The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1907-12-03
The ARMY.
No Ground For Dsmagogic Defamation
Against MiIltarism.

think 1t is only lack Of foresight
that troubles us. not any hostility to
the army. There are Of course. foo
kh people who denounce any care Of
the army or navy us "militarism." but
i do not think that these people are
numerous. This country has to con.
tend now aud has had To contend In
the past with many eviis. ana there is
ample scope FOR all who would work
for reform. But there is not one evil
that now exists or that ever has exist.
ed la this country which Is or ever
has been owing in the smallest part
to mllitarism. Defamation against
milltarism has no more serious place
In an earnest and intelligent move.
ment for righteousness in this country
than defamation against the worship
OF Baal or Astaroth 1t Is declama-
ton against noneXistent evil, one
which never has existed In this coun.
try and which has not the slightest
chance OF appearing here. We are
glad TO help in any movement for In.
ternational peace. but this Is becnusc
We sincerely believe that II Is our duty
To help all such movements, provided
they are sane and rational. and not be
cause 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 In
dustrlalsm. not militarism. Industry
Is always necessary. just as war Is
sometimes necessary. Each has Its
price. ana industry In the United
States now exacts and has always cy.
acted far heavier toll of death than
All our wars put together The statis-
Tics or the ranroads of this country
Tor the year ended June 30. 1906 the
last contained In the annual statistical
report Of the Interstate commerce com
mission, SHOW In that one year n total
OF lOS.32i casualties to persons. Of
which l0.GlS represent the number OF
persons killed. In that wonderful hive
of human activity. Pittsburg. the
deaths due TO Industrial accidents I'm
I9OG were 9l9, all the result of accl
dents In mills. mines or on railroads
FOR the entire country. therefore Il T.
safe to say that the deaths due 10 In |
neighhorhood OF 20,oOO year. Such
record makes the death rate in al |
our foreign wars utterly trivial by +
comparison. The number of deaths I'm /
battle In all the foreign wars nut 10 |
rether for the last century and a quar- |
Ter aggregate considerably less than |
one years death record for our inlus |
tries. mere glance mt these figures
Is sufficient to show the absurdlty OF |
the outcry against mlltarIsm.
But again and again in the mast our
httle regular army has rendered serv.
ice literally vital 10 the country, and IL
may nj any time have to do so In the
future. Its standard OF efficiency and
instruction is higher now than eyer
In the past. but IL Is too small. There
are not enough officers. and il Is i'm.
possible 70 secure enough enlisted mon
We should maintain In peace n fairly
complete skeleton Of a large army. \
great ana long continued war would
nave to be fought 10y volunteers. but
months would pass before any large
body of efficient volunteers could be-
put IN the field, and our regular army
should be large enough 10 meet any
immediate need. In particular 1t Is cS.
sentlal that we should possess Il num-
Der or extra officers trained In peace
TO perform efficiently the duties ur
gently required upon the breaking out
of war
The MEDICAL corps should be much
N'Ger than the needs of our regular
army In war Yet at present IL 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 il was
by disease among the regiments which
never left the country. At the mo.
ment the nation seemed deeply impress
ed by this fact. yet seemingly il has
already been forgotten. for not tho
slightest effort has been made TO pre
pare medical corps OF sufficient size I
10 prevent the repetition of the same I
disaster on much larger scale II we
should ever be engaged In serious
conflict. The trouble In the SpauIsl
war was not with the then existing |
ofhcials OF the war department: II was
with the representatives OF the people ,
ms whole who for the preceding hi,
~ years had declined TO maze the
necessary provision for the army. Tn
less ample provision Is now made bv I
congress - put the medical corDs
where II should be put disaster In the (
next war is inevitable, and the respou. I
sihility will not lie with those then In I
charge Of the war department, but q