and the Sc
curity of life and property in the dis
ordered realms that have come into.
our possession, and TO assure us of
some reasonable degree Of preparation
for defense against that aggression
from without, which is not only pos
sible but vastly more probable than
eve~ before in our history To ignore.
minimize or derde such possibilities
and to neglect to provide for them is
the height of folly Anti-expansion-
lists, who are still decleiming against
charging the army, should read their
Washington once more. The father of
his country was opposed 20 entangling
alliances, but he also admonished his
people to be ever prepared for war
As to the details Of army reorgan-
ization, the non professional is not
qualified TO express dogmatic opinions:
neither is lie competent to say what
the size of the army should be Profess
sional estimates, however. vary from
10000 to 100000 men, and as the advice
/ of generals in the field has been quoted
approvingly by the imperialists in the
matter of annexation, advice from the
same source would seem TO be es-
pecially entitled 10 consideration when
it refers to the soldiers own profession
and business. Il large contingent Of
native troops can be safely enrolled in
( the colonies and incorporated in the
army SO much the better for native
Americans, particularly as the Ameri-
can soldiers are far ana away the most
expensive in the world.
/ This, however, is a mere question Of
detail. The great point is that the
military force should be permau mt, in
order that We may have experienced
officers and body of men trained
both to fight and TO take care of them
selves and that this body may not be
smaller in proportion to our necessities
and the military task imposed upon
US than it was before the Spanish war
The substitute bill offered by the.
minority of the military committee Of
the House is especially unsatisfactory
at this point. It provides for an army
scarcely larger than that which was
employed previous to the war in polio
ing the Indians and taking care of the
/ Notifications. 1t is smaller than the
regular army of $1,000 men authorized
to be raised for the war, and it is not
large enough to allow for the care Of
our costly coast defenses now in
process Of construction and in part
completed
The minority bill proposes a regular
army Of 10000 troops and authorizes
the president to enlist volunteer
army of $4,000, which must be dis
banded after two years of service. The
absurdity of this arrangement should
require no demonstration. Setting aside
the utter inadequacy of the regular
army proposed in this bill, there is the
I
system is totally unsuited to the needs
Of our present situation. We have nc
means of knowing whether our army
will be needed for two years or ten.
but the chances are in favor of the
longer period rather than the shorter,
and whatever the time may be, it
would be in the highest degree embar-
RAISING to be deprived of five-aighths
of our soldiers in a single day, and
to be compelled to replace them in
large degree with raw and unframed
/ troops. Even if it be taken for grant
ed that a large proportion Of the men
/. would reinlist, the uncertainty of the
conditions would be demoralizing to
discipline and efficiency.
In short, if we are in for expansion,
we are at the same time and just as
logically and imperatively in for a
larger degree of militarism than the
country has ever known in time Of
peace, and it is childish folly to dis
pute or to seek to avoid the conse-
! quences. The lesson of our woful lack
Of preparation for the Spanish wax
should not. be forgotten. Preparation
is all the more essential now.