The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-06-21

study of the strategy, the prepara-
ton and the cooperation which Will
make them effective in time of need.
Our ships have been exercised in fleet
and squadron movements, have been
improved in craftsmanship and mobil-
ity, and have been constantly tested
by use Since the last national con-
vention met we have completed and
added to our navy battleships, 4
cruisers, 4 monitors, "a torpedo de-
stroyers and torpedo boats; while we
have under construction 10 battle
ships and Is cruisers.
Four years ago our army num-
bered over 100000 men-regulars and
volunteers, rs per cent. of them in
the philippines and China Under the
operation of statutes limiting the pc
Rod of service, it was about to lapse
back into its old and insufficient num-
Der OF 1900, and its old and INSULT
Gent organization under the practical
cohtrol OF permanent staff depart
ments at Washington, with the same
DIVISIONS of counsel and lack of CO.
Ofdlnatng and directing power at the
mead, that led to confusion and scan
dal IN the war with Spain. During the
past four years the lessons taught by
that war have received practical eff
tect- The teachings of Sherman and
or Upton have been recalled and re-
spected Congress has fixed a maxi
mum of the army at 100. 600. and a
minimum at $4,000. so that maintain
ing only the minimum in peace, as we
now 90, when war threatens the pres
loeht may begin preparation by fill
ing the ranks to the maximum with
out waiting until after war has begun,
as he had to wait in 1898. Permanent
stan appointments have been changed
to details from the line with compul-
sorry returns at fixed intervals to ser
vice with troops, so that the REQUIRE
ments of the field and the camp rather
than the requirements of the office desk
shall control the departments of ad-
mi f-frs to-
gan1zation has been provided for our
artillery, with a chief of artillery at
the head so that there may be intel
l1Sent use of our costly seacoast de-
lenses Under the act of February
l4th, 1908, general staff has been
eStab l1shed, organized to suit Ameri-
can conditions and requirements and
adequate for the performance of the
long-neglected but all-important du-
ties of directing military education
and training and applying the most
advanced principles of military science
to that necessary preparation for war
which is the SureSt safeguard of peace.
The command of the army now rests
where it is placed by the constitution
in the president. His power is ex-
ercised through a military chief of
staff pledged by the conditions and
tenure of his Office to confidence and
loyalty to his commander. Thus civ
ilian control of the military arm, upon
which we must always insist, is recon
ciled with that military efficiency
which can be obtained only under the
direction of the trained military ex-
pert
New Militia Law.
Four years ago we were living I'M
der an obsolete militia law more than
d century old. which Washington and
J jefferson and Madison. and almost ev-
cry president since their time, had de-
clared to be worthless. We presented
n Trfc If
pending upon a citizen soldiery for
protection against aggression, and
making practically no provision what
ever for training its citizens in the use
Of ggarlilIe weapons or in the elemen-
tary duties of the soldier. The man.
date of the constitution which re-
quired congress to provide for organ
izing, arming and disciplining the mi
litia had been left unexecuted. In
default of national provisions, bodies
of state troops. created for local pur-
poses and supported at local expense,
had grown up throughout the Union.
Their feelings towards the regular ar
my We're rather of distruSt and dis
like than of comradeship. Their
arms, equipment, discipline, organiza-
ton, and methods of obtaining and
accounting for supplies were varied
and inconsistent. They were unSuited
to become a part of any homogeneous
force, and their relations to the army
of the United States were underlined
and conjectural. BY the militia act of
January 20, 1908, congress performed
it's duty under the constitution. Leav-
ing these bodies still to perform their
duties to the States, it made them the
organized militia of the United States.
1t provided for their conformity in
armament, organization and discip-
line to the army of the United States;
it provided the ways in which, either
strictly as militia or as volunteers,
they should become an active part of
,
vided for their training, instruction
and exercise conformity with the reg
ular army; it imposed upon the regu-
lar army the duty of promoting their
in many ways. In recogni-
ton of the service to the nation which
these citizen soldiers would be COM
petent to render, the nation assumed
it's share of the burden of their ar
mament, their supply and their train
ing. The workings of this system
have already demonstrated. not only
that we can have citizens outside of
the regular army trained for duty in
war, but that we can have a body of
volunteer officers ready for service,
between whom and the officers of the
regular army have been created init
mate association and mutual helpful
ness, those relations of confidence and
esteem without which no army can be
effective.
The first administration of McKin-
ley fought and won the war with
Spain, put down the instruction in
the Philippines, annexed Hawaii, res
cued the legations in Pekin, brought
Porto Rico into our commercial sys-
TEN, enacted a protective tariff and
Established our national currency on
the firm foundations of the gold stand
ard by the financial legislation of the
seth congress.
The present administration has re-
duced taxation, reduced the public
debt, reduced the annual interest
charge, made effective progress in the
regulation of trusts. fostered business,
promoted agriculture, built up the
navy, reOrganized the army, resur-
rected the militia system, inaugurated
a new policy for the preservation and
reclamation of public lands given civil
: