Omaha daily bee., 1903-04-08

with such force in speaking Of the insur-
rection before we came to the islands ap-
plies with tenfold greater force to those
who foolishly or wickedly opposed the mild
and benefcent government we were in
stituting in the islands. The judgment of
the martyred public servant, Rial. whose
birthday the Philippine people celebrate.
and whom they worship as their hero and
ideal, sets forth the duty of American SOW
~ereignty, a duty from which the American
people will never finch.
while we have been doing these great
and benehcent works in the islands, we
have yet been steadily reducing the cost at
which they are done. The last congress
repealed the law for the war taxes, and the
War department has reduced the army from
the maximum number of 100, 30, allowed
under the law. to nearly the minimum OF
1000.
Moreover, the last congress enacted
some admirable legislation affecting the
army, passing first Of all the militia bill
and then the bill to create a general stan.
The militia bill represents the realization
of a reform which had been championed
ineffectively by Washington, and had been
fruitlessly agitated ever since. At last we
have taken from the statute books the
obsolete militia law Of the revolutionary
/, days and have provided for efficient aid to
the national guard OF the states. l believe
that no other great country has such fine
natural material for volunteer soldiers
as we have AID it is the obvious duty Of
the nation and Of the states to make such
provision as will enable this volunteer
soldiery to be organized with all possible
rapidity and efficiency in time Of war, and.
furthermore. to help In every way the
national guard in time OF peace.
THE militia law enacted by congress
marks the nrst long step ever taken In
this direction by the national government
The general tan law is of immense i'm
portance and benefit to the regular army.
individually / would not admit that the
American regular, either officer or en-
listed man, is inferior to any other regular
soldier in the world. In fact, II II were
worth while to boast, ! should be tempted
to say that he was the best. But there
must be proper training. proper organiza-
ton and administration in order TO get the
best service out of even the best troops.
This is particularly the case with such a
small army as ours, scattered over so vast
a country. We do not need a large reg
ular army, but we do need to have, our
small regular army the best that can pos
SlDly De produced. OuoeT tue WOTu-oul
and ineffective organization which has
hitherto existed, a sudden strain is alb
solutely certain to produce the dislocation
and confusion we saw at the outbreak OF
the war with Spain. and when such disloca-
tion and confusion occurs II Is easy and
natural, but entirely improper. TO blame
the men who happen to be In ofiee, instead
Of the system which Is really responsible.
Under the law Just enacted by congress
this system will be changed immensely for
the better, and every patriotic American
ought to rejoice, for when we Tome 10 the
army and the navy we deal with the honor
and interests Of all our people. and when
such is the case party lines are as nothing.
and we all stand shoulder TO shoulder as
Americans. moved only by pride In and
love for our common country"
JAMESTOWN, N. D.. April president
Roosevelt arrived this afternoon and after
a brief address left for Bismarck.
Short stops we're made at Casselton,
Tower City and Valley City. where the
president spoke briefly.
BISMARCK. N. d.. April when Pres
ident Roosevelt reached Bismarck this aft
ernoon he found a large number of people
ready for his entertainment. A body OF
200 Sioux. GrosyentTe and Greek Indians
arrived from the south and north this
morning. Following the president to the