The Boise citizen. (Boise, Idaho) 1906-1910, 1908-06-05
ARMY OF ONE MILLION
SECRETARY TAFT and Others MAKE STRONG
PLEA FOR GREAT MILITARY FORCE

The Nampa Herald-Leader Brady organ, is yelp-
ing at The Citizen We expect the whole dirty pack to
be at our heels be ore the campaign but in
wise dismayed. The Herad-Leader asserts that every
issue of The tzen conta bareaced lies and cites
an instance paragraph printed to the effect that Sec
retary Taft favors standing army of 100000 The
item published wise condemnatory of Secretary
Taft but was simply plain statement of his views and
we condensed the from very fair article in Van
Norden's Magazine for June Does the Nampa Herald
wish assert that Mr. Taft does not favor army of
100000 and that paper opposed to such army?
We have not at hand Secretary Taf address Washing
tons birthday but in order utterly conound the Leader
Herald give the entire text of the Van Norden editorial
on The Military Establishment, which is follows:
1t is not easy to know how large the military estab
shment of the Uuited States ought be- No outside
the circle of few peace price visionares would
wish either army navy less than adequate defend
only soil from invasion but also commercial
interests throughout the world and honor nation
But there rule of thumb by which decide how
large army and navy adequate for these purposes
must be. There is prevalent feeling that military men,
by of natural bias, exaggerate the probability
of and the military need Perhaps there quite
much probability that nation of the happygorcky
temperament with faith in its destiny and its
luck exaggeaes the chance that shall be equal to any
thing when the time comes without botherng to take
thought for the morrow.
when on Washngtons birthday, both Secretary Taft
and General Grant declared in public addresses that
ought to have army of at least million men, their
words made rather impression the public than such
Iutterances usually do. General Grant like his father
lis quiet and serious minded man not given to idle talking
land Secretary Taft well informed upon all the relations
of the United States to foreign powers and espec ally to
1.-THE Oriental peoples General Grant speaking before the
lSocetv of the Cincinnati this city, and Secretary Taft
before the Ecott Club in Buffalo, declared that it would
take practically long it did the Civil War to create
and drill an army of million and that ought not
Ito wait until have been four years at the mercy OF
foreign enemy achieve the task While these warnings
were listened with respect they did not convince chiefly
because few Americans believe that the danger OF foreign
war great but secondary because of feeling that both
Secretary Taft and General Grant commander of the
Department of the East while speaking sincerely and
20
the case influenced by their desire to have the military
establishment over which they preside large and inn
pressive organization We cannot for any such reason
discount the arguments that have been advanced by Cap
tain Alfred w Biornstad of the Twenty-eghth United
States Infantry who has just the gold medal OF the
Military Service Institution for 1908 for paper on The
Military Necessities of the United States and the Best
Provisio.s for Meeting Them. Captain Bjornstad re-
views the situation in mpersonaI coldblodded and
scientific way and he has presented an argument Tor
strong military establishment Wnch opponents VIII AoI
easily demolish
CAPTAIN Bionrstad makes it clear that we should
suddenly be involved in should find ourselves IN
bad plight On this point there be difference OF
Cd Mon among the we'll informed The enemy would
possiby-Captan Bjornstad says certain be the hrst
to arrive at the theatre of superior numbers and
effectiveness We should provide first line OF 25OO00
thoroughly drilled troops which could be modified at an
instants notice and second line of 100000 partially
trained troops which could quickly be brought up to
war standard Of discipline.
Our deporable error hitherto has been the hasty
ganization of recruit regiments entirely composed OF green
volunteers Had these same recruits been distributed
to fill the regmental ranks OF regular army regularly
ofcered and drilled their efficiency from the first would
No one can well dispute Captain Bjornstads propo-
ston that "a nation which asserts the right to guard
hemisphere nation which the world with It's
commerce and reckons its gains billions, must look to
its defences and count its armies IN divisions Ior netn
the billions nor the divisions made IN fortnight
RELYING as we should and must chiefly upon an efcle1t
navy as our line of defence should also see to
that our military establishment is in the first place what
O11oh1N