The evening times., 1900-01-05
ARMY REORGANIZATION.
scope of Proposed Legislation for
the Military Establishment.

All the authorities agree that military
legislation will be one of the features Of
the Fitty-sixth Congress, but whether leg
islation OF this character will be conspicu-
Gus during the long session is
2 point upon which the authorities do not
agree. Representative Hull of Iowa
Chairman of the House Committee on
Military Affairs, believes that the army
will play a prominent part in Congress
even during the present session. but he
also believes that the law passed by he
Fifty-ffth Congress at its third session
viii answer all requirements as a tempo
rary measure new army reorganization
scheme Is necessary, though inasmuCh as
the provisions of the Hull Army bill ,f the
Fifty-ffth Congress expire by limitation
July l, 1901
One Of the ideas which will be embodied
in the next army reorganization scheme
viii be the three-battalion formation.
which was put into effect under the last
Hull bill and which il is said has given
general satisfaction and which has been
productive of good results. feature to
which will be given special attention will
be that allowing the army to expand from
within by recruiting skeleton regiments
instead of enlisting new regiments.
Secretary Root and Mr. Hull after sew
eral conferences have agreed that detail
STAFF system is preferable to permanen:
staff. The permanent staff system is that
employed in the armies of Continental Eu-
rope. but the detail plan" is that provided
for in the army of Great Britain.
1t is likely. though by no means certain.
that the medical department of the army
will be fashioned after that of the German
army. In that army, the medical service
is directly under the medical division of
the war ministry and is presided over by
the surgeon general of the army who holds
the rank OF lieutenant general The med
ical corps consists of military doctors with
assimilated grades of commissioned off,
GERS; military doctors graded as nOn-com-
missioned officers; nurses, sick bearers,
and hospital attendants
Medical officers are obtained from militia
ry surgical institutions or from graduates
of other medical schools the Kaiser Will
helm Academic being the principal pre-
paratory school. Hospital attendants are
taken from the ranks after not less than
six months service and trained in the low
er branches of the military service. After
passing the prescribed examination they
may be employed in the hospitals or re-
main with the troops. Each army corps
trains annually from forty to fifty nurses
and litter-b bearers needed.
Medical units are: Medicine wagon de-
tachments. sanitary companies field hos
pitals, etappe hospitals. and war hospitals
The medicine wagon detachment, having
litters and two bandage knapsacks with
the necessary personnel taken from the
troops is the smallest unit.
1t is the policy in the management of the
permanent military hospitals to relieve the
medical officer of all responsibility for
property that he may give all his attention
TO the care of his patients There is no
sick-call in the German army. If an en-
listed man complains of sickness and ap-
pears to be unfit for duty, this fact is re-
ported to the first sergeant who summons
the medical officer.