The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-04-11

ployed in certain foreign islands. in
certain coast fortresses. and on Indian
reservations. No man Of good sense
and stout heart can take suca a propo-
sition seriously. If we are such weak
lings as the propositon lmples, then
we are unworthy of freedom in any
event. To no body of men in the Unit
ed States is the county so much in
debted as to the splendid officers and
enlisted men of the regular army and
navy: there is no body rom, which the
country has less to fear. ana none OF
which it should be proud"r, none which
it should be more anxious to upbuiid.
Complete Reorganization.
Our army needs complete reorganiza-
ton, not merely enlargirg, ana the re-
organization can only come as the re-
suit Of legislation. 4 PROPER general
staff should be establish. and the po-
sitions of ordnance. cnmlssary ana
quartermaster officers should be filled
by detail from the line. Above all, the
army must be given the chance to eX-
ercise in large bodtes, Never again
should we see, as we SAW in the Span
ish war; major genera IN command OF
divisions who had never before COM
manded three companhS together IN the
field. Yet. incredible relate, the re-
cent congress has showed a queer In.
ability to learn some ut the lessons or
the war. There werc large bodies of
men in both branches vino opposed the
declaration of war, who opposed the
ratification of peace, vino opposed me
upbuilding of the army ana VINO even
opposed the purchase of armor at
reasonable price for tAr hattleships ana
cruisers, thereby putting an apsolute
stop to the building ot any new nsht-
ing ships for the nav. II during Inc
dis StpF SlOulu De-
fall our arms, afioat or ashore, ana
thereby any shame come to the unltei
States, remember that The blame Will
lie upon the men whose names appear
upon the roll calls OF congress on the
wrong side of these great questions. On
them will lie the burden of any loss OF
our soldiers and sailors, of any DIS
honor to the flag; and upon you and the
people of this country will lie the blame
if you do not repudiIte, in no unmls-
taxable way, what these men nave
done. The blame will not rest upon the
unframed commando of unsrlad
troops, upon the civil officers of de-
partment the organization of which mas
been left utterly Inadequate, or upon
the admiral with insufficient number of
ships, but, upon the public men VINO
have so lamentably failed in Tore
thought as to refuse 70 remedy these
evils long in advance. and upon the ma
ton that stands behind those puDllc
men.
SO at the present nour no small share
of the responsibility for the bloodsned
in the Philippines, the blood of our
brothers and the blood of their wild
and ignorant foes, lies at the theshold
of those who so long delayed the adop-
ton of the treaty of peace, and or those
who by their worse than foolish words
deliberately invited a savage people to
plunge into a war frauSht with sure
disaster for them: a war, too in which
our own brave men who follow the flag
must pay with their blood for the silly,
mock humanitarianism of the prattlers
who sit ct home in peace.
The sword and Shield.
The army and the navy are the
must carry, if she is 20 do her duty
among the nations of the earth--if she
is not to stand merely as the China of
the Western hemisphere. Our proper
conduct toward the trOpic islands we
have wrested from Spain is merely tilr
form which our duty has taken at the
moment. OF course, we are bound 10
handle the affairs iof our own house
hold we'll. We must see that there is
civic honesty. civic cleanliness, civic
good sense in our home administration
of city, state and nation. We must
strive for honesty in office. for hon
esty toward the creditors of the nation
and of the individual; for the widest
freedom of individual initiative where
it is hostile to the welfare of the many.
But because we set our own household
in order, we are not thereby excused
from doing mis- duty to the state; for
if he fails in this second duty it is I'M
der the penalty of ceasing to be free
man. In the same way, while ma
TONS first duty is within its own Dor
ders it is not thereby absolved from
facing it's duties in the world as
whole; and if it refuses to do so, It
merely forfeits its right to struggle for
a place among the peoples that shape
the destiny of mankind.
In the West Indies and the Philip
pines alike we are confronted by most
difficult problems. 1t is cowardly TO
shrink from solving them in the proper
way; for solved they must be, if not by
us, then by some stronger and more
manful race: if we are too weak, too
selfish or too foolish to solve them,
some holder and ADLER people must UNI
dertake the solution. Personally | am
far too firm a believer in the greatness
of my country and the power of my
countrymen to admit for one moment
that we shall ever be driven to the ig-
noble alternatives.
Big With Fate.
I preach to you, then, my country
men, that our country calls not for the