El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-03-21
MOBILIZATION
SHOWS NEED
Of ARMY
Gen. Wood Declares a Large
Reserve Force Is Now
Imperative.
NEED 10000 MEN
FOR COAST DEFENCE

washington, D. c., March 21-NoN
that the attention Of every American
cst;zen is directed towards the regu-
-. a-nv through the Texas maneu-
rers army officials hope that me
question OF creating a reserve CORPS
sor national defence will be favoraply
acted upon by congress.
T. &c no secret that the resources
Of the regular army have been sorely
taxed to send complete DIVISION %
,-es,lars into Texas There are no"
engaged in the naneuvers nearly w.
600 regulars, more than ohe-ioui :.
of me entire regular army stationed
a, the United States. To secure mo-
Lt,e Soroe os this size, it has been
,.aoasSorv to withdraw 36 companies
Of coast artillery from the vicinity OF
New York City, Hampton Roads ana
the Gulf cities, equip them as in1an-
frv and send them to Galveston 70
-,sto nm the required number OF
troops
Greater Army Imperative.
In times OF war, army officials say
It would be suicidal to WITHDRAW
coast defence forces, as infantry When
the coast defences are now manned
o,1v nv a force Of $4,000 men 1t
-ri1l take at least 120, 600 trained men
70 properly handle. man and defend
+be coast Notifications that are al
ready erected and n commission.
Mai Cen Leonard Wood. CHIEF OF
eft T. & A. is hopeful that the ma
neuvers will direct public ATTENTION
TO the need of a reserve corps as
great national defence. The ouesliOn
<,f creating a reserve is now being
studied by military experts OF the Wal
department. and Il will be thraSneo
emf and presented for action at the
coming session Of congress, II posi-
HE and If not at the extra session, AT
the regular session that convenes next
Decor ber.
should Look Ahead, Says Wood
81 think. we should look ahead,
sand Gen. Wood today, ito building
M a well organized reserve for a min
irnum amount Of money We cannot
have obligatory military service IN
tbis countrv-that could only be
forced upon US by some disaster; but
1 think we should organize rea-
abIe reserve, and we can do II, II
we make our enIistments in the regu-
lar arras, and in the militia say for 10
wears two wears of service with the
colors. OF three, II you like, and the
remainder, eight or seven years, aoso-
luteIy free from all obligations 10
come to the colors, except in case or
duty and local state duty, with no OBJ
legation but to attend maneuvers every
other year for period OF eight days
Al the present time, we are losing
from the militia and the regular army
combined about 1900 men a year.
Small Pay for Reserve Men,
IF We give these members ola re-
serve a small sum per month, what
ever congress might think wise. with
no Obligation except to come TO the
colors in time of war, and to attend
rnaneuvers every two or three years
for eight days we should soon accu-
mulate a reserve Of nearly 800, 900
men These me would all be trained
soldiers. who passed through the reg
ulars or the militia. and would have
had three or four periods Of maneu-
vers of eight days each-only 30 days,
even ct the maximum number, in a
period Of eight years, which is not
much That would give US 100000
men who would stand right behind
the regular army which would ap-
proximate 100 0oo with a militia Of
probably 10000 Such a reserve
force would give US an army Of $780,
600 men Immediately available for
war. The only obligation these men
would have. in addition to the service
obligation, I have mentioned, is to
keep the adjutant general of the army
and the adjutant generals of the states
informed of their whereabouts.
1--WE are spreading out all over the