The sun., 1906-02-22
ARMY RESERV rs.
4 Necessity OF National Defence which the
United states Alone Negiects.

OTueT tNHt SPflulo DllI o,N2s, Wllcn eIlDodlcS
tho views OF the Secretary OF War on the
subject of reserve for the Regular army,
| may receive due cons nslderation II II neccs-
sary to establish clearly in the mind what q
| reserve Is; Wa may then consider tho ulies-
ton of the desirabllity of such n force. its
size and how it may best bc secured.
A reserve IL composed of regularly en-
| listed men. previously trained and disc-
| plined, who in time OF peace arc on indefinite
lurlough and pursue their usual occupations
| In civil life, but who are bound by their oath
| of enlistment and the law of the land to report
| for duty at once In response to call made
| by the Government In time of actual or
| threatened war This definition Is precise.
yet II is sufficiently general to apply to
| reserve for the Regular army. tho navy or
| the National Guard.
| The idea OF a reserve Is not new one in
this country. The Dick bill. as it passed the
| House. provided for national volunteer
reserve" OF 100000 men. This provision
tsection 2D was killed on the floor Of tho
| Senate by objections attacking Its constitu-
| tionality. The purpose was to provide a
| reserve force of trained men which shall be
! ready for immediate service whenever called
| for" Congress had already, by the act
approved February 2. 1901. authorized the
| President to increase the Regular army In
| his discretion. to 10000 men.
The experiences Of 1903 proved that II is
/ a
| proper time by recruiting. In the most
popular war this country has ever had 1t
| took three months-May June and July, 1893
| to enlist 25, 900 men for the Regular army,
which even then was not filled up. Assum-
| ing minimum Of three months for the train
| ing of recruits, We see that the army could
not be sat satisfactorily increased to war strength
| and maximum efficiency in time to be avail
| able at the outbreak Of hostlites unless the
! President could foresee that emergency by
six months and be confident that Congress
would appropriate money to cover the in
| creased expenditures.
In the present bill an attempt Ia made to
provide remedy for this condition: the
| object Of a reserve is therefore clearly stated
as to meet the exigencies OF the military
service which arise in time OF actual or i'm
pending foreign war and to make 1t poss ible
| to effect in the quickest and most efficient
| mannor the ipcrease of the permnnent mill
| tary establishment contemplated by tho act
approved February 2. 1901"
| The time seems opportune for q discussion
| Of the subject of reserves. During the course
| OF this year the navy will be more than g 900
men short of full complement and by 1910
! % 900 additional men would be required to
mobilize the fleet. Our seacoast defences,
! constructed at a cost Of over 500 900 600,
will REQUIRE 40 900 men to man them efficiently
! with one relief of this force we now have
L. w I
| to keep all the ships and guns of these two
| great systems of national defence in commits
! sion in time Of peace yet in ca Sc of war they
must be placed in readiness and manned at
| once. hence the Government must keep in
service at all times about co. 900 men for the
navy and 40 600 for the coast artillery. or
edopt a system by which, when war comes,
| the necessary increase of existing forces can
be provided without delay. If neither be
| done a large number of ships and guns would
have no value except as junk
| The question OF economy has long ago
driven all of the great countries to the adop-
,ion of the reserve system. Quite recently
China has adopted new regulations. accord
inr to which its army will consist Of
The active army service three Years
The first res, rye service three years
The landvehr. service three years
The Lands.urm. service three years.
Total period OF service twelve years.
Tho Army of the North containing rs 900
nen ia salrcady formed The other five armies
nra in nrocess of orpanization The total
standing army on a peace footing W i'll be
, 3sO 900. the strength on war footing in
creases annually and will in ten wears amount
to i 500 900 trained sold iers The armament
| at present consists of AGA, 600 rifles and sos
field guns The DEVELOPMENT of her great
arsenals will soon render China independent
of the importation of the munitions OF war
More than 600 Young Chinese are studying
| military science in Japan and at home As
no one doubts the sod!erly qualities of the
| Oriental when properly instructed and led,
| conclusions from the above data need not
even be suggested This leaves the United
| States in a class by itself as the only great
l nation which has not u scientific basis for
its army orcanilation
If our military system be examined from
financial point of view some surpTisin Z
| results become apparent. The annual Appro-
priat ions for he army now average SO 900. 900,
| on which we maintain an enlisted force of
| between 30 900 and ca, 900 men The annual
cost therefore, excee Is g. 900 a man. About
| 20 900 are honorably discharged each year at
eypiration of term of service OF this num-
bcr less than half reenlst: consequently, the
| preater mart of the output of our military
plant. after an expenditure OF So 900 a man,
| is not further utilized
II a large percentage Of the men trained
| in the Regular army AS soldiers could be de-
pended upon to enlist In time OF war tn Q
| Government would still receive some measure
of CONDENSATION for its outlay. Unfortu-
nately. such is not the case. OF the four
divisions inspected at ChickamaugA Park
in the latter part of May, 1895 only d
little over | per cent of the enlisted men
! had nreyious service In the Regular army,