The Iola register., 1901-12-06
THE ARMY.
An Increase in This Force Ia Not
Deemed Necessary Now.

THE ARMY.
An Increase in This Force Ia Not
Deemed Necessary Now.
1t is not necessary to increase our
army beyond It's present size at this
time, but IL Is necessary to Keep il at the
highest point OF efficiency. The Indiv.d-
ual units who as officers and enlisted
men compose this army are, we have
good reason TO believe at least as eili-
cient as those OF any other army in he
their training is OF a kind to insure the
highest possible expression Of power to
these units when acting in cont. nat on.
The conditions OF modern war are such
as to make an Infinitely heavier demand
than ever before upon the ind vidual
character ana capacity of the officer and
the enlisted man and to make il Iar
more diiliCult Tor men to act together
with effect. At present the iightin, must
be done in extended order, VIII ch means
that each man must act for himself and
at the same time act in combination
with others with whom he Is no niger
in the old-fashioned elbow to elbow
touCh. Under such conditions a few men
OF the highest excellence are worth more
than many men without the special skill
which Is only found as the result OF spe-
cal training applied to men of exccp-
uonal physique and morale. but nowa-
days the most valuable lighting man and
the most difficult to perfect IS the rifle
rider
The proportion OF our cavalry regi-
ments has wisely been increased The
American cavalryman, trained to maneu-
yer and fight with equal facility on foot
ana on horseback, is the best type OF
soldier for genera, purposes now to be
man of the present day is a man who
can fight on foot effectively as the
best infantryman and who is in addition
unsurpassed in the care and manage
ment of his hCrse and in his ability to
fight on horseback
stan Department Needed.
A general stan should be created As
for the general star and supply depart
mgents, they should g filled by details
ing after awhile to their line duties II is
of the army composed of men who have
come to I'LL the positions by the mere fact
OF seniority. a system should be adopted
by which there shall be an elimination
grade by grade of those who seem unfit
TO render the best service in the next
grade. Justice TO the veterans OF the
seem TO require that in the matter OF re-
tlrements they be given by law the same
privileges accorded to their comrades in
The process of elimination OF the least
MT should lie conducted in a manner that
would render II practically impossible to
apply political or social pressure on be-
half OF any candidate, so that each man
may be judged purely on his own merits
PRESSURE Tor the promotion of civil Off
cials for political reasons Is bad enough
but II is tenfold worse where applied on
behalf OF officers OF the army or navy
Every promotion and every detan under
the war department must be made solely
with regard TO the good OF the service
and TO the capacity and merit of the man
himself; No pressure, political, social or
personal Of any kind win he permitted
TO exercise the least effect in any qucs-
ton of promotion or detail, and n there
Is reason TO believe that such pressure Is
exercised at the instigation OF the officer
concerned IL will he held to initiate
against him. In our army we cannot af-
ford to have rewards or duties distributed
save on the simple ground that those who
by their own merits are entitled to the re-
wards get them and that those who are
peculiarly III to do the duties are chosen
TO perform them.
Reduce the 'Red Tape"
Every effort should be made to bring
the army TO a constantly increasing state
of efficiency. When on actual service, no
work save that directly in the line of such
service should be required. The paper
work in the army, as in the navy, should
be greatly reduced What is needed is
proved power of command and capacity
to work well in the field. Constant care
is necessary to prevent dry rot in the
transportation and commissary depart
ments.
our army is so small and SO much scat
tered that II Is very difficult TO give the
higher officers Gas wen as the lower OFF,
GERS and the enlisted mem chance to
practice maneuVers in mass and on com
paratiVely large scale. In time OF need
no amount of individual excellence would
avail against the paralysis which would
follow Inability to work as a coherent
whole under sknlful and daring leadership.
The congress should provide means
whereby IL will be possible to have field
exercises by at least a division of regu-
lars and, If possible, also a division Of ma
tional guardsmen once year, These eX-
ercses might take the form of field ma
neuVers, or II on the gulf coast or the Pa
ciflc or Atlantic seaboard o. in the region
OF the great lakes the army corps when
assembled could be marched from some
! there embarked, dlsembarked after cou-
! pie 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, EN-
barking and disembarkiug will II be possi-
bile to train the higher officers to perform
their duties wen and smoothly.
Indebted to Soldier and Sailor.
A great debt is owing from the public
to the men of the army and navy They
should be so treated as to enable them
TO reach the highest point of efficiency so
that they may be able to respond in
stantly TO any demand made upon them
to sustain the interests of the nation and
the honor of the flag The individual
whole more form ldabe hghting man
than the regular of any other army.
Every consideration should be shown
him, and in return the highest standard
him. II is well worth while for the con-
gress to consider whether the pay of on
enlistments should not be increased to
correspond with the increased value OF
the veteran soldier.
Progress OF Army REORGANIZATION
Much good has already come from the
act reorganizing the army passed early in
the present year. The three prime re-
forms all of them of literally inestlm-
able value, are. first the substitution Of
four year details from the line for per-
manent appointments in the so-called
star divisions second the establish
ment of a corps of artillery with a chief
at the head: third, the establishment of
a maximum and minimum limit for the
army 1t would be difficult TO overesti-
mate the improvement I'm the efficiency
OF our army which these three reforms