New-York tribune., 1910-12-07
THE WAR
DEPARTMENT.

The Var Department has within It's juris-
dicti0n the management Of the arr1v and
IN connection Herewith, the coast defeaces.
/ The government of the dependencies of the
Philippines and Of Porto Rico, the recon-
mendation Of plans for the Improvement
of harbors ana waterways and Their execu-
ton when adopted. and. hy virtue of an
executive order. tho supervision Of the con-
structjon Of the Panama Canal.
The army Of the United States IS a small
body compared with the total number of
people for the preservation OF y hose .Deare
and good order It is a last recourse The
army now numbers about sN.eeo men. Of
whom about 1900 are engaged In the coast
artillery and detailed 10 the management
and use Of the guns in the forts and bat
teries that protect our coasts. The rest Of
the army. or about 6o 600 is the mobile
part Of our national forces and is divided
into thirty-one regiments of infantry. in
cludinS the Porto Rican regiment: fifteen
regiments Of cavalry. six regiments of field
aTtiliery-. corps Of ordnance. Of engineers
and Of signal a quartermaster' depart
ment. a conimissaTy department ard a
medical corps
The general plan for an army of the
United States AT peace should he that OF a
skeleton organization with an excess of
trained officers and thus capable Of rapid
enlargement by enlistmcnts TO be supple
mented in emergency by the national mill
tia and 4 volunteer force. In some meas
ure this plan has been adopted in the very
large proportion OF cavalry and field ar
tillery as compared with infantry in the
present army and on q peace basis. IN
infantry force can be trained in six months
a cavalry or a light artillery force not un-
der one and one-half or Two years: hence
the Importance of having ready a larger
number Of the more skilled soldiers.
Militia and Volunteers.
The militia system. for which Congress
by the Constitution is authorized 10 pro
vide. was developed ny the so-caIled Dick
law. under which the discipline, the tac-
tics. the drill. the rank. the uniform and
the various branches Of the militia are as
simulated as far as possible TO those Of the
regular army. Under the militia law, as
the Constitution provides, 7he governors of
the states appoint the militia officers, but.
b. appropriations from Congress. states
have been induced to comply with the rules
of assimilation between the regular army
and the militia. so that now there is
force. the efficiency OF which differs in
different states, which could be incorporat-
cd under a single command with the reg
uIar army and which for some time each
year receives the benefit of drill and
raanoeuvres under conditions approximatinS
actual military service under the super
vision Of regular army officers.
In the army Of the United States, in ad-
dition 10 the regular forces and the militia
forces which may be summoned 10 the Dc
fence OF the nation by the President. there
Oh, IL.
A very large part OF the army in the Civil
War. and which in any war Of long con-
tinuance would become it's most important
constituent There is ar act which dates
from the Civil War known as the volun-
teer act. which makes provision for the
enlistment of volunteers in the army OF
the United States in time of war. This was
found 10 be so defective in the Philippine
war that a special act for the organization
OF volunteer regiments 10 take part in that
war was adopted, and il was much better
ADAPTED TO the necessities of the case.
There is now pending in Congress a bill
reueaiing the present volunteer act and
making provision for the Organization OF
volunteer forces in time of war which is
admirably adapted 10 meet the exgencies
which would be then presented. The pass
age of the bill would not entail a dollars
expense upon the government al this time
or IN the future until war comes. but when
war does come the methods therein direct
ed are in accordance with the best mill
tary judgment as TO what they ought to
be- and the act would prevent the neces-
sity for the discussion OF new legislation
and the delays incident to its censidera-
ton and adoption. | earnestly urge the
massage of this volunteer bill
I further recommend that Congress es-
tabIish a commission 10 determine early
as practicable q comprehensive policy for
the organization. mobilization and admin
istration OF the regular army. the organized
militia and the volunteer forces in the
event of war.
Need for Additional OFFICERS.
One of the great difficulties in the prompt
organization and mobilization of militia
and volunteer forces Is the absence or
competent officers Of the rank of captain
10 teaci the new army. by the unit of
the company. the business of being soldiers
and Of taking care Of themselves SO 10
render effective service. This need cf army
officers can only be supplied by provisions
xv..Fsa H. II n