The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-04

the slightest chance of appearing here. We are glad to help in any movement for international peace. but thls is because we sincerely believe that it Is our duty to help all such movements provided they are sane and rational, and not because there Is any tendency toward militarism on our part which needs to be cured. The evils we have to fight are those in connection with industrialsm, not miltar- ism. Industry is always necessary, just as war is sometimes necessary Each has it's price; and industry in the United States now exacts. and has always eX- acted, a far heavier toll of death than all our wars put together. The statistics of the. railroads of this country for the year ended June 30 1908. the last con tained in the annual statistical report Of the interstate commerce commission, show in that one year total of 10S,324 casualties to persons, of which 10,6l8 rep resent the number of persons killed. In that wonderful hive of human activity, Pittsburg the deaths due to industrial accidents in 1906 were 919, all the result of accidents in mills, mines or on railroads. For the entire country, therefore it Is safe to say that the deaths due to indus trial accidents aggregate in the negihoor- hood of 20,000 a year Such record makes the death rate in all our foreign wars utterly trivial by comparison. The number of deaths in battle in all the for eign wars put together, for the last cen tury and quarter aggregate consider ably less than one years death record for industries. A mere glance at these figures is sufficient to show the absurdlty of the outcry against militarism.
 But again and again in the past our little regular army has rendered serv1ce literally vital to the country and 1t may at any time have to do so in the future. or1 Of off and instruction is higher now than ever in the past. But it is too small. There are not enough officers, and it is impossible to secure enough enlisted men. We should main tain In peace a fairly complete skeleton of a large army. A great and long-con- tinued war would have to be fought by volunteers. But months would pass be- fore any large body of efficient volunteers could be put in the field, and our regular army should be large enough to meet any immediate need. In particular 1t is essential that we should possess num- Der of extra officers trained inS peace to perform efficiently the duties urgently re- quired upon the breaking out of war.
 The medical corps should be much lar ger, than the needs of our regular army
 in war Yet at present 1t is smaller than the needs of the service demand even In peace The Spanish war occurred less than ten years ago. The chief loss we suffered in it was by disease among the regiments which never left the country. At the moment the nation seemec deeply impressed by this fact; yet seemingly 1t has already forgotten, for not the slight est effort has been made to prepare medical corps of sufficient size to prevent the repetition of the same disaster on much larger scale if we should ever be engaged in a serious conflict The trou- ble in the Spanish war was not with the then existing officials of the war de- partment; it was with the representatives of the people as whole who, for the preceding thirty years, had declined to make the necessary provision for the army. Unless ample provision IS now made by Congress to put the medical corps where 1t should be put disaster in the next war is inevitable, and the re- sponsibilty will not lie with those then in charge of the war department, but with those who now decline to make the necessary provision. A well organized medical corps, thoroughly trained before the advent of war in all the important administrative duties of a military sani- tary corps, is essential to the efficiency of any large army, and especially Of a large volunteer army Such knowledge of medicine and surgery as is possessed by the medical profession generally will not alone suffice to make an efficient military surgeon. He must have, in ad- KnOWleUSe Ol tnt and sanitation of large field hospitals and camps, in order to safeguard the health and lives of men intrusted in great numbers to his care. A bill has long been pending before Congress for the reorganization of the medical corps; It's passage is urgently needed.
 But the medical department is not the only department for which increased pro- vision should be made. The rate of pay for the officers should be greatly in- creased: there Is no higher type of citizen than the American regular officer, and he should have a fair reward for his admir- able work There should be relatively even greater increase in the pay for the enlisted men. In especial provision should be made for establishing grades equivalent to those of warrant officers in the navy which should be open to the enlisted men who serve sufficiently long and who do their work well. Inducements should be offered sufficient to encourage really good men to make the army life occupation. The prime needs of our present army is to secure and retain com potent noncommssioned officers. This difficulty rests fundamentally on the question of pay. The noncommissioned officer does not correspond with an un- skilled laborer; he corresponds to the best type of skilled workman or to the subordinate official in civil institutions.
 
 occupations in the last forty years and the pay of the soldier, like the pay of the officers. should be approximately in creased The first sergeant of a company, if a good man, must be one of such ex- ecutive and administrative ability, and such knowledge of his trade as to be worth far more than we al present pay him. The same is true of the regimenta1 sergeant major. These men should be men who had fully resolved to make the army life occupation and they should be able to look forward to ample reward; while only men properly qualified should be given a chance to secure these final rewards The increase over the present pay need not be great in the lower grades for the first one or two enlistments, but the increase should be marked for the noncommissioned officers of the Upper grades who serve long enough to make it evident that they intend to stay perma- nently in the army. while additional pay should be given for high qualifications in target practice The position of warrant officer should be established and there should be not only an increase of pay, but an increase of privileges ana allow ances and dignity, so as to make the grade open to noncommissioned officers capable of filling them desirably from every standpoint. The rate of desertion in our army now in time of peace Is alarming. The deserter should be treated by public opinion as a man guiSy of the greatest crime; while on the other the army should be treated as what he is, that is prominently one of the best citizens of this republic. After twelve years service in the army my own belief is that the man should be given preference according to his ability