The Hawaiian gazette., 1911-06-09
WITH COMING OF TROOPS ARE
PROBLEMS

crai paid the H0Wniinnn compliment
when he said that army officers regard
cd them physically as the superior Of
scouts In the Philippines.
General Macomb was the guest Of the
Commercial Club. At the table were
Representative Ed Towse, who intro
duced the speaker with few eNplana-
tory remarks detailing the officer g
splendid army record; Colonel Jones,
adiutant-genernl of the national guard;
I Major Campbell, U.S.A., Rdiutant gem
eral of the district; Captain Carter,
U.S.A., chief of STAFF; +. A. Berndt,
Lieutenant Andrews, US.A, aid.de-
camp; Georeg w. Bush and s. De Freest.
All the other tables were filed
Get Better Acquainted.
General Macomb prefaced his remarks
by saying that he felt IL was a good
| thing for the people of Honolulu to get
better acquainted with the officers and
enlisted men Of the army, but he as
sured the club members that he be-
/, lieved the army people felt they were
real residents of the Islands.
eve are much pleased with our stay
here said General Macomb. f'The
officers, generally, will be here for two
to three years and the army will, con
tinue to increase. The army is going
to be a great factor in the develop
mentA of this town.
| fThe reason for having the army
here is due to the fact that the United
States government has recognized it's
great commercial and strategic pussibil.
| tiles and regard it as a natural center.
1t is great rendezvous for the navy.
The Hawaiian Islands lie nearer to the
United States mainland than to any
other country and it belongs within our
| own sphere of activity.
Although we may not claim the SUI
premaey of the Pacific we claim the
supremacy of the waters contiguous to
the Coast and in case we have trouble
with any other nation we can have
fortified base for nur fleets.
Great Naval Base.
fThis island win become one of the
greatest naval bases under the Amer
lean flag We could not permit any
other power to occupy those Islands for
the simple fact that if they belonged to
another power they could use them to
operate against us. We have taken
time by the foreloclS and taken these
Islands, but they came in of their own
free win.
"Wherever there is naval base
there must be an army. The navy can
not protect it's own base under any
circumstances. A base is intended only
as place from which fleets may issue
for operations, but the navy can not
defend its rear from attack.
"Our army force here is going to be
a very large one and the people will be-
come well acquainted with all branches
of the service. The coast artillery will
take charge of the sea batteries and
protect the naval base. These again
must also be protected and this can
only be done by mobile force. BY
mobile force we mean an army which
can be moved from place to place, con
sisting of cavalry, field artillery and
infantry. If we have good infantry we
can feel secure. We will probably lave
tmore infantry in the future than any
other branch. The government must
place sufficient force of troops here
to defend these Islands, otherwise there
, would be no use making a naval base.
Many Soldiers Coming.
, 1.-THE exact number of troops for ser.
J vice in Hawaii is not known, but it is
J known they will be sufficient to support
J the navy. We can not expect all these
J troops to be sent here at once, but they
i will come within few years. Larger
contracts are being made constantly to
/ build up the naval base and the neces
sary quarters for troops.
} .'The question of stationing these
/ troops in the city is one to be coDsid
l 'dered carefully. The present plan OF
the war department is to concentrate
| the troops as much as possible. III
~ 4 he 4
out the army posts all over the country
owing to the necessity for protecting
! the pioneers, but it is different now anC
/ the plan is to concentrate them in bar
a racks so that they can be supported
t without such huge expense as at pres
\ emit.
{ THE war department VENTS to d,
n as they are doing in Europe and hav,
garrisons in the towns where the sol
diers Will be in closer contact with tn
people, either in the outskirts or il
! the heart of the community This tow
Q is growing up, but there are stu un
: occupied lands which can be used 70
q barracks. IL this system is to be in
u troduced we would all like to see i
Q become a success. 1t has not beer
Q tried in other cities yet, mainly be
i cause there are no lands for making
n the trial, so the trial will be made Il
9 Honolulu first. It is important tina
n the military and the people shout,
work together and have Location
Y selected where it win be satisfaetor
Q to the people.
Importance Of Drill.
"If the troops are placed in tow
. we have got to have some place wher
! the troops can be drilled. We have
. reservation at Leilehua, and there ar
, certain leases to expire in the .nea
, future, which are now out to thos
! raising cattle and pineapples. Wit
! these leases expired the government
i win have a great reservation wheT
u the troops can be sent out for feel
maneuYeTs, such as might prevail /
Z times of trouble. Once year th
;, whole garrison would probably be ser
y out there for maneuvers, all except tn
y coast artillery. We must have such
y field as soon as practicable.
. "0f course, the advantage of lOca
y ing the troops in barracks in the cit
70 is a large matter 10 the pOVernman