Arizona republican., 1899-07-03
How Otis Will Frame Them Is
 Not Known
AT THE WAR DEPARTMENT
Ing General Hopes 10 Retain Large Proportion of inc Vol unfeerS Now tn inc Philippines. Only 2,OOO More Hen Hay Be Raised HerS.

Washington, July 2-It is not known at the war department how General Otis has succeeded in his un- dseIltakirg to form three skelaton regi- nlants from the voluE1eeEs now m the Philippines who cre willing to re-en- l.st. General Otis has remained siLent cn that subject. An impression pre- Yails here however, that it IS his ba- lsef that large proportion of the vol unteers may bsl re-enlisted if some ar men can be allowed to make visit to tne1c friends and reIatives in the Unit co States. That furlough would be l fer at l5,1st four months, for more than half of that time would be required to make the round trip from Manila tos the UEdted States. It is argued that q fair proportion of the men can be spared during the rainy season, and that in this way the department VIII make sure of securing am effsctiv9 force of thoroughly seasoms1 veterans to wind up the campaign that will be- gin With the next dry season In case, thil arrangement is made, the men will TeceiUs on an average of $45O each as travel pay pIic- to their departure from the Philippines, and this money will undoubtedly be- of great benefit to them and their fame- 1fcc dr,.y-f fo.r- r1,o,.+ rr,,.,, ;,, t,,r, | United States. It has been estrmaEed that Gsrisral Otis may be able to se- clIIs 2.000 of the volunteers now in tha Philippines. number sufficient to partly organize the proposed skeleton volunteer nagiments. leaving the re- cruitment of only about 2,G0O Eors men in the United States to complete the organization of the regiments.
 Adjutant-General Corbin in discuss ing today the probability of raising volunteer troops an the United States, said that it ought to be understood once for all that under the law provid- ing for an increase of the army, it was Impossible for the president to ac- cept the services of any state organ ization. He called attention to the provisions of the act of March 4. 1899. providing for the increase of the army by the raising of volunteer troops. and said that under that law all Volun- | teers, both offio:Es and privates, would be raised as individuals, the same as in the case of the regular army. He said the officers would be appointed by the president, and the ml:n would be recruited from the country Ut large without regard to state lines.
 The provision of the army reor- ganization ttn relating to the raising Of volunteers nsads as follows:
 That to meet the present exigen- cies of the military service. the presi- dent is hereby authorized to maintain the regular army at a strength of not exceeding a;xty-ive thousand enlisted men. to be distributed among the; sey- eral branches of the service. including the signal corps, according to the r2iads of each, and raise force of not more than thirty-f1ve thousand yolun- teers to be recruited as he may detey-( mine from the country at lsagec or from the localities where thair ssl-- vices are not needed. without restr:c ton as to citizenship or educational qualifications, and to orgar:za the game into not more than twentv-seyen arguments organized as are fnfantTv regiments of war strength in the reg ular army, and three regiments to be composed of m-n of special uualifca- tons in horsemansh3p and marksmau1 ship, to be organized as cavalry. fer service mounted or dlsmounasd.
 According to the official construc- uon of this provision, the president ia prohibited from accepting the ser vices of state or other organizations. and VIII therefore be compelled to de- cline the patriotic offers made by the governor of Dest Virginia and public spirited citizens of other states. A careful reading of the law shows that thu president is rot required to call for volunteers, but he is instead au- thcr1zed to raise them. It is 6 at the war department that the A pursued in the organization of immune regiments during thu dsh war will be followed in d dlarcided to organize voluntS
 mentS for the campaign in
 ippan'aS. This policy will pla
 pointment of all the officers hands of the president, and leSN governors of the states without any jurisdiction in tha organizats the regiments.