The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1899-01-25

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proper system. Every break down couIt
trained officers and a properly crnapized
staff.
The victories won ON land were du. n
the splon1id courage OF the mon and NO,
to the obsolete system under which this
campaigns were oondncted. He beIieved
the army should DO q perfectly oreanized
machine, oheying the will Of ote man.
that man a trained soldier. Politics haa
crept into the army. An army could moi
be run as primary was The Hull bill
was long step in the right direc.iou.
Its great falling. In his opinion, was a.
failure to provide for n general staff.
The minority substitute was a clumsy
uros. His own bill he preferred to either.
still he asked all friends OF the army to
stand by the Hull bill,
MIR. Mcclellan paid beautiful tribute
to the regular soldier.
MIR. Hay, Democrat of virs inia, a mem.
Der OF the committees. opposed the hin, In
part, he said: There can only be two
excuses given for this legislation. First.
our relations 10 the foreign territory
which we have acquired from Spain; and
second, the determination of the execu-
tive to enter upon IN imperial policy,
Am forced 70 differ with The estimates OF
the general OF the army. We can got
along very well with 20. 600 men aboard
Instead OF $500; and the standing army
for this country and for services II, the
island could DO cut down to &C, 900 men.
From ths foundation of the government
this country has depended In every crisis
upon the volunteer soldiers of the repuh-
lilo. No crisis has ever arisen In our his
tory to which they were unequal To
meet the temporary requirements Of the
temporary conditions which now con-
~ hos iar " TOD
almost certain destruction Of our system
OF state militia will be one result OF the
passage OF this bill. No worse evil can
befall any country than that its people
should become dependent. for their rights
and liberties upon paid military estab-
lishment, controlled and governed by q
constantly growing central power. The
standing army proposed by this bill an
swers none of the needs OF the country;
II we are not going to pursue this So
called imperial policy it Is vastly too
large; II we are going to pursue the i'm
perial policy IT is ridiculously TOO small.
A vote for this bill means u vote for a
permanent charge upon the people OF at
least three hundred millions for the mili-
tary establishment If this measure Is
adopted the expenses OF the govern ment
will lie doubled. Another serious qpes-
tfon suggests itseif Can you obtain i0b,-
0o0 men who will enlist In the regular
armyY Experience teaches us that you
cannot. The only method by which yon
army would be by CONSUMPTION. This
method would not receive the snpport OF
30 men on this floor.
Our situation Is such with references to
other countries that large standing
army never has been. is not now, nor
ever wiil be necessity. Our battles of
the future, II there are TO be any, which
-nd fArk 10. 49,. 81
high seas; we must look to our navy TO
bring us victories.
Let us build strong navy and avoid
the dangerous experiment of great
army.
MIR. Parker, Republican OF New Jersey,
advocated the bill. The lighting line
must be strengthened. he said. Order
pines. That might prove tremendous
ask. We must have the men to do the
work. He believed In the principle OF a
general staff made up from the line.
Mr.. Bell. Populist of Colorado, op-
posed the bill in toto, as n measure de-
signed to prepare the way for imperi
alism.
MIR. Brown. Republican of Ohio, sup
ported the bill. He quoted from the Pres
dents message and utterances to show
hat there was not an official or unofficial
word which stood in the way of the ulti-
nate freedom and independence Of the
MIR. Lanham, Democrat of Texas. made
IN argument against Imperialism. He
amid great applause, to repe-
ition Of the horrors OF the Dreyfus soan-
iai as one of the possibilities OF militar-
assn IN this country. What We needed.
he said was commercial end financial
NOT territorial expansion. He
with an eloquent apostrophe
70 the American flag which won for him
applause from both sides Of the House.
At $50 the House recessed until s
clock, the evening session to be devot-
ID to debate on the army bill
There We're only Is members present at
he night session, but the galleries were
hronged. The evening was devoted to
et speeches. The principal one was made
~ MIR. Simpson, Populist Of Kansas, In
opposition to the bill. Mr.. Simpson,
Irgument was devoted mainly against
i'm perialism- He thought 1t better TO give
he Philippines together with the so,
l00, 900 paid for them than 10 hold them
md raise questions and complications
which would involve future generations
lie said that Gen. Shafter In public
peech had said that In asserting cur
dominion over the Philippines Wa would
probably have TO kill half the natives.
Mr.. Lawrence, > Republican of Massa.
husetts, spoke In favor OF the bill. and
DR.. Green, Populist of Nebraska, In op.
position to 1t.
AT Hos the House adjourned until to-
morrow.