Evening star., 1901-12-03

10r Natloual NaNai 3f1eSeFVe.e organized
and trained under the direction of the Navy
Department. and subject tor fine call of the
Chief Executive whenever war becomes i'm
minent. It should be real auxiliary to the
naval seagoing peace establishment, and
offer material to be drawn on at once for
manning our ships in1 time of war. 1t
should be composed of graduates of the
Naval Academy, graduatesI of the Naval
Militia, officers and crews of coast-Iine
steamers, longshore schooners, fishing ves-
sells, and steam yachtsg together with the
coast population about suchocenters as life
saving stations and light houses
The American people must either build
and maintain an adequate navy or else
make up their minds definitely to accept
secondary position in International. affairs,
not merely in POLITICAL but in commercial,
matters. It has been well said that there
is no surer way of courting national disas-
ter than to be 'sopulent, aggressive and un-
armed
The United states Army.
1t is not necessary to increase our Army
beyond its present size at this time. But
It 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
believe 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 COM
bination.
The conditions Of modern war are such as
to make an Infinitely heavier demand than
ever before upon the individual character
and capacity Of the officer and the enlisted
man, and to make 1t far more difficult for
men to act together with effect. At present
the fighting must be done in extended or
der, which means that each man must act
for himself and at the same time act In
with others with whom he Is
no longer in the old-fashioned elbow-to-
elbow touch. Under such conditions 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 excep-
tionaI physique and morale. But nowadays
the most valuable fighting man and the
most difficult to perfect is the rif1eman who
is also skillful and daring rider.
The proportion of our. cavalry regiments
has wisely been increased. The American
trained to manoeuvre 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 man who can fight on foot as
effectively as the best fnfantryman, and
who Is in addition unsurpassed in the care
and management of his horse and in his
ability to fight on horseback.
A general staff should be created. As
for the present staff and supply depart
ments, they should be filed by details from
the line, the men so detailed returning at
ter while to their line duties. 1t is very
undesirable to have the senior grades of
the army composed og men who have come
to fill the positions by the mere fact of
A system should be adopted by
which there shah be an elimination grade
by grade Of those who seem unfit to rem
der 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 7of retirements
they be given by law the same privileges
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 behalf Of any
candidate, so that each man may be judged
purely on his own merits. Pressure for
the promotion Of civil officials 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 Depart
ment 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 ef-
feet in any question of promotion or de-
tail; and II there is reason to believe that
such pressure is exercised at the instiga-
tion Of the officer concerned, it will be held
to initiate against him. In our Army we
afford to have rewards or duties
distributed save on the simple ground that
those who by their own merits are entitled
to the rewards 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 ser
vice should be required. The paper work
in the Army, as in the Navy, should be
greatly reduced. What is needed is proper
power of command and capacity to work
well in the field Constant care Is neces-
sary to prevent dry rot in the Transports
ton and commissary departments.
Our army is SO small and SO much scat
tered that it is very difficult to give the
higher officers (as well as the lower officers
and the enlisted mem chance to practice
maneuvers In mass and on a comparatively
large scale. In time Of need no amount of
individual excellence would avail against
the paralysis which would follow inability
to work as coherent whole. under skill
full and daring leadership. The Congress
should provide means whereby 1t will be
possible to have field exercises by at least
a division of regulars. and If possible also
a division Of national guardsmen, once a
year. These exercises might take the form
of field maneuvers. or, IL on the Gulf Coast
or the Pacific 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 af-
ter a couple OF days journey at some other
point. and again marched inland. Only by