Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-01-30

| ment report in such detail the cost of the
militia in connection with the army at these
have the information to what these diff
ferent maneuvers cost; but it is impossible
for the department, with the small expert
| ence they have had, to make an absolute
/ statement that the amount here would
| cover what waS necessary for next year.
/ For instance, they have never had maneu-
| vers on the Pacific slope. They expect next
year to have maneuvers there, and there
are very long distances over which troops
| must be transported. They expect to have
| maneuyers on the Atlantic slope, and I
| Will state that the Seaboard states have a
| larger number of militia than any other part
of the country. Now. to tie them down so
| absolutely as that where not one dollar of
deficiency could be created, would, in my
| mind, be an Injustice to the National Guard
mot to the regular army, but to the Ma
| tional Guard-in this case where this idea
| is being started and from which the whole
L country expect much.
| Il do not believe that there is any dollar
expended that is worth much to the
| country as the money expended in the in
| struction given to the citizen soldiery of
the Countrywide National Guard. And
] while l sympathze with the proposition
| that Congress ought Zealously to guard
| every appropriation. I do not believe it is
| wise in the beginning of this work to make
| the limitation proposed in the amendment
of the gentleman from Indiana (Mr Hem
| enway); and hope it will not be adopted"
The motion was lost
| Gen. Chaffee's Recommendations
| Lieut.. Gen. Adna N. Chaffee chief of
staff of the army, in a communication to
| the Secretary of War submitting est-
| mates to cover the expenses of field ma
| neuvers under section 10, militia act of
1903, had the following to say:
| AS is doubtless already well known to
| the members of the House military com
| mittee, field maneuvers were held at Fort
| Riley, Kan. both in 1902 and 1903 and at
/ West Point, KY, in 1903; also combined
| ma bint
| participated in by the National Guard of
| several of the states, took place on the
| Atlantic coast in 1902 and again in 1903.
| considering now the field maneuvers eS-
| pecially, it may be truly said that the Off
| GERS of the regular army and of the militia
! are all very enthusiastic about these exer-
| c1SeS. Their very great professional value
| as means of higher instruction and prac-
| teal training OF personnel, and as test
| of equipment. transportation facilities,
| etc, is clearly recognized on every hand in
| reports of officers of all grades who took
| part, officers both of the regular army and
of the militia. But these maneuvers are
| extremely beneficial in another important
! respect-in bringing together annually
| many hundreds of officers of these two
| forces in actual joint service resembling
! as near as may be that of war, and under
| conditions of mutual acquaintance and I'M
| Outstanding, of reciprocal helpfulness and
! good fellowship, which cannot fail to de-
! velop mutual appreciation respect and
| liking, which must vastly augment the nit
| ness and the real worth to the nation of
! all it's military forces, of whatever ma
| ture.
Points of Concentration.
"Of the points of concentration stated in
| these estimates, to wit: For the Atlantic
division, the Conewago Valley, in Labanon,
Dauphin and Lancaster counties PeHnsyl-
| vania; for the Pacific division, the Nacini1-
| ento ranch, in Monterey and San Luis
| ObIspo counties California; for the north
ern division. Fort Riley, Kan. or West
If
| vision. Fort Sill. Okla. The first three were
| recommended by the board of officers of
high rank which considered this subject
| under section :5 of the army reorganiza-
ton act of 1901. the report of which board
| was transmitted to Congress May 10, 1902,
| and although the actual selections have not
as yet been made, the temporary designa-
| tons were necessary in order to work up
the estimates, and even IL these desgna-
| tons should be departed from in the Sc
| lection of points, the amounts required
| would probably not vary materially from
those stated.
| THE general scheme proposed for these
| maneuvers is to hold them in two of the
| four home divisions each year-in the At
lantic and the Pacific divisions in 1904, and
| in the two interior divisions dhe northern
| and the southwestern. in 1905. and SO on;
| that is in any given division they will oc-
| cur but once in two years. In this way the
| great benefits of the maneuvers will be reg
| ularly and fairly distributed among the
| troops, both regular and militia, throughout
| all parts of the country. and this at a
| minimum of cost, since the points of
| concentration are carefully chosen with
i reference to an economic concentration
| of the troops particularly of the
! militia) in the four corresponding groups
| of states and territories. AS under normal
| conditions each states troops will thus
! participate in those maneuvers, in alter
| nate years only, there will result the
| necessity for its keeping up it's own
| camp of instruction in the intervening
( years. which it might be tempted to refrain
| from doing in case it's troops could partic-
| pate in maneuvers every year at govern
| ment expense This is deemed an import
| ant consideration
| LAS there is no longer any question of the
| very great value of these maneuvers nor
| from all indications, any doubt of the gem
| eral appreciation and desire for Them it is
proposed to hold them on a much larger
| scale than hitherto, it being evident that
| the greater the number of troops (Within
| reasonable limits, the greater the benefits
| to all who participate. 1t is also proposed
| to increase the epriod of service of the
| militia to fifteen days from an average of
| twelve.
| The number of troops to be utilized each
| year is proposed to be increased to 10000
from about 10000 as at West Point and
| about 5000 at Fort Riley. This doubling of
| strength and extension of time as ey-
| planned, accounts for the material augmen-
tation of the figures for the latest maneu-
| Point, KY, $24S, 679.92
/ In conclusion, 1 beg to repeat the ex-
| preston of my conviction that immense
| benefits to the country are certain to follow
a liberal use of these wise ard most i'm
| portant measures, permitted under section
| 10 of the militia act of 1903"
| Notes.
| Capt Harry Walsh, Company A, I'd Reg
! iment, has rendered his resignation and the
! same has been accepted.
| Lieutenant Colonel Brett, adjutant gen.
| eral, and Capt Andrew Parker, aid-de-
| camp. District of Columbia Militia, have
| returned from st. Augustine, Fla. where
| they attended the sessions of the Interstate
National Guard Association.
Working in Circle
From the Philadelphia Press.