The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-11-18
MILES WANTS BIG ARMY
General Recommends Increase
In the Number of Regulars.
PRAISES THE SOLDIERS
SPEAKS OF THEIR WORK IN
BOTH HEMISPHERES.
Asses THE SOLDIERS

washington. Nov. 1.-THE feature OF
the annual report of Lieutenant Gen
eral Miles, commanding the army. is
a chapter dealing with the need for a
general reorganization of the military
service,
General Miles points out that the
practical limitation of service of the
volunteers to one year in the Philip
pines makes this a most expensive
practice, necessitating double transfer
of troops and adding enormously 10
the. cost of the organization. He also
points out the need Of a reserve force
for the relief of the soldiers who serve
in the tropics, declaring that the regi-
ments that have so far served more
than two years at unhealthy stations
should be relieved. General Miles re-
news his recommendation that the
permanent force of the army should be
one man for each 1000 of population of
the United States. In supplying any
increase of the army he urges that ap-
pOintments of officers be made with a
due regard for the principle of senior
ity, and that each case be passed upon
by board of the highest officers of the
army, as was done in the reOrganiZa-
ton following the civil war. He sub
mits a draft of a bill embodying his
VIEWS anu recommendations OL army
reorganization.
The report shows that the urgent de-
mands for troops for remote stations
has reduced the number of the United
States to a much smaller force than
has been maintained at any time dur
ing the past thirty-nine years, In fact,
says General Miles, the force has been
so much reduced that at the present
time there are not Oue-fOurth enough
troops to properly care for and man
the fOTtifiCatiOnS which have been
erected on the sea coast at an eXpendi-
tuTe of nearly S55, 200, 600. In addition
to the artillery deficiency, the present
home force is not sufficient to occupy
the interior garrisOns properly or to
protect life and property on the west
ern frontier; and, what is Still more
serious, the government is left without
troops to relieve those who have had
too much tropical service. The actual
number of troops remaining IN the
United States after the dispatch of
soldiers to Cuba. Porto Rico, Alaska
and the Philippines is said to be 99S
officers and 1888 enlisted men.
Praise For the Soldiers.
General Miles says that during the
past two years the army has been en-
gagged in the two hemispheres under all
conditions and has on all occasions eX-
hibited courage, stability, excellent
craftsmanship and devotion to duty
Touching upon the Chinese cam
paign, General Miles compares the
American contingent in the Pekin eX-
petition faVorably with those of other
natiOnalities. He mentions the gal
Iantry of Colonel Z. S. Liscum and
Captain Reilly, killed in China, and Of
Major Jesse NJ. Lee.
The general calls attention to the
fact that under the Law, the volunteers
in the Philippines MUSE be withdrawn
Tr11rw oyrt
wherefore, he says, it will be necessary
to begin their return home almost i'm
mediately.
Speaks of Coast Defenses.
The report shows what has been ac-
complished in the training schools and
toward the extension of the coast de
tense system. On this last great work
General Miles says $50, 00O, 600 has been
expended already and at least $45,00O,-
600 will be required to carry out the
/ present project. For the next fiscal
! year alone the sum of 81, S27, 600 is es-
/ timated as necessary to defray the
cost of Notifications, barracks and
/ sites on the coasts
The largest figure is S2,724, 4S5 for
J New York; next comes California, with
! s1I47. 796; Maine, 81, 2S5. 925; Oregon and
/ Washington. $1.t06. SOP; and Virginia,
/ 1895, 450. To Porto Rico Is assigned
I $685., 400, while the national capital is
/ set down for $4,000.
/ General Miles says that the fOTtifica-
tions board has developed a high ex-
/ pIosive, superior in effectiveness to all
/ known military explosives. It can be
I used in any service pTojectile; can
/ throw any distance within the capac-
ity of any high power gun through
/ steel armOr plate and explode with
! most destructive effect, Important ac-
! ton has also been taken by the same
/ board in the development of artillery
/ and it is predicted that within the next
/ twelve months further advances will
be made. Artillery service has now
! become an intricate science, and the
/ pay of enlisted men, he says, should
/ be increased pTOpOTtiOnately.
General Miles does not think 1t wise
| to delay longer the practical applica-
( ton of SeIf-mOVing vehicles to the
/ military service.