Daily Kennebec journal., 1901-12-04

| msrcIai maTrcrs. sst mas peen well safe
| that there Is no surer way Of courting ma
tional disaster than 10 be "opuent. ag
! gressive and unarmed'
The Army.
1t Is not necessary to increase our army
| beyond Its present size at this time but
| II Is necessary to keep IL at the highest
| point of efficiency. The individual units
| who as officers and enlisted men compose
this army are. we have good reason to be-
| lieve. at least as efficient as those OF any
other army in the entire world. 1t IS our
duty to see that their training is of a kind
TO insure the highest possible expression
| OF power to these units when acting in
combination.
The conditions of modern war are such
| as to make an infinitely heavier demand
than ever before upon the individual char
: acter and capacity OF the officer and the
! enlisted man and to make It far more dif
| Hcult for men TO act together with effect
| At present the fighting must be done I'm
| extended order. which means that each
| man must act for himself and at the same
time act in combination with others with
! whom he is no longer in the old fashioned
elbow 10 elbow touch. Under such condi-
tons 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 special training applied TO
! men Of exceptional physique and morale.
| but nowadays the most valuable fighting
man and the most difficult to perfect is
! the riieman who IS also a skilful and
| daring rider.
The proportion OF our cavalry regiments
has wisely been increased. The American
cavaIryman. trained TO maneuver and
fight with equal facility on foot and on
! horseback. is the best type Of soldier for
| general purposes now 10 be found In the
world. The ideal cavalryman OF the pres
ent day is man who can fight on foot
ss effectively az the best infantryman and
who is in addition unsurpassed in the
/ care and management OF his horse and in
his ability to fight on horseback.
Would Create u General stan.
general stan should be created. As
for the present stan and supply depart
ncnts. they should be filed by details
from The line. the men 50 detailed return
ing after awhile TO their iiEe duties II is
very undesirable to have the senior grades
Of .-.e army composed OF ,nen who ha ve
come to hll the positions by the mere fact
OF seniori'y. A system should be adopted
by which there shall be an eiimlna ticH
grade hY grade Or those who seem unfit
to render The best service ia the Next
grade. Justice to tho veterans b., the
seem 10 require that IA the matter OF re-
tirem"ilts they be given bv law the same
privileges accorded 10 their comrades Ia
the navy.
The process of elimination Of the least
fit should be conducted IL Z, manner that
wolid render IL practically impossible 70
apply political or social press re on !e-
I hair ot any candidate. 50 that each man
may he jGdged purely on his own merits
Pressure H.! the promotion OF civil Off
cials for polit.. Al reasons ~ bad enough.
but IL ~ teDfoid worse where applied on
behalf os officers ot the army or navy.
Every promotion. ana every detail under
The war dcpa rImcnt must he made SOlelt.
with regard 70 the good o, the service
and 70 the capacity and merit OF the man
, himself. No pressure political. social or
personal, or an" kind vii! be permitted
to exercise the least effect in any oues-
tfon ot promotion or detail. and IL there
IS reason 10 believe that such pressure is
exercised at the iustiSatioa OF the officer
concerned IL 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 III TO do the duties are chosen
TO perform them.
Every effort should DC made to bring
the army 10 a constantly increasing state
OF efficiency, When on actual service. no
work save that directly in the line Of such
service should he required. The raper
work In the army. as in the navy. should
be greatly reduced. What is needed is
proved power OF command and ca pacity
10 work well in the field. Constant care
Is necessary to prevent dry rot in the
transportation and commissary depart
mentS.
Field Exercises Advocated
our army is so small and so much scat
tered that 1t is very difficult 70 give the
higher officers Gas we'll the lower Off
GERS and the enlisted mem a chance to
practice maneuvcrs in mass and on a com
parahvely 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 skilIful and daring leadership.
The congress should provide means
whereby il will be possible to have field
exercises by Mt least n division Of regtl-
rC n sell, 81.