The Savannah morning news., 1901-02-04

ports seventy Thousand hen
Must Make the Journey Six
Months Required for the TX
change-some of the Men VIII Re-
Enlist or Locate in the Philip
pines. hut the Majority VIII BE
Anxious 10 Return to the states.
Copyright. 1921. by O. X. Davis.
Washington. Feb at was provided BY
the law authorizing the organization CT
the volunteer army not serving in the
Philippines that the men should be mus
tered out in the United states on or be
fore the 50.h Of June Of this year The
faithful observation OF this provision u
law is about to entail upon the quarter
masters department Of the army task
of tremendous proportions. For It Is the
purpose OF the government to replace the
returning volunteers with other men aud
the quartermasters must not only gather
up the scattered regiments in the Pnlhp-
pines and bring them home but they
must also send out the new organizations
and scatter them about the islands in me
posts now occupied BY our garrisons' IL
is a task similar to that OF the summer
and fall OF 1899. when the men who en-
listed for the war with Spain came
home. but of much larger proportions
Roughly speaking there were So'W men
in the twenty-five regiments OF Foiun-
teers raised under the law Of 1893 Many
Of these have been invaded home in the
wear and a half OF their service, some
were sent back for other causes, some
we're discharged and some have been XIII
ed. The number Of these, however Is
more than made up by tne men VINO en-
listed in the regular army for similar
service and who, under the same law
are entitled TO be discharged this sum
mer.
There are very few ships in the gov
eminent transport service capable OF car
ryinR a thousand men or more comfort
ably for so long a trip as that across the
Pacific ocean. None of the ships now
available for charter as transports can
accommodate a thousand men. The Voy-
age from Manila to one of the ports on
our Pacific coast requires nearly month
Allowing each ship a month to get out
20 Manila there is two months work Tor
thirtv-dve ships or seventy months
nearly six years-for one snip, in repa-
triatinS the volunteers. These six years
work must be done in six months, neces-
stating al least a dozen ships. There are
about that many large transports in the
regular government service and II the
work could he taken in hand now and
continued regularly it probably could be
all accomplished in the required time, es-
pecially as some of the ships like the
Logan and the Hancock are fitted for
carrying so many more than thousand
men.
But the old men cannot be brought
AWAY from the Philippines until the new
ones are ready to replace them, and 50
ahe whole work of transporting 10000 Or
more men across the Pacific will nave TO
he done in the shortest possible time ne
Cessitatiug the charter Of many trans
ports and much extra work as well as eN-
pense. After the returning men reach
the states the work of distributing them
10 the various points of muster out VIII
be comparatively simple and easy 1t il
in concentrating the regiments in Manila,
preparatory to shipping them home, and
in sending the new men out to their gar
r!AonE in the islands that the hardest work
will come in, and it is there that delays
will be most frequent and veXatious.
The only regiments in the Philippines
that are serving with organization intact
are those in the provost guard of Ma
mia. Usually two regiments are kept in
changes because it proved unwise to shift
men who had learned the city and the
bothersome duties of military police work
and substitute men who would have to
learn the same things. Outside of Manila
Gen. Macarthur has occupied more than
40 posts. They extend from the north
ernmost point OF Luzon to Tawi Tawl
the southernmost island of the archipelago.
All Of the larger islands except the un.
laA ha
been garrsoned and many Of the smaller
Cnes.
As general thing the troops have
reached their posts either by water or
per boot" as the soldiers say. The
one railroad in the island runs north
from Manila about a hundred and twenty
five miles and greatly simplifes the prob
lem of the occupation and supply of the
provinces il traveTses. But the regiments
doing duty along It are so scattered that
even with it's help considerable time Is
required 10 concentrate the entire organ
iZation. That was shown when the Ninth
Infantry was ordered 10 China in June
OF last year.
The government has no small ships suit
able for the inter-island transport SER
vice and 1t has relied almost entirely on
the small trading steamers owned in Ma
Mia. The largest OF these can accommo-
Odtt - bdLthilOn ul men only after muCn
crowding and with great discomfort 20
the men. These same ships will be call
cd into service to gather up the men
now scattered about the islands Take
the north coast of Mindanao. for an ex-
ample. We occupy six or eight ports the
largest force in any of them being bat
talon. When the men left Manila at the
time of the first occupation of these places
they took part of their baggage with them
and left part of 1t TO be stored in Ma
mia. In their new posts they have &C
cumulated lot more. All this has to he
picked up with them and taken to Ma
Mia. There is company baggage and bat
talon baggage and regimental baggage.
and IT all must be looked out for as care
fully as that of the men. There is a the
ofetical regulation as to the amount of
baggage that a man may take with him,
but i'm practice the limit seems TO be
only that of the capacity Of the transport.
When the men are brought back to Ma
Mia from the north coast of Mindanao
three or four of the little iuter-island
steamers will be sent down to get them.
They will take the new men and their
baggage and their supplies along. Fol-
lowing the usual custom nothing will have
been done toward gathering up the be-
longings of the men who are coming away
and they will not get at it until the new
men arrive 1t may be done by the time
the new men have their stun landed, but
probably it will still require some time.
This will 90 on at each Of the posts. Fin
ally all The transports will have their men
and cargo aud then they will concentrate
at the mort which was regimcutal head