The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-10-28

the Philippines can also be very much
reduced. Ii will however. be necessary TO
E occupy with military and naval forces for
an indefinite time stratCg ic positions in
that archipelago.
The condition Of the Indians in the
past year has remained practically the
same as during the preceding few years.
and has been very satisfactory. no dis
turbdnceS Of any Importance requiring the
use Oh the troops having occurred. Still.
there Is no doubt that the presence Of
military stations within a reasonable dis
lance Of their reservations has had re-
SlfalLlnS influence upon them. These
stations will have to be maintained for
some years to come OF during the time
that they are in d state Of transition from
nomadic. unCiviliZCd condition 10 that
OF a peaceful. Industrious life
Adequate military EarriSOuS have been
maintained adjacent TO the Mexican and
. canadian boundaries and have been avail
able Tor assisting our civil authorities in
maintaining law and order. thus contrib
uJing % the preservation Of friendly re-
latipus between the Governments of these
countries and our own
Reference To the Artillery.
Il would call especial attention 20 the
effect Of a portion Of the. Army Reorgani-
zauon act pertaining 10 the artillery
branch of the service which does grave
Injustice 10 a large number Of artillery
pfnCers- Owing 10 the unfortunate organ
lZaLOu Of the artillery that existed from
1906 u 1855, by which two first HeUteuauts
were included in a battery instead of one.
as in the case Of a troop of cavalry and
company Of infantry. StagnatiOn was
caused ia the promotions Of officers OF ar
ullcTy- That condition Of affairs was cor
reCted by the act Of Congress Of 1888. and
although by the recent act Of Congress of
February 2. 1901. the artillery arm was
largely increased. yet a provision Of the
law suspended fun promotion until the
1 enlisted strength had been recruited up
70 the authorized limit. and most Of the
oihgers received their commissions sew
eraI months after their juniors in the
cavalry and infantry had been promoted
over them. Thus officers who had render
ed longer service We're made relatively
subordinate TO officers who had been their
juniors, in many cases by more than ten
years, during their whole official lives
! earnestly recommend that this injustice
De corrected, and that Congress be asked
TO authorize that the commissions Of ar
/ tilery officers covering promotions TO fill
vacancies caused 10y III said law shall
bear date Of February 2 1901 This viii
give the artillery officers the relative rank
10 which they were entitled and of which
they were inadvertently deprived
Il also call attention TO what. in my
judgment Is defective organization Of
the artillery. namely. ar Artillery Corps
which practically establishes another bu-
reau IA Washington Nearly two years
ago a Dill was introduced IN the Senate,
not for The purpose Of recognizing the
army. but. as its title indicated TO in
crease the efficiency Of the military IS
L1lli~llllltll OF the llLel states the
principal object being To readjusJ and i'm
prove the stad establishment and 10 make
a necessary increase IN the artillery force
As stated by me at the time. the question
Of organization was subordinate 10 that
Of increasing the strength OF the artiI-
lery, which vas then impera lively re
quired. In that bin provision was made
Tor corps HrgdnlZduOn- This particular
measure ] did not consider advisable but
the other features Of thu bin I regarded
as Of absolute necessity ! am now more
convinced than ever of the iuadviSa biIity
Of corps organization, and believe that
| the regimeutal organization is far more
desirable IN every respect The condition
of the country with its 1880 miles Of
coast line. requires now an artillery force
of IS S62 men. which IN the near future
may have to be Increased. This force
/. should constitute the grand reserve Of
the army large force Is necessary TO
perform the laburious work of keeping in
order and handling the heavy. expensive
machinery and ammunition M the aTtil-
lery forts, yet IL is quite unnecessary and
iuadyisable TO keep "a large body Of troops
for that duty alone. TT this Dee all that
/ Is required of the artillery. much small
or force of skilled arrillerists with "A
corps OF lah0reTs would meet the require
ments-
in my Judgment it is highly important
that this strong arm Of the Government
should at all times bs maintained in the
most effective condition possible. and
though the principal duties Of the men
would be- the manning care. and U-aSer-
FaugG OF lae great coast orItncear lheE
. should at the same time. being armed
with rifles and instructed and drilled in
the use of them, be- immediut-iy aEaila-
bile I'm such strength as may he required.
for service i'm case of any emergency that
might arise demanding the use Of "a we'll
trained. disciplined body OF troops
Under the regulations in force ut the
Military Academy at West Point occu-
pied byICr- \orps OF cadets and regu-
lar g-|rfs..u - under those that have
aSNays prevailed - the Soldiers. Home