Albuquerque daily citizen. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1895-1903, 1902-02-12
ARMY BOARD.
1t is a Notable Board Of High Rank
ing Army Officers.
FEW INTERESTING FACTS.

The army board lately in session in
Washington is remarkable in many re-
spects. In the matter of military rank
it is the most important board ever
constituted in the history of the army
oil the United States.
Stated In the order of their lineal
rank, the membership of the BOARD IS
as follows.
Lieutenant General Nelson A. Miles.
commanding the army.
Major General John r. Brooke. COM
handing the department of the east.
Major General Elwell S. Otis, com
handing the department of the lakes.
Major General S. b. NJ. Young. COM
handing the department of California.
Major General Arthur Macarthur.
commanding the department of Colo
RADIO.
Brigadier General John c. Bates,
commanding the department of the
Missouri.
Brigadier General George NJ. Ran
dali, commanding the department OF
Columbia.
Brigadier General William A. Kobbe,
unassigned.
Colonel Wallace F. Randolph, chief
of artillery.
lieutenant Colonel Samuel Reber.
%aidde-camp to General Miles, who is
Falso recorder of the board. ~
BUSINESS OF THE BOARD.
The business of the board is com
mensurate with it's rank. 1t involves
two important questions; first, the en-
tire reorganization of the existing sys-
TEN of military posts, and, second. the
selection of sites for -four large camps
-. 1,EcS,A.t -Aatf2nn - tha a@.a4rxv
suitable for military maneuver on an
extensive scale.
1t will be for the board to say wheth-
err any of the existing posts shall be
abandoned. reduced, or enlarged, and
whether the interests of the service re-
quire the establishment of new posts
along important lines of travel.
The present policy of the depart
ment is to concentrate the troops as
far as possible near points OF strate-
gic value, and to abandon many of the
smaller posts in the west and south
west, the necessity for which ceased
with the pacification of the Indians.
The posts guarding the approaches
on the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and
the Gulf of Mexico will be strength
ened from time to time and similar
course will naturally be followed with
respect to the posts on the Canadian
border and the Mexican frontier.
OPPOSITION TO LOSING POSTS.
The location of a military post
means considerable to many of the
small towns in the interior, and those
now so favored will make a most Wig
orous protest against a change. 1t is
undoubtedly beneficial to small COM
munitIes to have in their neighborhood
army posts, large or small, for that
means a certain share of the expendi-
lures of the soldiers every pay day. 1t
is stated as q TACT that some villages
are entirely maintained ip that way.
1t is, therefore, not surprising that
considerable political pressure is being
exercised to influence the action Of
the board with respect to the posts.
Senators, and representatives have
been heard by the board, either in OPP
position to the removal of a post or in
favor of the establishment of one, and
numerous and voluminous arguments
have beer submitted to h board by
various municipalities whose interests
are affected. Inasmuch as the boards
sessions are secret these protests and
appeals are made almost entirely by
correspondence.
Extensive military movements are
projected for the instruction camps
modelled after those of the French, Ger
man and British armies; the citizen
soldlery of the different states will CO.
operate with the regular army in all
the field The plan is a
big one and most important from q
military standpoint, and the national
~guardsmen all over the country are
working with the military authorities
for its accomplishment.