The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1901-12-06
WAR DEPARTMENT.
Army Is Large Enough at the Pres
ent Time.

1t is not necessary to increase our Army
beyond its present size at this time But
| 1t Is necessary to keep ii at the highest
point of efficiency. The individual units
who as officers and enlisted men compose
this Army, are, we have good reason 10
believe, at least as efficient as those OF
any other army in the entire world. II
| is our duty to see that their training Is
Of a Kind to insure the highest possible
| 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 offlcerIan the
difficult for men to act together with ef-
| feet. At present the fighting must be done
| in 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 longerSin the old-fashioned
eibow-to-elbow touch. Under such con-
ditions few men of the highest excel
lence are worth more than many men
| without the special skill which is only
found as the result of special training ap-
| piled to men of exceptional physique and
morale. But nowadays the most valuable
fighting man and the most difficult to per-
feet Is the rifiemsn who is also a skillful
and daring rider.
The proportion Of our cavalry regiments
| has wisely been increased.
General stan.
A general staff should be created AS
| for the present staff and supply depart
ments, they should be filled by details
| from the line, the men so detailed return
ing after a while to their line duties. 1t
Is very undesirable to have the senior
grades OF the Army composed of men who
have come to fill 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 Civil War who are still in the
Army would seem to require that in the
matter of retirements they be given by
law the same privileges accorded to their
comrades in the Navy.
Field Exercises.
Our Army is so small and so much scat
tered that II is very difficult to give the
higher officers Gas well as the lower officers
and the enlisted mem chance to practice
maneuvers in mass and on a compara-
lively 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 skillful and daring leader
ship. The Congress should provide means
whereby 1t will be possible to have field
exercises by at least a division of regu-
lars, and, If possible, also a division of
National Guardsmen once a year. These
maneuvers; or, If on the Gulf Coast or the
Pacific or Atlantic seaboard, or In the
region Of the Great Lakes, the Army corps
when assembled should be marched from
some inland point to some point on the
water, there embarked, disembarked after
q couple 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, camp
ing, embarking and disembarking, will it
be possible to train the higher officers to
perform their duties well and smoothly.
ReOrganizIng the Army.
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 inestimable
value are. first, the substitution of four
year details from the line for permanent
appointments in the so-called stan divi-
sions; second, the establishment Of a
corps of artillery with a chief at the
head third, the establishment of a max
Imum and minimum limit for the Army.
1t woulu be difiicult to overestimate the
Improvement in the efficiency of our Army
which these three reforms are making
and have in part already effected.
Volunteer Forces.
Action should be taken in reference to
the militia and to the raising of volunteer
worthless. The organization and arma-
ment OF the National Guard of the several
states, which are treated as militia In the
appropriations by the Congress. should be
made Identical with those provided for
the regular forces. The obligations ana
duties Of the guard In time OF war should
be carefully defined. and a system estab-
l.shed by law under which the method
Of procedure of raising volunteer forces
should be prescribed in advance. IL Is ut
.erly impossible in the excitement and
haste OF impending war 20 do this sat
sfactorily II the arrangements have not
been made Iong beforehand. Provision
should be made for utilizing in the first
volunteer organizations called out the
training Of those citizens who have al
ready had experience under arms, and
especially for the selection In advance OF
the officers OF any force which may be
raised for careful selection OF the kind
necessary Is impossible after the outbreak