Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-04-03
ARMY BILL CHANGED
Senate Committee Cuts Out
Reorganization Plans.
BACKS Mr.. STlMSON
Attack Made by Him on Clauses In.
serted by House Responsible.
APPROPRIATION IS INCREASED
About 100000 Added to Total
Carried by the
Measure.

Attacks made by Secretary of War
Stimson on the plans for the reorganiza-
ton of the army, proposed by the DEM
ocTatic House and contained in the army
appropriation bill, during the hearings on
| the bill before the Senate committee on
military affairs, were largely responsible
for the action of the Senate committee in
| striking out the provisions.
| The proposed reorganization, Secretary
| Stimson said would be very disastrous
to the army, would be steps to the rear
, instead Of to the 'front.' and the Iegis-
| lation as whole would do the army
more harm than good" He protested that
the army ought not to be made a foot
ball of politics. thereby hitting the car
rying of the democratic economy program
into the army appropriation bill. He
pronounced the specific sections passed
by the House for army reorganization as
crude Some of it, he said, was ''un-
warranted and based on false premises"
and one provision he pronounced
absurd"
When the army appropriation bill was
! reported to the Senate yesterday after
noon by Chairman du Pont of tho Senate
| committee on military affairs the hear
! ings that were held on it were made pub
lie, and thereby Secretary Stimsons at
taCks on the Hay reorganization plan,
adopted by the House, became known.
Bad Entangled With Good.
visions were entangled with the bad
in the legislative provisions of the bill,
Secretary Stimson added:
| ,Ic
with the concurrence of every head of
bureau in the department / am i'm the
habit, now, of meeting with the heads OF
the bureaus every week, and we have
discussed this legislation, and il is the
unanimous opinion not only of the chief
of staff, who is the military adviser OF
the Secretary, but of the heads of each
of the great supply bureaus, that this
legislation as whole is SO thoroughly
faulty that it would be better for the
army il none of it were enacted, rather
than to run the risk of enacting bad
legislation with the good
| That led to a, suggestion that the House,
| in conference, would be very insistent on
the reorganization legislation in the bill
and the question was asked If it would
not be better to make no appropriations
for the army than to let some of the
| legislation become law.
| From my standpoint it would be-, Sec
rotary Stimson replied. He didn't care to
| express the opinion of the 1900 officers
and $4,000 men of the army on that point.
| While Senator Warren declared such a
| course would be extreme, nevertheless he
| asked several questions to what had
been done in the past when the two houses
| could not agree on the army approprla-
ton bill.
| AS a general objection to the reorgani-
zation provisions, Secretary Stimson said
! that the officers of the War College are
now completing a plan for the reorgani-
zation of the army and he protested
against action ION the threshold of ac-
curate information"
Objects to Enlistment Plan.
The Secretary then went on to discuss
the specific provisions Of the bill which
make changes in the present plan Of
operating the army. Regarding the plan
to increase the term Of enlistment from
three to five years. Mr.. Stimson re-
ma rked:
Il am very much opposed to that pro-
vision. / believe that that is a step back
ward" He took a similar view Of the
provision cutting off extra pay for serv-
ice outside of the United States in trop-
ical countries
Numerous objections were made by the
Secretary to the next section proposing
the consolidation of the supply corps, the
quartermaSter generals department. the
commssary generals department and the
paymaster generals department.
This section is very crudely drawn.
Mr.. Stimson remarked. 1T ought not to
be enacted into law in its present form,
as matter Of workmanship.
| 1t has also been urged. Mr.. Stimson
added, that the department which pays
and auditS payments Of money should not
be the same as the department which
buys.
Secretary Stimson showed about the
same attitude toward the provision for
the consolidation of the adjutant gen.
erals department.. the inspector general S
department and the staff department.
Opposes Cavalry Reduction.
The Secretary saw serious harm in the
reduction. by five, in the number of
troops of cavalry; and he complained
that the advice Of the War Department
on such a reduction had never been
asked-in fact, he said, it had never even
been suggested to the department before
lit was put into the bill on the floor Of
the House.
The abolition of many small army posts
and forts as proposed in the House BILL
was also pronounced impracticable by the
Secretary. He did say that consolidation
in larger posts was a desirable policy.
but pointed out that the consolidation
could not be accomplished by one sweep
or by stroke of the pen.
| The Senate committee had stricken out
the provisions for the abandonment OF
the posts and forts and thus ODV1ated a
flight that was sure to be made on the
floor Of the Senate in behalf Of most OF
them had the provision remained in the
bill.
Besides striking out practically all OF
tn, proposed new legislation looking to
army reorganization in the bill, the Sen
ate committee added materially to the
total carried in the bill. AS it passed
the House the bill carried $T, TIT, 257: and
the Senate committees amendments in
creased the total to $95.314, I'll, which is
about $3.OO0,OU0 greater than the appro-
priations for the current fiscal year.
The chief increases are: Pay of officers
of the line, SSO6. 1872; additional for length
Of service, $24S,2 200; pay of enlisted men
of the line $4O0,954; additional for length
of service, 500 600: foreign service pay
for officers. $266. 600: same for enlisted
men. $4,000; equipment Of coast ar
tillery for the organized militia, $685.
954; transportation of army and supplies,
S526472: clothing and camp and garri-
SON equipage. $61s.429; ordnance stores.
ammunition. $4,000; small arms target
practice $135, GOO; manufacture of arms,
100000: automatic machine rifles. $780,
coo; field artillery for organized militia,
S4SOOOO; ammunition for field artillery.
organized militia, 100000.
The only reduction made is $4,000 for
the signal service.
Delegates to U. C. V. Convention.