The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1910-12-19
TAFT NOT SCARED.
President Refuses to Be Fright
ened by DickinsOn's Report.
Regards the Army as Being in
Pretty Good Form.
SUBJECT OF SPEECH
Made Before the International
Peace Society.
First Talked the Matter Over
With His Cabinet.

Washington, Dec. 19.-President Taft
madt speech Saturday night before
the International Peace society which
is not apt to give any satisfaction 70
the men responsible for the latest war
| scare.
The president does not find our army
ineffective and inefficient, though he
! says more trained officers are needed
and that We ought to have ammuni-
ton and guns enough for ready use in
cases of emergency.
There has been a good deal of talk
| in the papers and some reference in
| congress-" was one of the observations
| the president made, ito the supposed
| helpless condition of this country in
| case of foreign invasion l venture
| to think much more has been made cf
this than the facts. calmly considered
would justify"
In his response to the McLachlan
resolution, which was suppressed, Sec
retary of War Dickinson said:
| "It is apparent that We are almost
| wholly unprepared for war; that out
side of a reserve of small arms and
small arms ammunition, We have not
| equipment adequate TO meet the needs
Of the present regular army and or
ganiZed militia at war strength, and
| consequently nothing with which 10
equip other troops: that the things
which we most need are those it would
| take long to supply, especially field ar
tillery, guns, and ammunition
| The sharp difference evident in the
views of the president and the secre-
| tary of war gave rise to a report that
| the latter intended to resign his port
folio. There is no reason to believe this
report is correct, but undoubtedly Mr..
Dickinson is not happy at the pub
licity which his difference with his chief
| has been given. The advisability of
| IL i IL IL IT..
speech he did was considered carefully
at special meeting of the cabinet
President Backs Up Congress.
On the one hand Secretary Dickin-
son was committed to the view that the
army was unprepared for war and that
the country should adopt the policy of
making without delay adequate prep
arations.
on the other hand, congress was up
] in arms over the secretary's conduct
and was convinced he was trying to
create a public opinion for the pur-
pose of forcing it to make large mill
tary appropriations.
The president was inclined to side
with congress rather than with his sec
retary of war. He has been at the
knows the condition of the army even
better than does Mr.. Dickinson. Con-
sequently, he determined. even at the
| expense of being charged with public
|
to reassure the country, both with re-
spect to the peaceful character of its
foreign relations and the condition of
its army.
Tells Needs of the Army
If congress would authorize the sci
entific reorganization of the army and
militia forces, the United States could
be prepared for a war without the ex
penditure of any large sums of money.
The war department is not asking for
enormous additional appropriations,
but for the authority to bring the
armed forces of the republic to an up
to date standard of fitness
| This is the position Of Secretary of
War Dickinson The secretary stands
by every word of the suppressed report
to congress, disclosing the nations
lack of preparation for war. But he
denies the charges of those who have
answered his report with the criticism
/ that the war departm ent is seeking to
/ frighten the country into pouring out
untold millions for additional defense.
The war department officials are
| hoping that the incident of the sup
pressed report which leaked out has
been closed by the dispatch to con-
| gress of a note stating that it is lin
compatible with the public interest
to furnish the details of the condi-
ton of the army and other defenseS
called for by the McLachlan resolu-
ton.
cret of the war department, though
they have been published throughout
the country 1t is understood, how
ever, that there are some exhibits orig
inally accompanying the report which
have not become public. AS a matter
of fact, congress has received almost
all of the suppressed information in
the way of department reports.
Secretary Dickinson declined to dis
cuss the condition of the nations de-
q "a
would have something further to say
in due time, but thought the present
time inopportune.
Somebody Blundered.
Chicago, Dec. ia special dis
patch from Washington to the Tribune
says:
of the war scare which has set Off
cial circles topsy-turvy for the last few
days.
i"The disclosure of cross purposes in
connection with the report of the sec
retary of war was occasioneH by some
thing that went wrong in bureaucratic
routine.
s'The president was entirely ignorant
of the contents of the report sent to
congress by Secretary of War Dickin-
son and afterward suppressed. Secre-
president had seen the report and ap-
!. proved it's contents.
1.-THE report was prepared by Major
General Leonard Wood during the alb
sence of the secretary on his trip
around the world. General Wood di-
| rected the submission of the docu-
!, ment to the president and supposed
this had been done.
| ut turned out that the report never
reached the presidents desk. Secre-
tary Dickinson returned, read the re-
port. and gave it his sanction in the
belief that its contents were known tC