Lawrence democrat. (Lawrenceburg, Tenn.) 1884-1925, 1912-01-19

hHHAAAhNus IN ANMlHtAuluE LNt NNN1- ]
ton 10 the favorable consideration OF I
congress, / speak Tor and In the spirit |
Of, the great number Of my fellow cit |
lzens, who without any thought OF
party or partisanship feel with re.
markable earnestness that this re.
form ls necessary to the interests Of
all the people.
The War Department.
There is now before congress a bill |
he purpose Of which IL TO increase
The efficiency and decrease the ex
pense Of the army II contains four
principal features: First, a consoli- |
dalton Of the general stan with the ad |
iutant generals and the inspector zen.
erals departments; second a consoli- !
dalton OF the quartermaster's depart
ment with the subsistence and pay de.
partments; third, the creation Of an
army service corps; ard fourth. an
extension Of the enlistment period
rom three 10 five years
With the establishment Of an army
service corps as proposed in the bin.
] am thoroughly in accord and am con
WINGED that the establishment Of such
corps will result in material econ.
omy and very great increase of eff.
cheney In the army, II has repeatedly
been recommended by me and my
predecessors, | also believe that
consolidation Of the STAFF corps can
be made with resulting increase in
efficiency and economy, but not along
the lines provided In the bin under
consideration.
In make the consultations no re-
ductlon 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
600 in order to provide sufficient Of
ficers to perform all classes Of staff
duty and to reduce the number Of line
officers detached from their com
mands Congress at the last session
increased the total number OF officers
by 200 but this is not enough Pro
motion in the line Of the army is too
slow Officers do not attain command
rank at an age early enough properly
to exercise IT, It would be a mistake
further to retaTd this already slow
promotion by throwing back into the
line OF the army a number of high
ranking officers to be absorbed as Is
provided in the proposed plan OF con
solldation.
Another feature Of the bill which
| believe to be a mistake is the pro
posed increase In the term Of enlist
ment from three to nve years be-
lieve T. 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. Refreshments should be
largely confined to the noneommis
stoned officers and other enlisted men
IN the skilled grades This plan, by
the payment Of a comparatively small
compensation during the three years
! Of reserve, would keep a large body
Of men at the call Of the government,
trained and ready for service, and
able to meet any exigency.
The army of the United States Is in
good condition II showed itself able
to meet an emergency IN lie success
4 full mobilization OF an army division
of from $4,000 to 10000 men, which
! took place along the border Of Mexico
during the recent disturbances Ia that
country. The marvellous freedom from
the ordinary camp diseases Of typhoid
! fever and measles is referred to in the
report of the secretary Of war. and
! shows such an effectiveness in the
sanitary regulations and treatment of
the medical corps, and In the disci-
pline Of the army itself, as to invoke
the highest commentator
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 the LIST of July, 1918,
unless something unforeseen occurs.
This Is about Is months before the
time promised by tie engineers.
We are now near enough the com
pletion of the canal to make 1t i'm
peratively necessary that legislation
should be enacted to fix the method
by which the canal shall be maintain
ed and controlled and the zone gov.
erned The TACT is that today there is
no statutory law by authority of which
the president is maintaining the gov.
eminent of the zone Such authority
was given in an amendment to the
spooner act, which expired by the
terms of its own limitation some years
ago Since that the time government
has continued under the advice Of the
attorney general that in the absence
of action by congress, there is necessar
ly an implied authori Y on the part OF
the executive TO maintl ain a government
in a territory In which he has to see
that the laws are eX 9cuted The fact
that we have been able thus to get
along during the important days Of
construction without legislation ex
pressly formulating the government Of
the zone. or delegating the creation Of
It to the president, is not a reason for
supposing that we may continue the
same kind of a government after the
construction is finished The implied
authority Of the president to maintain
a civil government in the zone may be
derived from the mandatory direction
niunn him In thn nrininnl Srnnra- n OF