Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1912-12-21
ARMY BARRACKS
INADEQUATE. TO
SERVICE NEEDS
Report of Secretary of War
StimSon Discusses Efficien-
cy and Morals of the Army
Urges Changes in the Militia
Standing i w.. ~.... =.

or lazy Self-lntereSt," cast the Filipi-
nos upon the world in the state of
Eelplessness and before they had ac-
Guired the full benefits of American
civilization, is a strong feature in the
annual report Of Secretary of War
Henry L. Stimson. Many other sub
Fleets of interest are treated in the re-
pert, such as the relations of the Ma
tiLnal Guard to the Army, the inn
provement in the Army tactical meth
DDS, the inadequacy of the present re-
serve law, the crying need Of citizen
ship for the Porto Ricans, the conser
walton of the national water powers in
I navigable streams and the ACCESSIBILITY
Of amending the Panama Canal Tolls
Act so as to reimpose tolls on Ameri-
can coastwise shipping leaving the
water way.
! Dealing first with purely military
subjects, the Secretary states the
1 strength of the regular Army at the
beginning of the present fiscal year
al 82,305, an increase during the year
| Of 1S9 officers and 1884 enlisted men.
| He says the spirit of the personnel OF
! the Army continues to improve, attrib- 4
! utable not only to the work of the
service schools ond the general staff,
but to the practical opportunities af-
| forded by the recent maneuyers and
| changes. in organization and methods
Unfit officers are speedily discovered
under the searching tests of field con-
dit:ons. "One of the surest ways OF
getting rid of the dead wood of our
Army is to work ii as. far as possible
under the applicatory methods of mo- i
Germ military training" the Secretary /
declares. In treating of the morals oil
the Army, Secretary Stimson asserts ,
his belief that the so.called anti-can- |
teen legislation has been responsible |
for much vice, a statement which he /
supports by a recital of the results OF |
His own inspection of forty-nine of the /
mobile Army posts, where. he found |
the military reservation adjoiled by |
dives and ill resorts of the vilest char
acter. These conditions he believes to /
be the ultimate causes, which makes I
the record of our Army in this respect
shameful beyond that or the army Oh t
any civilized nation" ~-
Army Reserve. . 4
Touching the Army reserve toward
which Congress has made start IN
the present appropriation bill, the Sec /
retary said that the most serious de-
feet in the plan is that is creates too
long period of service with the col
#Crs. The experience of the United :
States and that of European nations.
adequately trained for his duties in
considerably less tina nthree years.
has shown that the soldier can. be
shortening of the period of training
with the eolors, says the Secretary,
would greatly improve the character
OF the young men who will come into
the Army, and in no way diminish the
effectiveness of tneir training. Il
A strong plea is made for the pas
sage of the militia pay bill now pend
ing, because the 100000 men now IN
the National Guard eager and ambl-
tjous to be CT service in case OF war
are practically unavailable unde"
present conditions. These men, the
Secretary says, should not only be
trained. for war in time OF peace anu
paid by the National Government, bur
it must be possible TO transfer them
immediately into the genera mlitar7
force and not militia in time OIL war. !
L., connection with the subject, the
Secretary also rcommendS the pa:
sage of the pending volunteers Dill,
which would not entail dollars eX-
perse upon the Government in this
time or in the future until war comes.
Attention is also directed again 10
the great shortage in .thc supply OF /,
field artillery, which cannot De pur-
chased abroad in time OF war ana re-
ouires years to manufacture. Iaklhg
a lesson from the present great strug-
Gle in the East, Secretary ohmSon
saws: The amount which we have
nsrmftted to accumulate would be IN
.ufiicent for single engagement o.
tho character of the engagement IN
either the Russo-Japanese OF the pres
cnt Balkan war"
For the Porto Ricdns the secretary e
urges citizenship, declaring that IL .
was promised and that it had been !
earned by loyalty. The island should
also have a department OF labor ana
agriculture and z department Oh
health and sanitation, as we'll as =
rigorous civil service law, and all jul =,
diciaI officers nOn-electiVe should be-
made appointive.
Development in Philippines.
A remarkable recital of the develop :
ment of the Philippines in ways or =
civilization during the fourteen years :
of American occupation is given in
the report. 1t is declared that there 9
is no other instance in history where, !,
after four years of war and insurrec, a
ton. to over 100000 Of an entire alien r
race have been so soon given not q
merely me forms of civil control, but I,
immediate and extensive participation "
in their own government. similar i
", says the secretary. there is no Q
parallel to the material, mental and a
moral progress shown in these ten s
years of civil government by so many II
millions of people, held for centuries W
in ignorance. and in effect in political Il
and economic bondage" After max II
ing this statement, Secretary Stimson II