The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-12-04

ana on comparatively large scale, In
 time of need no amount of individual
 excellence would avail against the pa
 ralysis which would follow inability to
 work as a coherent whole, under skill
 ful and daring leadership. The con-
 gress should provide means whereby it
 will be possible to have field exercises
 by at least a division of regulars, and
 II possible also division of national
 guardsmen, once year. These exer-
 clses might take the form of field man.
 oeuVres; or, if on the gulf coast or the
 Pacific or Atlantic seaboard, or in the
 region of the Great Lakes, the army
 corps when assembled could be marched
 from some inland point to some point
 on the water, there embarked, disen-
 parked after a couple of days journey
 at some other point, and again marched
 inland. Only by actual handling and
 providing for men in masses while they
 are marching, camping, embarking and
 dlsembarking, will it be possible to
 train the higher officers to perform
 their duties well and smoothly.
 A great debt is owing from the public
 to the men of the army and navy.
 
 them to reach the highest point of eff
 ciency, so that they may be able to re-
 spond instantly to any demand made
 upon them to sustain the interests of the nation and the honor of the flag.
 The individual American enlisted man is probably on the whole more for | midable fighting man than the regular 1 of any other army. Every considera- 1 ton should be shown him, and in re- 1 turn the highest standard of usefulness should be eXacted from him. It is well worth while for the congress to consider whether the pay of enlisted men upon second and subsequent enlstments should not be increased to correspond with the increased value of the veteran soldier.
 | Much good has already come from the act recognizing the army, passed early in the present year. The three prime reforms, all of them of literally inesti- mable value are, first, the substitution of four-year details from the line for permanent appointments in the so- called staff divisions. second, the es- tablshment of d corps of artillery with a chief at the head; third, the estab- lishment of a maximum and minimum limit for the army. II would be diff cult to overestimate the improvement in the efficiency of our army which these three reforms are making, and have in part already effected.
 The reorganization provided for by the act has been substantially accom- plished, The improved conditions in the Philippines have enabled the war department materially to reduce the military charge upon our revenue and to arrange the number of soldiers so as to bring this number much nearer to the minimum than to the maximum limit established by law. There is, however, need of supplementary legis- lation. Thorough military education must be provided, and in addition to the regulars the advantages of this ed ucation should be given to the officers i of the National Guard and others in | civil life who desire intelligently to fit | themselves for possible military duty. | The officers should be given the chance to perfect themselves by study in the . higher branches of this art. At West Point the education should be of the kind most apt to turn out men who are good in actual field service: too much stress should not be laid on mathemat- ics, nor should proficiency therein be held to establish the right of entry to corps d'elite. The typical American of ficer of the best kind need not be good mathematician; but he must be able to master himself, to control others, and to show boldness and fertility of re- source in every emergency.
 Action should be taken in reference to the militia and to the raising of vol unteer forces Our militia law is ob- solete and worthless. The organization and armament of the National Guard of the several states, which are treated as militia in the appropriations by the should be made identical with those provided for the regular forces The obligations and duties of the Guard in time of war should be carefully de- fined, and system established by law under which the method of procedure ,f raising volunteer forces should be prescribed in advance It is utterly impossible in the excitement and haste l If impending war to do this satisfac- , orily if the arrangements have not { been made long beforehand. Provision , should be made for utilizing in the first yolunteer organizations called out the raining of those citizens who have al- i eady had experience under arms, and ( specially for the selection in advance f # the officers of any force which may | ,e raised; For careful selection of the f lind necessary is impossible after the 1 of war. Ii That the army is not at all a mere in- a trument of destruction has been shown f turing the last three years. In the h Cuba and Porto Rico it f as proved itself great constructive f Orce, a most potent implement for the a of a peaceful civilization f
 The Veterans q No other citizens deserve SO well of O he republic as the veterans, the eurvi- t ors of those who saved the Union. a hey did the one deed which if left un- one would have meant that all else in h UT history went for nothing. But for T heir steadfast proWess in the greatest fl riss of our history, all our annals il 'ould be meaningless, and our great fl apartment in popular freedom and self fl overnment a gloomy failure. More il yer they not only left us a united na- a