Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-11-29
WAR OFFICE REPORT
American Troops the Best
Cared-for of Any.
NEEDS OF ARTILLERY
SECRETARY TAFT DOR LOWER
DUTY ON PHILIPPINE PRODUCTS.
Would Admit Free All but Sugar and
Tobacco-Praises Efficiency of the
Philippine Scouts.

In his annual report to the President Mr..
William II. Taft, Secretary Of War, says
that during the past year the troops have
been principally engaged in the regular
routine of military duties in garrisons, and
they have participated in practice marches,
encampments and maneuvers. They have
not been in action, except for few encoun-
tiers with the savage MOros in the Philip
pines, rendered necessary by their defiance
of the law in Mindanao and Jolo In one
of these actions detachment of infantry
was ambushed, resulting in the loss of 2
officers and - enlisted men out of 80 men
engaged. Notwithstanding the fact that a
mean strength of 25.379 troops were on
foreign service during the year, only go
deaths occurred from all causes in the en-
tire army-American and native troops
equal to a rate of $50 per thousand as COM
pared with 10 40 for the previous year. OF
this death rate more than 10 per cent was
due to the cholera in the Philippines.
Best Cared-For Troops
Considering the general condition of
United States troops, Secretary Taft says
II Is no exaggeration to say that they are
the best fed. best clothed and best sheltered
troops in the world.
The very heavy calls upon the line of the
army for details of officers to the general
eral military purposes of useful kind, he
says, reduce the number of officers avail
able for service with troops below the point
of proper efficiency. 1t would be wise, there
fore, for Congress TO make provision for ad-
dtional officers OF the line
Considerable space OF the report is devoted
to showing the great necessity for increas-
Ing the efficiency of the seacoast defenses.
Secretary Taft details what has been al
ready accomplished. and says that the arma-
ment Of the seasoast Notifications is in a
fairly satisfactory stage of progress.
Under the present conditions OF our sea-
coast Notifications, says Secretary Taft, the
two most essential elements of defense
which should be provided in the near future
and which will secure the greatest measure
of public safety at the least cost are:
l. The completion of the torpedo defense
OF our fortified harbors and provision for a
trained personnel to operate 1t.
2. The installation at all of our batteries
of the approved range and posltion-finding
equipment and the other accessories for de-
tense.
Increase Of the Artillery.
at is quite obvious" says Secretary Taft.
from the statement of the chief of artillery
that the number of artillerymen in the serv-
ice should be increased; but this does not
II seems to me, require that the army as a
body should be increased. but only that
there should be a reduction In the other
branches with view to increasing the highly
technical branch of the artillery. Our pres
ent army is maintained not only for service
as such. but as the basis or skeleton for a.
much larger army In time of war and II is
therefore necessary that those branches of
the service the preparation for which for a
war footing requires long period of time
should be much larger In proportion than
those branches which can be readily added
to when the necessity RISES
For this reason the proportion of cavalry
regiments to infantry regiments Is much
larger than II would be in time of war; and
Tor the same reason the proportion OF the