Weekly journal-miner., 1908-12-16
ARMY NEEDS MORE OFFICERS ASSERTS
 DEPARTMEhT

WASHINGTON, Dee 2. That the army needs more officer, and must have the money to get them k inc gist of inc annual report of tnc see rctiry of war
 The total estimates of the War De partmcni for the next fiscal year. as shown by the annual report of the See. rotary of War, amount to ls0,5jj,u39 an increase of about sj2, ,OOOOOO over inc appropriations for the present ifs rnl year This increase is largely for river and harbor work, and other pub lir works Of civil character. for whlrn purpose about S2l.00OO0O K asked. of the balance. about O.j0O. OuO is an additional estimate for the support of the army, Military Acad cmy, and the militia. For military public works, such as Qualifications. arsenals, military posts, etc., the cs timatcs call for an increase of. Si7.- S00.0OO.
 The Secretary of War especially recommends an addition of 6I2 officers to the army, and also approves n pol icy for the elimination from the ser. vice of all officers who fail to main. tain the requisite standard of cnci ency. Both of these propositions were before Congress at its last scSsiOn and will bc strongly urgcd this year.
 The necessity for more officers. the rcpor, states, is due to the unavoid able detachment of officers from their regular service with troops. Their detachment for recruiting duty. for Iut n n .f tt, I, .I State institutions. as well as with the militia of the several States and Ter
 ritorics. has occupied the time of q larg" number of officers. Al present there are on detached duty GJl oni rers, and lj7 additional absent on leave or on account of sickness Be sides this. nations. court martial service. and numerous ntheSk kinds of special duty, though temporary in cnaracter. make considerable in crease iu the number of officers that [ are constantly unavailable for regular service with their commands. He adds that it would be n measure of wise economy to provide an extra number of highly equipped officers for these added duties that have been thrown upon the army, as the result would be highly beneficial in ease of war To provide for rhc 6l2 additional officers the Secretary states there will bc added an annual cost of between s2.000,00O and s3.O0O,OOO.
 Another method for increasing the efficiency of the army, he states, is to eliminate officers who have not the highest qualifications. The present law on the subject does not apply above the grade of captain. and. it K said, has utterly failed to accomplish its purpose except in eases of physical disability. He says il is well known that there are many officers of field grade who because of physical or men tal conditions are cOnspicuously in. capable of performing the duties as prescribed by the law and regulations for which they draw full pay. But under existing law, except for age, there is mo way of compulsory retir. ing any officer above the grade of cap. tain for disability other than physical. He recommends that n given number of officers shall be retired from time { to time, not necessarily because they are unfit, but because they are the least htted to remain in the service.
 The report shows that the army is now only 9,23l enlisted men short of Inc authorized strength, due to great improvement in recruiting. During the past year there has been an in. creasc in the actual strength of the Army of l9,16S, making the present strength i,ll6 officers and 6s,jl2 cn. listed men, a total of 72.62s. Of this number 53.l02 are serving in the United States, l2,I0l in the Philip pines, 1905 in Cuba. l,lO2 in Alaska. 6ti in Porto Rico. 256 in Hawaii. with 55l troops en route and officers at other foreign stations.
 The total number of enlstments in the army during the fiscal year ended June 20, 1908, exclusive of the Hos. pital Corps and Philippine Scouts, was II ,4G3. Of this number ll,743 were reenlistments and 29,72O were original enlistments. The percentage of m. tive born (white and colored) among the original enlistments was ss; of the total number of enlistments, 35, 135 were native born, 5,s59 were of foreign birth, l2 were Indians, 2s were born in the Philippine Islands (enlisted or reenlisted for band musi. eians), and l29 were born in Porto Nico' Of tHe tOtdl numDeT 3V,y0B were white; l,34l were colored.
 The number of assertions from the army fell off to 4.6 per cent of the whole number of enlisted men in the service during the fiscal year 1908, as compared with 5.6 per cent during the preceding fiscal year. The Secretary speaks with qualification upon the marked decrease in the number of de. sertions, not only during the past year, but during the past two years. The number of assertions was less in 1908 than during any fiscal year since 1901. He accounts for this improve. ment by the fact that long.term mill. tary convicts are now confined in the military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kans.. instead 8f at military posts more strenuous efforts are made to ap. prenend and punish dcserters, and the method of making enlistments has been changed.
 Very satisfactory results he states are shown in the target practice of the coast artillery, In 1908 about