The San Francisco call., 1899-12-11
THERE WILL Be
SOLDIERS FOR A
YEAR TO COME
Thousands Still for
the Islands.
WHERE THE TROOPS ARE NOW
NOT ENOUGH ARTILLERYMEN
TO MAN THE GUNS.
Army of 100000 Renewed Within
Twelve Months - Congress
Expected to Increase
the Force.

tents at the Preside will be taken down
ana everything movable will be carted
from the camps and will be stored away
10 be In readiness for another emergency
such as caused their first occupation.
The buildings, the piping and the sewer
ing will be left. but everything else will
be cleared away
1t will not be for very long however
for within a few months the tents will
again have to be put into use. for until
the muster out OF the volunteers now in
the Islands the Preside will be as big a
military post as ever IL has been.
BY July l, 1901, twenty-four regiments
OF infantry and one regiment OF cavalry
will have TO be mustered out and every
one or them will have 10 be brought back
TO this country. There will be no trars-
ports TO speak OF on the Atlantic coagt
AT mat time, and as a consequence they
| port. Besides that, OF the twenty-five
| thousand regulars In the Philippines two
thirds OF them will have been mustered
out within the next eighteen months, and
| they. too, will have TO be brought back
through the Preside. In all the trooos
moving eastward through San Francisco
from now until July of 1901 will amoun;
TO more than forty-five thousand
| IN the meantime. however. the force in
the Philippines must be kept up. and con-
servative estimates put five hundred men
month as the very smallest possible
number with which the present force can
be recruited. 1t is believed that the Gov
ernment will not attempt to maintain the
! volunteer commands at their original
| strength, for II would not be worth while
term. As consequence. the volunteer
| 10 enlist men for the remainder of their
regi iments Will probably be left to fill up
I their own ranks by consolidating bat
talions and companies. perhaps. until the
time comes for them all to go.
Five hundred men a month means
twenty-five hundred applicants a month
for enlistment. but the recruiting offices
i'm hnV nuNl
| or fact, nearly the entire strength OF the
| present army of the United States prac-
tically hundred thousand men. has been
| recruited since the beginning OF January
| 1898. Before the Spanish war the compa-
| MES OF the regular army rarely numbered
more than sixty men. and the regiments
| were or only two battalions. When the
war opened the companies were recruit
ed up TO one hundred and six men. and
another battalion: four companies. was
added to each regiment. Nearly all these
new recruits were men enlisted under an
| order that allowed them their discharges
upon application az soon as the var
they commenced to apply for their dis
charges. and since then they have all
| been let go. Yet the regular army IA still
at its full strength. more than a hundred
men TO company and twelve companies
| TO regiment OF infantry. In addition 10
that. the State volunteers have all been
now In the field twenty-four full regi-
ments Of volunteer infantry, making
alone a force OF more than thirty thou
sand men. All these have been raised
since last June. and all but seven Of these
regiments have gone to MaEila through
| this port.
There is a force in Manila now OF close
| 10 sixty thousand men. including forty
| seven organizations, both regular and
| volunteer. Twenty-four regiments OF in
fantry and one Of cavalry are volunteers.
The regular establishment consists OF
| twenty-five regiments of infantry, ten OF
cavalry and seven Of artillery. The First.
l Gapnn6 I'd Gfxrfh orA Nf,,sA
| are In this country: the Fourth is in Ma
| nila. the Fifth In Porto Rico and the
Seventh; Eighth and Tenth in Cuba. or
the artillery. the First and the Seventh
are at home; ten batteries of the Second
| are In Cuba and four at home; of the
Third. ten batteries are at home and four
| in Manila; OF the Fourth. thirteen bat
| teries are at home and one in Manila: OF
| the Fifth. twelve batteries are at home
and two in Manila; Of the Sixth. twelve
nolulu. The full artillery regiment is
| composed Of twelve heavy or foot batter
les and two light or mounted batteries.
| OF the infantry arm, the Third. Fourth
Sixth. Ninth. Twelfth. Thirteenth. Four
teenth, Sixteenth. Seventeenth. Eight
eenth. Nineteenth. twentieth. Twenty:
are in Manila; the Eleventh is in Porto
| Rico: four companies OF the First are at
home and eight In Cuba; the Second
| divided in the same way; the Twenty
fourth and Twenty-fifth have four COM
panies home and eight each in Manila.
and the Seventh is all home. with three
of its companies in Alaska. The Eleventh
Cavalry Volunteer and the infantry vol
unteer regiments from the Twenty-sixth
to the Forty-ninth are all in Manila, with
the exception OF the Forty-ninth, which
Is on its way there, and the Forty-eighth
now in quarantine at Angel Island which
will start for there as soon as 1t is freed
frern detention.
1t can be seen from this that practi-
esiiy al the Infantry az and good part OF
eign possessions that two years ago this
country had no Idea II would ever own.
II will be seen. too. that all the troops at
home are no more than enough TO keep
the posts regularly manned and there IS
hardly enough artillerymen to keep the
guns clean and free from rust. let alone
keeping them in proper condition. For
this reason II IL becoming more evident
that there will be no increase OF garri-
sons at the & Preside or anywhere else,
leads army officers to hold the opinion
that there will be a great deal doing in
! the military line at the present Congress.
II the volunteers now in the Philippines
are let go without something TO supply
their places there will hardly be left a
soldier in this his country; 1t Will take 500
| for some years to come. and there is not
much more infantry than that in the
army now. AS to artillery. there is not
enough In the whole corps to man the
| guns now mounted for coast defense.
It is expected that, in view OF these
facts. Congress VIII increase the army,
but by how much is still a problem. II
II does not. and by July /. 1901. the army
in the Philippines has not quelled the In
surrection, there will be a peculiar state
OF affairs. The volunteers tust sent over
will have to be returned TO their homes
and there will be nothing for the Gov
ernment to do but to provide for more.
Sooner than do this. and in view OF the
increased territory TO be guarded. II is
expected a substantial increase In the
army will be made. At any rate for an
other year and half San Francisco will
hold the new and suddenly attained posi-
ton of the foremost military post In the
country and soldiers will continue 10
throng the streets OF this city for a long
time yet.