New-York tribune., 1901-12-04

-, .,-ar Denartment must be made solely
- , eeard to the good OF the service and to the
ac;ry and merit of the man himself. No pressure
.;.s1 social or personal, OF any kind viii be
- "a exercise the least effect in any ques
psl - nronc.ion or detail; and II there is reason
+tiaye that such pressure is exercised at the IN
,,ion of the officer concerned. 1t viii be held TO
,,+cze against him, In our army we cannot AFFORD
- have rewards duties distributed save on the
.u,,Ie ground that those who by their own merits
s entitled to the rewards get them, and that
.ss who are peculiarly fit 10 do the duties
r.ssn TO perform them
-,,e-v effort should be made to bring the army to
INSTANTLY increasing state Of efficiency. When
ac,ual service work that directly In the
%. NJ such service should be required. The paper
II IN the army, in the navy, should be greatly
,uced. What is needed is proved power of COM
md and capacity to work we'll in the field. Con-
s,s1t care is necessary to prevent dry rot in the
.-snsportation and commissary departments.
MANGUVRES IN MASS.
mr. army is so small and SO much scattered that
.kyery difficult give the higher officers (as well
she lower officers and the enlisted mem chance
-practise maneuvres in mass and on a compare
rely large scale. In time Of need no amount of
-5ividual excellence would avail against the
,,ralysis which would follow inability to work as a
,,herent whole, under skilful and daring leader
shfp The Congress should provide means whereby
r will be possible to have field exercise by at least
division OF regulars, and, If possible also dvis-
am Of National Guardsmen once a year. These
exercises might take the form of field maneuvres;
or Il 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
sore inland point TO point the water, there
embarked, diseubarked after a couple of davs'
tourney al some other point, and again marched
inland. Only by actual handling and providing for
raen in masses while they are marching, camping,
embarking and disembarkng will it be possible TO
-gr-I
and smoothly.
A great debt is owing from the public to the men
Of the army and navy. They should be so treated
as 10 enable them to reach the highest point of
efficiency, that they may be able 10 respond in
stantiy TO any demand made upon them TO sustain
the interests Of the nation and the homer of the
fag The individual American enlisted man is
probably on the whole more formidable fighting
man than the regular Of any other army. Every
consideration should be shown him. and in return
the highest standard Of usefulness should be
acted from him. 1t is well worth while for the
Congress consider whether the pay of enlisted
upon second and subsequent enlistments
should not be increased to correspond with the in
creased value OF the veteran soldier.
Much good has already come from the act re-
organizing the army, passed early in the present
year. The three prime reforms, all OF them OF
Hisray inestimable value are, first the subsrttu-
lion OF four year details from the line for perra-
second, the establishment os corps of artillery
With a chief at the head third, the establishment
Of maximum and minimum limit for the army
II would be difficult to overestimate the improve
ment in the efficiency of army which these
three reforms making. and have in part already
effected.
The reorganization provided for by the act has
been substantially accomplished. The improved
conditions in the Philippines have enabled the War
Department materially to reduce the military
charge upon our revenue and to arrange the num-
Der OF soldiers to bring this number much
nearer 10 the minimum than TO the maximum limit
established by law. There IS. however need of
supplementary legislation. Thorough military edu-
cation must be provided. and in addition the
regulars the advantages OF this education should
be given to the officers Of the National Guard and
others In civil life who desire inteIigently 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 who good in actual
field service: too much stress should not be laid
or mathematics, nor should proficiency therein be
he'd TO establish the right OF entry to a corps
felite. The typical American officer OF the best
Kind need not be good mathematician. but he
must be able to himself. TO control others
and show boldness and fertility of resource in
every emergency.