The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1899-02-28
THE ARMY BILL.
continued From r,..s Page.


Mr.. Vest said he knew OF bus one
parallel of this scheme Of Christian
philanthropy. He then cited the scene
in Dickens novel BLEAK House" where
the Rev. AIR. Chadband insists en- doing
good 20 an unwilling'vsgrnnt and said;
$50 Il is with the President lie places
his hand upon the shoulders Of the
inoiier ard intend to save you in spite
Of yourself Aud he wants a hundred
thousand missionaries with rifles 90 shoot
his good resolutions into effect"
| Mr.. Vest stated that an those who were
opposed to the plans OF the administra ioI,
were demon mated as traitors, Tar he re-
pudiatcd the charge with soorn. He said
he might as well vote for an army of one
million as for one of n hundred thousana.
| He could not vote for soldiers TO be used
| for purpose nntngoBistic to the county.
The army would never be less than the
number provided for in the bill. for when
the policy of expansion was entered upon,
u meant the increase of the army, the
navy, and the number of men offered up
for slaughter
MIR. White of California spoke against
the bill and against the present policy In
the Philippines He said he could not
contemplate the situation IN the Philip
pines with any other feeling than that of
shame. There was no possibility of AS
similating the filipinos. The outlook
was very gloomy. He agreed with Mr.
Sewell that war was likely with Cuba.
On behalf OF the military committee
Mr.. Cockrell suggested several amend
ments to the army reorganization bill.
among them being one striking out the
language fixing the minimum In compa-
MES Of the various branches of the ser.
vice. AS reported from the committee
the bill provided tina. TIE minimum OF
privates IN troops of the cavalry service
should be -. thai the minimum In each
battery of artillery should be 81 and in
each company of infantry, as. The effect
Of Mr.. Cockrellfs amendment Is to fix
these numbers rs the maximum instead
of the minimum allotted to each com.
pany. Another amendment extends the
age limit OF persons to be appointed to
the positions OF judge advocate, pay
master and chaplain to "a years, the bill
IA reported fixing the age at 40.
At the instance OF MIR. Gorman he also
offered an amendment relieving appoin-
tees to those Offices from the requiem snt
to pass civil service animation In
cuses in which the applicants had served
in the war with Spain.
All Of the above amendments were ac
cepted, but some discussion arose over
the following offered as Il substitute for
the ags Limitation of field and staff OIL
GERS:
mo person over the age of 45 years ex
cept officers OF the regular army and
ohio RS of enlisted men who served in the
war with spain shall be appointed as
field officers in such emergency force and
no person over 40 years old shall be APP
pointed a company officer therein.
Mr.. Thurston moved to strike out the
entire paragraph relating to the age linz
1t Of officers in the provisional force.
Mr.. Cookrell endorsed Mr. Thurston's
motion and withdrew his amendment.
he amendment OF MIR. Ihurston
striking out the paragraph relating to
the age limit, was agreed tn.
Mr.. Cockrell offered the following
amendment to section IA, which was
agreed to:
That for each regular army officer OF "A
staff corps or department who may be
retained in or appointed to higher vol |
unteag rank in said staff corps or depart |
ment than that actually held by him in |
the regular establishment there may be |
appointed one officer os volunteers of the |
lowest grade mentioned in this section
for such staff corps or department, but |
no appointment shall he had which will |
increase the total number of officers, reg |
ular and volunteer service In any graoe |
above the number authorized by this act. |
MIR. Hawley offered an amendment as a |
proyiso of the 10Th section, authorizing |
the President u enlist temporarily in |
the service for absolutely necessary pur- |
poses in the Philippines volunteer officers |
and men individually or by organizn"
lions now in these islands and about TO |
be discharged, and directing that they |
shall be counted as part of the volunteer |
force authorized by this act and that they |
shall not be enlisted for more than six |
months Tor hey ond the time necessary to |
replace them. 1t WAS adopted.
Mr. German offered an amendment rs
a provision of section Is providing that
every provision of this act shall continue
lnlv 1p0I n and af
ter that date all the general staff and
line officers appointed to the army under
this act shall be discharged and restored
in each grade to those existing at the |
passage of this act ana the enlisted force
of the line OF the army shall he reduced
to the number provided for by law TO
April /, 1898, exclusive Of such additions
as have been or may be made under this
act to the artillery and except the cadets
provided for by this act, who may ne APP
pointed prior TO July 1901, and pro-
yided, further. that no officer who has
been or may be promoted under existing
law or under the rules of seniority, shall
be disturbed in his rank. MIR. Warren. "A
mem Der of military affairs committee.
opposed the amendment Mr. hawley
said he was not altogether satisfied with
the proposition, and, rs at first present
ed, 1t met his positive disapproval. The
bill he said, mad been pronounced by
wise authority the best that had ever
been drawn for the army, and it had that
feature, 100, 900 men, with
whom William Mckinley could defend
the interests of the country. He finally |
to the amendment.
The amendment was adopted. 6s yot ing |
in the affirmative and none in the mega |
tive.
Mr. Warren was paired against it. Mr.. |
Bacon of Georgia said that the adoption |
of the German amendment materially |
simplitled the situation and notwithstand- |
ing the fact that the war in the Philip |
pines was an unholy war, he felt IL his |
duty to support the bill.
Mr. Hansnrough offered an amendment |
providing that no enlisted man should |
be employed to sell liquor in any canteen |
or army post. 1t was agreed to.
Mr. Proctor gave notice that he would |
press his amendments when the army re- |
organization was entered upon in fu- |
ture Congress.
An amendment offered by Mr.. Carter |
provided that three Of the provisional reg |
Iments ut the direction of the President |