Evening star., 1899-04-15
Lessons of the War.

10 the Editor OF The Evening start
In answer to your correspondent Line"
who refers to my omission to mention the
want Of smokeless powder, would say
that as I understand It, the volunteers as
well as the regulars in the Philippines are
now provided with smokeless powder car
t1idges. SO there was no occasion to men
ton 1t.
The query, however, arises, why were not
our men in Cuba provided with it, as well
as the Spanish troops? The excuse that has
been given, that we had not the facilities
for its manufacture, does not seem to be
sufficient, for We could buy 1t as well as
ths Spaniards could, had there been any
effort made in time.
Much Of the fault for our unpreparedness
for war rests with Congress, which has re-
fused to make, from year to year, the nee
esSary appropriations to provide those
things absolutely necessary, and of which
we should always have a supply on hand.
The members want appropriations for pub
lie buildings and river and harbor improve
ments in their respective districts, because
on them, to a large extent, depend their
denomination and election; and wheI, urged
to provide for warlike necessities they say,
as they do of public buildings at the Ea-
ticnal capital, ooh, there's no hurry about
that; it can wait. Let us get our bills
through now, and we can provide for that
hereafter" And SO it goes, session after
session.
Even at the last session, when an appro-
priation of s1,OO0,O00 as / recall it, was
made for establishing a plant at Indian
Head for the manufacture of snlokeless
powder, a senator insisted on so amending
It that only $150,o0O should be used for
making powder, because, as he said, if
more were used it would interfere with the
business of some of his constituents!
And thus national interests are constant
ly made subordinate to local and personal
tnnU of
ship!
In his memoirs, volume 2, chapter 25
Gen. Sherman devotes a large space to
Lessons of the War; in which he points
out at length these and many other evils,
and especially the necessity for a reorgani-
zation of the War Department and its
bureaus; and SO obvious was the necessity
for these changes that he winds up with
the prediction that we certainly wo3'ld not
be caught again in such an unprepGfaJ con-
dt1on. So We all thought then. bu. in 1898
we Were just as urprepared as in 1861.
When it was proposed at the last session
to increase the regular army, as every one
Knows 1t ought to be, the very men who
were besieging the Secretary of War and
the President to have the volunteers from
their states mustered out opposed the in
crease in every way possible; so that today
many volunteers who might have been re-
released had the regular army been in
creased as proposed are still kept in the
service, although, under the terms of their
enlistment, they are entitled to their dis
charge.
1t must be obvious to every thinking
person that If we are to extend our terri
tory, and hold distant colonies by military
force, there will have to be a decided
change in these matters, or we will meet
with disaster.
The question is, is there in Congress suf-
fcient craftsmanship and patriotism to ac-
complish the desired result? The future
acne can answer. Our experience so far
does not afford much encouragement In
that respect, for we do not seem to learn
anything by the lessons of the past.
When the crisis is upon us and popular
feeling is aroused. no people on earth re-
spond so promptly and enthusiastically as
ours, but as soon as the excitement is over
we lapse right back into the same condition
as before. And what makes it worse. the
victories achieved are accomplished at an
unnecessary loss of life and treasure COM
pared to what there would be Ii we were
fully prepared, as we ought to be. In these
respects the British government is infinite
ly superior to ours. OBSERVER
April II, 1899.