The Fargo forum and daily republican., 1911-12-21

the banking and currency problems S,
long confronting the nation and to fur
nish the facts and data necessary /,
enable the congress to take action. Th,
commission was appointed when al
impressive and urgent popular demant
Tor legislative relief suddenly aros,
/ out of the distressing situation of tn,
people caused by the deplorable pani,
| OF 1907. The congress decided tha
while 1t could not give immediately
the relief required, It would provide {
commission to furnish the means fol
| prompt action at a later date.
No Central Bank.
1t is exceedingly fortunate that the
wise and undisputed policy maintain.
ing unchanged the main features Of
our banking system rendered it at once
| impossible to introduce a central bank;
| for central bank would certainly
| have been resisted, and a plan into
which 1t could have been introduced
would probably have been defeated
But as a central bank could not be a
part of the only plan discussed or con-
sidered. that troublesome question is
| eliminated. And ingenious and novel
as the proposed national reserve asso-
| citation appears, it simply is a logical
outgrowth of what is best in our pres
ent system, and is, in fact, the fulfill
| rnent of that system.
trust that all banks of the country
possessing the requisite standards will
be placed upon a footing of perfect
equality of opportunity.
The War Department.
There is now before congress a bill,
the purpose Of which is to increase the
efficiency and decrease the expense of
the army. 1t contains four principal
features: First, consolidation Of the
general staff with the adjutant gem
erals and the inspector generals de-
partments; second, a consolidation of
the quartermaster's department with
the subsistence and pay departments;
third, the creation of an army service
corps; and fourth, an extension of the
enlistment period from three to five
years.
With the establishment of an army
service corps, as proposed in the bill,
am thoroughly in accord and am con-
vinced that the establishment of such
corps will result in a material econ
omy and a very great increase of eff
cheney in the army. 1t has repeatedly
been recommended by me and my
predecessors / also believe that a con-
solidation of the star corps can be
made with a resulting increase in eff
cheney and economy, but not along the
lines provided in the bill under con-
sideration.
am opposed to any plan the result
of which would be to break up or inter.
fere with the essential principles of
the detail system in the staff corps
established by the act of Feb. 2, 1901,
and / am opposed to any plan the re-
suit Of which would be to give to the
officer selected as chief of staff or to
any other member of the general stan
corps greater permanency Of office
than he now has. Under the existing
law neither the chief OF staff nor any
other member of the general staff
corps can remain in Office for a period
of more than four years, and there
must be an interval of two years be-
tween successive tours Of duty.
The bill referred to provides that
certain persons shall become perma-
nent members of the general stafi
corps, and that certain others are sub
ject to redetail without an interval OF
two years. Such provision is fraught
with danger to the welfare OF the army
and would practically nullify the main
purpose of the law creating the general
staff.
In making the consultations no re-
duction should be made in the total
number of officers of the army, OF
whom there are now too few to per-
form the duties imposed by law.
have in the past recommended an in
crease in the number of officers by
500 in order to provide sufficient off1-
GERS to perform all classes of staff
duty and to reduce the number of line
officers detached from their commands
Congress at the last session increased
the total number of officers by 200
but this Is not enough. Promotion In
the line OF the army is too slow. OFF,
GERS do not attain command rank al
an age early enough properly to exer-
else 1t. 1t would be a mistake fur
ther to retard this already slow pro-
motion by throwing back into the line
of the army number OF htgh-rank-
ing officers to be absorbed as provided
in the proposed plan of consolidation
Another feature of the bill which
believe to be a mistake is the proposed
increase in the term of enlistment
from three to five years. believe II
would be better to enlist men for six
years, release them at the end of three
years from active service, and put them
in reserve for the remaining three
years.
Memorial Theatre at Arlington.
beg to renew my recommendation
of last year that the congress appro-
pirate for a memorial amphitheater
at Arlington, Va. the funds required
to construct 1t upon the plans already
approved.
The Panama Canal.
The very satisfactory progress made
on the Panama canal last year has
continued, and there is every reason
to believe that the canal will be com
pleted as early as July /,