Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1901-12-05
The Arp,v.

IL ID uOl ucCGSSdty ~ tItGItdSE our ARMY
beyond its present size at this time, but
1t is necessary to keep it 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 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 diff
ficult for men to act together with effect.
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 longer in the old fashioned
elbow to elbow touch. Under such condi-
tons 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 rifeman who is also skillful and
daring rider.
The proportion of our cavalry regiments
has wisely been increased. The American
cavalryman, trained to maneuver and
fight with equal facility on foot and on
horseback, is the best type of soldier for
general purposes now to be found in the
world The ideal cavalryman of the pres
ent day is a man who can fight on foot
as effectively as 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 a General star.
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 awhile 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 re-
tirements they be given by law the same
privileges accorded to their comrades in
the navy.
The process of elimination Of the least
fit should be conducted in a 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
Pressure for the promotion of civil Off
Gals for political reasons is bad enough,
but it is tenfold worse where applied on
behalf of officers of the army or navy.
Every promotion and every detail under
the war department must be made solely
with regard to the good of the service
and to the capacity and merit of the man
himself No pressure. political, social or
personal, of any kind will be permitted
to exercise the least effect in any ques-
ton of promotion or detail, and if there
is reason to believe that such pressure is
exercised at the instigation of the officer
concerned it will be held to initiate
against him. In our army we cannot af-
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
to perform them
Every effort should be made to bring
the army to a constantly increasing state
of efficiency When on actual service, no
work save that directly in the line of such
service should be required. The paper
work in the army, as in the navy, should
be greatly reduced. What is needed is
proved power of command and CAPACITY
to 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 it is very difficult to give the
higher officers Gas well as the lower Off
GERS and the enlisted mem a chance to
practice maneuvers in mass and on COM
paratiYely 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 leadership
The congress should provide means
whereby it will be possible to have field
exercises by at least division of regu-
lars and. if possible, also division of ma
tional guardsmen once year. These ex-
ercises might take the form of field ma
neuvers. or if on the gulf coast or the Pa
cific or Atlantic seaboard or in the region
of the great lakes the army corps when
assembled could be marched from some
inland point to some point on the water.
there embarked, disembarked after cou-
pie 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, camping. en-
barking and disembarking will it be posi-
Bile to train the higher officers to perform
their duties well and smoothly.
A great debt is owing from the public
to the men of the army and navy, They
should be so treated as to enable them to
reach the highest point of efficiency so
that they may be able to respond instant
by to any demand made upon them to sus-
tain the interests of the nation and the
honor of the flag. The individual Amer
lean enlisted man is probably on the
whole more formidable fighting man
than the regular of any other army Ev-
cry consideration should be shown him,
and in return the highest standard of
usefulness should be exacted from him.
1t is well worth while for the congress to
consider whether the pay of enlisted men
upon second and subsequent enlistments
should not be increased to correspond
with the increased value of the veteran
soldier.
Army Reorganization.
Much good has already come from the
act recognizing 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 staff divi-
sions; second, the establishment OF
corps of artillery with a chief at the
head; third. the establishment of a maxi
mum and minimum limit for the army 1t
would be difficult to overestimate the i'm
provement III the efficiency OF our army
which these three reforms are making
and have in part already effected
The reorganization provided for by the
act has been substantially accomplished
The improved conditions in the Philip
pines have enabled the war department
materially to reduce the military charge
upon our revenue and to arrange the
number of soldiers tn bring this
number much nearer to the minimum
than to the maximum limit established by
law. There is, however, need of supple
mentary legislation. Thorough military
education must be provided and in addi-
ton to the regulars the advantages Of
this education should be given to the Of
ficers of the national guard and others in
civil life who desire intelligently to 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 men who are good in
actual field service. Too much stress should
not be laid on mathematics, nor should pro-
ficiency therein be held to establish the
right of entry to corps d elite. The typ
ical American officer of the best kind need
not be good mathematician. but he must
be able to master himself, to control 9TH
ers and to show boldness and fertility of
resource in every emergency.
Action should be taken in reference to
the militia and to the raising of volunteer
forces. Our militia law is obsolete and
worthless The organization and arrna-
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