The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1910-12-06
WAR DEPARTMEAT.

We Are Sadly In Need of More Off,
 icers-Deals With Militia. The war department has within it's jurisdiction the management of the ar coast defenses, the government of the dependencies of the Philippines and of Porto Rico, the recommendation of plans for the improvement of harbors and waterways and their execution when adopted and, by virtue of an ex- ecutive order, the supervision of the construction of the Panama canal l The army of the United States is a small body compared with the total number of people for the preservation of whose peace and good order it is a last recourse. The army now numbers about SOO0O Ren, of whom about 1S, 900 are engaged in the coast artillery and detailed to the management and use of the guns in the forts and bat teries that s)tect our coasts. The rest of the army, or about 6O.O0O. is the . is divided into thirty-one regiments of infantry, including the Porto Rican regiment, fifteen regiments of cavalry, six regiments of field artillery, a corps of ordnance, of engineers and of sig nal, quartermaster's department, a commfssary department and a medical corps. es { TIH0 f0v I, United States at peace should be that of skeleton organization with an ex- cess of trained officers and thus capa- ble of rapid enlargement by enlist ments, to be supplemented in emer- gency by the national militia and a volunteer force. In some measure this plan has been adopted in the very large proportion of cavalry and field artillery as compared with infantry in the present army and on peace basis An infantry force can be trained in six months, cavalry or a light artillery force not under one and half or two years; hence the importance of having ready a larger number of the more skilled soldiers.
 
 gress by the constitution is authorized to provide, was developed by the so called Dick law, under which the dis cipline, the tactics, the drill. the rank, the uniform and the various branches of the militia are assimilate5 as far as possible to those of the regular army. Under the militia law, as the consII. tution provides, the governors of the states appoint the militia officers, but by appropria ations from congress states have been induced to comply with the rules of assimilation between the reg ular army and the militia. so that now there is a force, the efficiency of which differs in different states, which could be incorporated under single com , mand with the regular army and which for some time each year receives the benefit of drill and maneu Vers under | conditions approximating actual mili- tary service under the supervision of regular army officers.
 In the army of the United States. in addition to the regular forces and the militia forces which may be summoned to the defense of the nation by the president, there is also the volunteer l force, which made up very large part | of the army in the civil war and which | in any war of long continuance would become its most important constituent. There is an act which dates from the civil war, known as the volunteer act, which makes provision for the enlist ment of volunteers in the army of the United States in time of war. This was found to be so defective in the Philippine war that a special act for the organization of volunteer regiments to take part in that war was adopted, and it was much better adapted to the necessities of the case.
 There is now pending In congress bill repeating the present volunteer act and making provision for the organiza- tion of volunteer forces in time of war which is admirably adapted to meet the exigencies which would be then presented. The passage of the bill would not entail dollars ex- pense upon the government at this time or in the future until war comes, but when war does come the methods tnereln directed are Ill accordance With the best military judgment as to what they ought to be, and the act would prevent the necessity for the discus sion of new legislation and the delays incident to its consideration and adop- tion. I earnestly urge the passage of this volunteer bill.
 I further recommend that congress tabI;Sh O commission to f3atormipo as early as practicable a comprehen- sive policy for the organization, mob- ilization and administration of the reg ular army, the organized militia and the volunteer forces in the event of war.
 Need For Additional Officers. One of the great difficulties. in the