El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1898-08-12
A New Regular ARMY.

To provide for large standing ar
my will be one OF the first things con-
gress will be called upon to do after
the ratification OF peace. From pres
ent indications it will have to be
standing army several times as large
as that with which this country went
to war with Spain. Congress has al
ways been disipclined to increase the
military establishment. This spirit
affected the legislation under which
the present increases were obtained.
Two acts were put upon the statute
books only when it became
apparent that war with Spain
was inevitable. One provided
for an increase of the regular army
from about u 900 men to about 1000.
But the law was so drawn as to permit
only a temporary increase. This law
says that upon q declaration of war
by congress, or a declaration by con-
gress that war exists, the president. in
his discretion, may establish a third
battalion for. each infantry regiment
and the enlisted strength of a compa-
ny, troop and battery respectively, in
the discretion of the president. may be
increased" and go on. In this way the
regular srmy may be swelled to
about 10000. But the law dis
tinctly provides that at the end of
may become involved the srmy shall
be reduced to a peace basis This is
to be accomplished by transfers and
discharges of the super-numerary Off
GERS and men. And after making
provisions for the decrease the act spe-
officially says:
And nothing in this act shall be
construed as authorizing a permanent
increase OF the com missioned or enlist
ed force of the regular army beyond
that now provided by the law in force
prior to the passage of this act
The legal Limitation on the volun-
teer army is just as strongly drawn. It
provides: THAT the volunteer army
shall be maintained only during the
existence of war, or while war is i'm
minent". The volunteer army can on
ly be raised latter Congress has or
shall have authorized the President to
raise such u force'' This stipulation
governs the length of the continuance
OF the volunteer army: ''All enlist
meats for the volunteer army shall be
for the term of two years, unless sooner
terminated, and all officers and men
composing said army shall be dischar-
Red from the service of the United
States when the purposes for which
they were called into service shall
have been accomplished. or on the con-
clusion of hostilities''.
The administration is now con-
fronted by remarkable condition
Under the laws for the increase of the
regulars and for the enlistment of the
volunteers, the army must be reduced
to the q 900 men as soon as peace is
restored. OF course the president is
not going to disband the army the day
or the week the treaty is ratified. He
Will hold the forces together until
congress can enact the necessary legis-
latiOn to warrant a permanent increase
OF the regular army or to provide in
some way for sufficient number of
soldiers to do garrison duty in Cuba
and in Porto Rico. and in the Philip
pines if the conclusion shall be to re-
tain those islands or any part of them
The Influence of the military men of
the country will be 10 favor of q per-
manent increase to about 100, OO0
This will mark a new era in the mill
tary establishment OF the nation. When
the civil war began the United States
had standing army of 1897 men.
When the war closed there were in
service $780, 86 officers and men. The
Grand Army was quickly reduced to
%, 600 men, in accordance with the
policy OF the country, which has al
ways been against large standing ar
my. Congress will have a struggle
over the determination of the strength
of the standing army necess AIRY for the
new conditions.