Little Falls herald., 1900-12-07
:. NATIONAL DEFENsEs.
Strength Of the Army Millions for Forts
and Guns.


and Guns.
r The present strength xof the army il
100, 600 men-65,00 regulars and $4,000
2 1899, on the Goth Of June next the
present volunteer force will be: dis
charged and the regular army will be
reduced to 2,447 officers and 2s,o25 en-
listed men!
In 1883 q board of officers convened by
President Cleveland adopted compre-
hensive scheme Of coast defense fortf-
FACTIONS, which involved the outlay of
something over $1Co.000,000 This plan
received the approval of the congress,
and since then regular appropriations
have been made and the work of forti-
fication has steadily progressed. More
than $50, 600, 900 have been invested in
a great number OF forts and guns, with
chinery and electrical appliances neces-
sary for their use. The proper care
Of this defensive machinery requires
men trained in its use The number of
men necessary to- perfornf this duty
alone is ascertained by the war depart
ment mt at inimuw ns ,ftnia1 allowanee TO- be
military posts in the United States 9TH
er than the coast defense fortifca tons.
j: The number Of these posts is being
constantly increased by the congress.
More than $4,000. 900 have been expend-
ed in building and equipment, and
they can onlysbe cared for by the regu-
lar. army. The posts now in existence
commodatiors for, and if fully gar
risoned,, require $4,000 troops Many
OF these posts are along sour frontier
or at important Strategic points, the
occupation Of which is Necessary. &;
+; We have In Cuba between 5000 and g.
600 troops. For the present our troops
in that Island cannot be withdrawn or
materially diminished, 5 and certainly
not until the conclusion Of the labofs
of the: constitutional convention now
in session and a government provided
by the new constitution shall have been
established and It's stability assured
In Porto Rico we have reduced the
garrisons to 1885, which include 1876 ma
tive troops. There is no reason tor
quired to keep a considerable force in
the Philippine islands for some time
to come. From the best information
obtainable we shall need there for the
tuuediate future from $4,000 to 10000
meh. lam sure the number may bezre-
duced as ths lh5dfgents shall come to
acknowledge the authority Of the Unit
ed States, of which there are assuring
Indications
It must be apparent that We VIII re-
quire an army Of about 10000 and that
during present conditions In Cuba ana
the Philippines the president should
have authority to increase the force to
the present number OF 100. .000., In
;c1uded iii this number authority should
be given ia raise native troops In the
Philippines UP to $1,000, which the Taft
|commissf0n believe will be more ef-
fective In detecting and suppressing
guerrillas. assasinations and ladrones
than our own. soldiers. The full dis
cussion of this subject by the secretary
Of war in his annua! report is called
to your earnest attention. .
GROWTH OF Postal SERVICE.
Extension oe Rursf Free Delivery-In-
*. cr.ase Of the Navy. = D.,
The continued and rapid srpwth: of
postal service is a sure index Of the
great and increasing business activity:
of the country Its most striking new
free delivery. This has come almost
wholly within the last year. At the
beginning of the fiscal year lS99-1 1900 the
number of routes in operation was only
391, and most of these had been run
ming less thar twelve months. On the,
increased to 2,614, reaching into forty.l
four states and territories, and serving.
q population OF j, 1,SOl. .524 The number
Of applications now pending and await!
ing action nearly equals all those
granted up to the present time, and
about 4, 600 routes will have been estab-:
glished, providing for! the daily delivery
of mails at the scattered homes Of
about $500 900 of rural -pop pulat ton: Is I
This service ame!iorates the isolation.
zef farm life. condufes TO good roads.