Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1901-12-06

stations and lighthouses.
The American people must either build
and maintain an adequate navy or else
secondary position in international af-
fairs, not merely in political but in COM
mercial matters. 1t has been well said
national disaster than to be "opulent, ag-
gressive and unarmed."
THE ARMY.
An Increase In Thi. Force /. Not
Deemed Necessary Now.
1t is. not necessary to increase our
army beyond its present size at this
time, but it is necessary to keep it at the
highest point of efficiency. The individ-
al un1rs wao th as Officers and enlisted
good reason to believe, at least as eff
cient as those of any other army in the
ter trsna9 d ds our duty to see that
highest possible expression of power to
tn Ms units when acting in combination.
fe Go aa ion Of modern war are such
than ever before upon the individual
character and capacity of the officer and
the enlisted man and to make it far
with effect. At present the fighting must
pc done In extended order, which means
taat each lima man must act for himself and
with others with whom he is no longer
in the old-fashioned elbow to elbow
te 10 On; Under such conditions few men
than many men without the special skin
winch Is only found as the result of spe-
ga ga; framing applied to men of excep-
days the most valuable fighting man and
the most d1mcult to perfect is the rifle
rider. ~ e
The proportion of our cavalry reei-
ments has wisely been increased. The
American cavalryman, trained to maneu-
yer ana tight with equal facility on foot
ana on horseback. is the best type of
soldier for. genera! purposes now to be
found in the world. The ideal cavalrv
man OF the present day is a man who
best infantryman and who is in addition
u umsurp pa S;1 IN the care and manage
ght on OF n1S hSrss and in his ability to
Stan Department Needed.
"A general staff should be created. AS
for the general staff and supply depart-
mf ne11 they should be filled by details
ing after awhile to their line duties. It is
very undesirable to have the senior grades
OF the - army I'm composed of men who have
Of seniority: system Should ID be adopted pted
oy winch there shall be an elimination
grace by grade Of those who seem unfit
. 70 render the best service in the next
civil war who are still in the army would
seem to require that in the matter of re-
n sirtsments tney De given by law the same
privileges accorded to their comrades in
the navy. 49,
The process of elimination of the least
41 ,, saould pc conducted in manner that
would render it 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.
Gals for political reasons is bad enough.
put It is tenfold worse where applied on
behalf Of officers of the army or navy.
the war department must be made solely
with regard to the good of the service
and to the capacity and merit Of the man
Of any knd % Se p s9Gait ea
to exercise the least effect in any ques-
ton OF promotion or detail, and if there
to 9 }sa that such is
concerned it will be held to initiate
against him. In our army we cannot az
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 fit to do the duties are chosen
Reduce the cred Tape."
Every effort should be made to bring
the army to constantly increasing state
of efficiency. When on actual service, no
work save that directly in the line of such
be greatly reduced What is needed is
proved power Of command and capacity
is necessary to prevent dry rot in the
transportation and commtssary depart
ments.
Our army is so small and so much scat
tered that it is very difficult to give the
higher officers (as we'll as the lower Off
GERS and the enlisted mem chance to
paratively large scale. In time Of need
no amount of individual excellence would
avail against the paralysis which would
%hes to a mara as
The congress should provide means
exercises by at least division Of regu-
tional guardsmen once year. These ex-
ercises might take the form Of field ma
neuvers, or If on the gulf coast or the Pa
Of the great lakes the army corps when
assembled could be marched from some
inland point to some point on the water,
pie of days journey at some other point
and again marched inland. Only by actual
handling and providing for men in masses
barking and disembarking will it be posi-
BILE to train the higher officers to perform
their duties well and smoothly.
Indebted to Soldier and Sailor.
A great debt is owing from the public
to the men Of the army and navy: They
to reach the highest point OF emciency 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
American enlisted man is probably on the
whole a 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 exacted from
him. It is well worth while for the con-
gress to consider whether the pay of en-
listed men upon second and subsequent
enlistments should not be increased to
correspond with the increased value of
the veteran soldier. ~. ,~ IS
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 inestim-
able value, are. first, the substitution of
four year details from the line for per-
manent appointments in the so-called
staff divisions: second, the establish
ment of q CORPS Of artillery with a chief
at the head: third, the establishment of
maximum and minimum limit for the
army. It would be difficult ito overestiz
mate the Improvement in the ef1ciehcy
OF our army which these three reforms