The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-11-21

the secretary of war.
 The men who died in typhoid hospi- tals because congress tied the hands or the medical department have not dled in vain. Never again shall we see an army corps of volunteers sent into camp with just one trained army surgeon for fifteen thousand men, because, thanks to congress, only one was available.
 The staff now is flexible and pract- cal. The old rule of bureaucracy is abolished. Officers are detailed for mer- it to serve at headquarters ana alter four years are sent back to the line. The staff, therefore, is not only III ac- tive touch with the needs of the line, but is composed, as it should be com posed, of picked officers.
 I say We have not even yet enough officers. General Wood, commanding the department of Cuba, complains Dit terly of a lack of officers, and It IS significant confirmation of his com plaint that the inspection reports of that department note a deficiency in the school of the soldier and the trooper and insufficient training of recruits In the cavalry there stationed.
  the prevailing system of promotion by seniority. Promotion by seniority alone does not apply to the grade or brlgadler general and the ranks above. 1t does apply to the lower grades, and nothing is dearer to the heart of the old-tlme regular Promotion may be slow, put It is sure. The lame and the lazy advance as fast as the energetic and competent. All that is necessary is to grow old gracefully, get a pass mark on exam nations and keep out of courts mar tial.
 Heaven forbid that the regular shall be made to suffer again from pulls and favoritism. He has never been so se- cure as in these days of Root and Roosevelt. Some day or other, hoWev- CT, the United States will find it advan- tageous to promote, say, one-thlrd or all officers for distinguished merit and rec ord and solely on the recommendation of examining boards of officers Of the higher grades of the army, never on the recommendation of civilians and, least of all, on that of politicians.
 The lobby of the army dead wood that wishes to drift frem rank to rank, not to move, has so far defeated one of the most needed reforms in the army-a re- form that shall offer the incentive Of promotion to the brave, the active and intelligent officer and warn the drone in the army (and there are drones in the army) that his future depends upon positive ability and enterprise as well as upon the mere negative merit or freedom from blameworthy action
 The strength of this demand that sen iority alone shall count for promotion is hard for an outsider to understand. Few civilians appreciate the outcry made by certain class of officers against President Mckinley when he put the brigadier's star upon the shoul- ders of Leonard Wood, True, General Wood was jumped over the heads of men who were in the army when he was in the cradle. He was not promoted for that reason.
 Fortunately the grade of brigadier general is beyond the numbing grip of the seniority law Which prevails in the lower grades The command of Cuba consequently could be given to man, not because he had worn uniform thirty years, but because he was the one man who could command Cuba
 It was thanks, to this happy system of promotion by seniority alone that the Spanish war found competent officers like Chaffee and Lawton and Wheaton mere lieutenant colonels, while in some of the higher seats were some whom 1t is kinder not to name.
 Congress has not even yet authorized army manoeuvres. We are not even to-day training men to act otherwise than as individuals. and against sav- age foe. E,-. ... .-.
 Time forbids me to touch upon the urgent need of the reform of the Ma tional Guard and its transformation into what it should be-the reserve of the regular army. This reform can never be accomplished while congress hands out it's military appropriation to the states in proportion to the number of members sent to congress and not in proportion either to the money spent by the state itself on it's guard or on the number of men each state keeps train ed and drilled up to some established national standard of military efficiency
 Texas. spending only $5,OO0 a year on her National Guard received from the United States more than either Con nectieut or Massachusetts, with state expenditures of hundreds of thousands. If Texas receives from the national government in proportion to her pop ulation she and the other shirkers should contribute in proportion to the population.
 In closing the speaker paid glowing and beautiful tribute to our soldiers, their bravery in battle and their glori- ous fighting and fighting qualities There is never loss in European his tory to compare with that of the First Texas at Antietam, and the charge of the Light Brigade at Balacava sinks into insignificance beside the charge ot the First Minnesota at Gettysburg.
 We of the United States need no huge armies with which to front our destlny. We do need the best army in the world. We spent a hundred and fifty millions q year for the soldiers who have worn the blue. Can we afford to be parsimo- nious with the men who now uphold the colors?
 After the set toasts of the evening had been responded to General Brad- ley called upon Burritt Hamilton or the New England Prepared Food com pany, business enterprise recently TO- cated here through the efforts or the Chamber of Commerce, for speech.
 The conclusion of the programme was