The San Francisco call., 1907-01-20
Artillery Bill In Congress
Possesses Great Merit
Measure Makes CoaStDefense
a Separate Branch of Army


various harbors to be defended by
mines.
During the five years the artillery
has had charge of this work it his
succeeded in developing an improved
mine system and also an excellent
method OF submarine mine instruction.
This new mine system and method Of
instruction are ready for application as
soon as the necessary material and men
for mine work are made available at
all harbors to be mined.
SUBMARINE DEFENSE
The necessity for providing every
harbor to be mined with the necessary
material for its submarine defense and
the necessary personnel for the prompt
planting and effective working Of the
system. is clearly and strongly set
forth in the following extract from the
comments OF the board of review on
the Joint army and navy exercises for
1905:
was amply demonstrated. Land de-
fenses OF themselves alone cannot be
relied upon to guard at all times
against a run-by by an active and en-
( terprlsing naval commander. Dark
ness, fog, smoke. rain, and other con-
citions may operate so TO reduce the
effectiveness of gun are ashore that
the passage OF a hostile feet cannot
be wholly prevented. In such circum-
stances the main reliance must be
placed on the mines, whose action is
whose operation can at all times
be depended upon. Because of It's
immense coast line and because
ofd,,.,itts OF its military and commerce. 9n tba
world to which the question OF mine
defense applies more consistently and
/ advantageously than our own Neither
1 time nor money should be spared 70
put il in first-class working order. II
was noted that in these exercises, as
/ in the previous army and navy ma
neuvers, the School OF Submarine De-
fense at Fort Totten was relied upon
/ to plant and operate the mines, and
l officers and material were sent from
there for the purpose. This cannot be
said TO stimulate service conditions.
/ The inference argues condition or
! uIprepGredness in the artillery dis
/ tricts which should be remedied as
soon as possible Every artillery dis
/ trict in the United States should be
prepared to lay mines simultaneously
and operate same effectively. by its
own resource, within forty-eight hours
after declaration of hostilities. The
expenditure entailed TO accomplish the
same would constitute a form Of ef-
! fectual insurance, the premium on
which in comparison with other forms
Of insurance, would be ridiculously
small
MANY MEN NEEDED
The personnel necessary to lay
mines simultaneously and to operate
the same effectuaIly' in every harbor
to be mined, together with the men
necessary TO operate the power plants
and searchlights OF both guns and
mines, has been carefully computed for
every such harbor- The total number
OF officers and men required for this
l work is 51z5 and there can be no
/ question in the mind Of anyone having
/ knowledge of the full value of subma-
--4v- c1a
fense and the present inadequate
strength Of the Coast Artillery per-
sOnnel for the world required of it that
these men should be promptly author
tied by law, remedying thereby the
/ defect in the act Of February 2, 1901,
OF turning over the care and use of
mines to the artillery without providing &
any personnel therefor.
The grand total OF all manning de-
tails required for all defenses completed
and projected for the United States and
our insular possessions is 227S officers
/ and 55, 10 enlisted men OF the latter
2o,s41 are artillery experts, 34,169 are
nOnexpert artillerymen.
by the act of February 2, 1901, the
maximum authorized strength of the
Artillery Corps was fixed at 651 officers
and 1890 enlisted men, To the latter
125 coast artillery experts (25 master
electricians and 100 electrician SER
4 geants) have since been added, making
the total maximum enlisted strength OF
the artillery 1905. In accordance
with the act the President, by exec
utive order dated August 1s, 1906. au-
! thorized for the Coast Artillery an en-
listed strength Of 14,27S men, including
the rs master electricians and 1OC
electrician sergeants. This 14,278 men
is but 3S per cent of the manning de-
tail required for the guns alone of the
ldefenses of the United States completed
or under construction"
REPORT OF CHAFFEE
Following is an extract from the
annual report IN 1905 of the chief OF
the general STAFF General Chaffee
After very careful consideration by
the general stan In the interests of the
service, with a view to determining the
actual situation and requirements ii is
proposed to submit for your considera-
tion a report and the draft of a bill to
increase the Coast Artillery by a few
thousand men (about five, and the nee
essary oflcers), and the Field Artillery
also by a few batteries; to provide for
the permanent separation of the Field
Artillery from the Coast Artillery. and
to constitute the former a separate
corps and give it regimental organiza-
tion. The proposed measure alone will
not afford complete relief, but provides
what may be regarded as the mini
mum for efficiency at this time, and is
believed to be the least that should be
granted. II is needless to remark as
information, ii being a self-evident
fact, that the annual unfolding of the
coast defense scheme of the country
inaugurated seventeen years ago. re-
lsquires from time to time, as progress
is made in the construction of en-
placements and armament, additional
personnel for the care Of guns and
material and the instruction OF men in