The Hawaiian gazette., 1900-07-24
A STANDING ARMY.

A STANDING ARMY.
/ Democratic platform-makers always
P let "a demapogue write their ant.-army
pInrk and the result i7 oommlttal of
the PARTY 10 the absurd doctrine that
thp United states can safely foreg1
trained soldiers ln war and rest secure
I'm the vaIor OF its volunteers and mill
/ tia. In these respects the Kansas city
platform is no different from its pred
ecessors.
The common-sense view Of the mat
ter IL that training and discipline are
as necessary for soldier as they are
for any other expert If he does not
have them when called for duty he
must learn his trade in the harsh
school Of experience, and the chances
are. II the volunteer or the militinman
is pitted against n regular he VIII be
beaten and his country disgraced. The
only exceptions to this rule are where
volunteers are able to act as guerrillas
or are better marksmen than the regu-
lars and have leader who, like An
drew jackson at New Orleans, Is able
to mass them and hold them in strong
defensive position. Even then they
cannot be trusted to do much on the
offensive Jackson dared not follow
the remnants of Packenham's army.
which marched away after its defeat
before the cotton bales end took Savan-
nah: and those splendid irregulars. the
Beers. have been gradually pressed
back until almost all is lost to them
save honor. AS for militia it rarely
The history of the United States is
full of warnings against dependence on
the unframed soldier. Most of our
battles in the Revolution were lost: the
war was prolonged five years beyond
it's normal time by colonial inefliciency;
the patriot cause was finally saved by
the French In the war of 1872 our dis
asters by land were as numerous as our
victories by sea. Hull was disgraced
on the northern border and the at
tempt to invade Canada with raw
levies ignominiously failed. The Brit
ish regulars captured and burned
Washington though outnumbered three
to one by the American volunteers and
militia summoned to oppose them. SO
bad was the outlook, that, as soon as
the surrender of Napoleon released the
British fleet from European service.
permitting it to blockade tts Atlantic
coast of America, the Washington Gov
ernment hurried to make peace, aban-
doning in its haste the very issue upon
which it declared war. In the next con-
hict, that with Mexico, regulars were
chiefly depended upon and the enemy
had no strong force opposed. The al
fair was quickly closed up. When the
Civil War came, volunteers were made
to fight volunteers and they taught
each other. But il the war had been
between volunteers and regulars, the
latter would probably have won before
the armed cilivans had learned the
military trade.
The Spanish war found the United
States with n standing army of $1,000
men. Two land campaigns We're made,
one against Santiago and the other
against Manila. General Shafter asked
for regulars only i'm the Santiago cam
paipn and he nearly had his wish. Few
volunteers or militia got into the fight.
One National Guard regiment, the
Seventy-hrst New York, made a hope
less exhibition of cowardice. The crack
Seventh, Thirteenth and Twenty third
New York escaped the crucial test of
battle by their refusal to enlist as vol
unteers. Roosevelt's Rough Riders
was the only command, not in the reg
ular service, which distinguished itself.
OF the vast army of volunteers all but
a handful remained at home under in
struction until Eastern Cuba had been
conquered by the regulars; after that
the Eighth Corps. which had been long
in garrison, sailed for Manila. We saw
something of the quality of its disci
pline here. At Manila there was little
land fighting to do and both sides made
Indifferent records. Later on an un-
trained volunteer started the row with
Aguinaldo by firing what is now pretty
well known to have been AN unneces-
sary shot. Very soon after that the
State Volunteers We're shipped home
for the good OF the cause.
These examples ought to show that
If the United States ever goes to war
with a great military power and that
power gets large trained army on it's
soil, no amount OF valor, or resources
and no preponderance of numbers on
the part of the Americans will make up
for their want of military organization.
There must be n standing army To
move against the enemy like a machine
and stay there; one TO absorb volun-
teers and turn them into regulars;
and II We have 1t and II Is big enough,
--*
The recent ruling of Judge Hum
phreys that lawyers shall not be per-