The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-07-06


erations showing the advantages of a
weu-Organized militia.
our first line of defense will always
consist of the regular army, a small
compact and highly disciplined body
of officers and men, ready at any mo-
ment for service of all kinds There
has always been in this country, and
always will be. a strong prejudice
against a large standing army, and
while that prejudice is unfounded, and
while there never need be any fear that
our standing army will be used as an
engine of oppression or as means to
overturn the republic and establish a
military despotism, yet it should al
ways be the policy of the country to
restrict the size of the standing army
to the smallest limits compatible with
our actual necessities.
our present standing army is con-
siderably below the maximum OF men
authorized by law, and only recently
the President has directed a further
reduction in the force Of over 10000
men. When that reduction is accom-
plished, the regular army Will consist
in round numbers, of 10000 men. rms
force is scattered from the Atlantic
to the Pacific. and from the Canadlah
frontier to the Rio Grande. A large
proportion viii always be engaged In
manning the coast defenses of the ma
ton and cannot be diverted for any
other purpose. At least one-third or
the army is engaged in the Philip
pines. and that condition of affairs may
continue for some time to come. Inc
Indian problem has been solved, ana
conditions in our outlying possessions
are rapidly growing better, so that
there is no prospect of any further
increase in the standing army, GER
tainly not for years to come.
If we could count on conditions OF
perpetual and universal peace, If that
millennium had arrived of which the
poet sang. then it would be unnecessary
to make any other provision for ma
tional defense. Despite peace confer
ences, however, and talk OF arDltfa-
ton, human nature remains the same,
wars are certain to occur again, and
the nation would be very derelict if 1t
made no further provision for self
protection The best way to Sc
cure peace is to be prepared for
war The surest way to prevent other
nations from Infringing upon our rights
and interests and transgressing upon
our territory is to be so prepared that
steps to punish any violation of our
national interests.
Modern Wars Short and Sharp.
The consideration of prime import
ance in maintaining a high degree of
military efficiency is a state of prepar-
alton which will admit of striking i'm
mediate blows at an enemy, of being
prepared on very brief notice for man
ming our frontiers with a strong and
effective force. Modern wars are short,
sharp, and decisive. They are not Of
ten preceded by formal declaration of
war; nor is there time after war has
once begun to arm, equip, discipline,
and perfect a large force. A statement
before me shows that from 100 to 1871
a period of III years, there are 107
cases recorded in which hostlities were
begun in Europe and the United
States without previous declaration of
war. In the same period there are less
than ten instances in which declaration
of war preceded the firing of the first
hostile shot. Wars are now generally
decided in a shorter space of time than
was necessary to prepare our volunteer
forces for effective service during the
war with Spain. In the war between
France and Austria in 1859 the battle
of Solferino decided the contest in fif-
ty-two days. In the war between Ger
many and Denmark in 1854 the contest
was practically over in ninety-three
days. The battle of Sadowa determined
the result of the Austro-Prussian war
in 1866 in seventeen days after hostili-
ties began. The conflict between Aus
tria and Italy in 1866 was settled by the
battle al LISA in thirty days after the
outbreak of hostilities The Franco
Prussan war saw its decisive contest
at Sedan, which fell in forty-nine days
The war with Spain was practically
over in one hundred days. These in
stances show conclusively that to wage
war successfully a nation must be pre-
pared Immediately to take the field
with a force adequate for the first
emergency. Cur contest with Spain
was not fair test of the conditions of
modern war. Spain was third-rate
power, without large standing army,
ard afforded practically no test of
what our experience would be should
we ever unfortunately become engaged
with first-class military power.
Ten Million Fighting Men.
The military resources of this coun-
try are practically unlimited. It's re-
serve powers are tremendous, perhaps
the largest in the world. 1t may safely
be said that within the. boundaries of
the United States. there are between
ten and twelve millions of men able to
perform military service. Our financial
resources exceed those of any other
ration. No other nation can turn out
as many arms and accoutrements. uni
forms, and other equipment. in the
same length of time as the United
States. We are safe in saying that
no nation could hope to overrun tn
United States and subdue the entire
country. but of what avail are all these
magnificent resources of men and ma
terial unless they are ready for imme-
date use in time for the supreme crisis
If hostile army could
land on our shores and
capture even a few of our seaboard
cities, the damage caused would be
much greater than the expense of
maintaining an adequate second line
of defense.
The safety of the country in time of
danger must depend upon the volun-
teer soldiers. It is the volunteer SOL
der who has fought the great battles
of the country. and our reliance must
ever be on that branch of the service.
In the days of our forefathers. when
every man was a good rifle shot. when
the danger of Indian uprisings forced
every man to be an expert in the use
of firearms, when there We're no tele-
graph lines and no cables, when means
of communication were slow and the
length of a trip across the Atlantic
Ocean was counted by weeks instead
of days, there was not the necessity
for maintaining our volunteer forces
in high degree of efficiency. Modern
conditions have changed all this Com
paratiYely few men are trained to-day