Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-08-28
NEED Of THE ARMY
Americans Should Know and
Care More About Service.
PENALTY OF INDIFFERENCE
Disasters of War of 1912 Due to
Lack of Observation-Disclosures
Prevents or Shortens War.


United States is to have the people Of
the United States know more about it
and care more about ii; In a general
way the average citizen feels that the
country should have an army and that it
should be efficient. bat that seems 10 be
the limit of his consideration of the sub
iect He has little or no acquaintance
with the army as it exists with what it
is accomplishing Wit: what should be
done to make it the highly efficient in
strument which it is necessary that it
should be. Most of the consideration
which the average citizen gives to the
army is after crisis-and then lie looks
backward not forward
One has but to read the story of the
war of 1912 as told by Admiral AIahan
to have a picture Of this situation. The
story of that war is pitiful one for an
American to contemplate. 1t involved
defeat after defeat upon land, and the
final practical exclusion of all Of our
vessels from the high seas. One drawn
battle and one defensive success on land
and several brilliant victories in individ-
uai actions at sea only served to empha-
size the possibilities that this nation had
II only it had been prepared for the
struggle The warnings of the approa en-
OF the war were numerous and prolong
cd but the country utterly failed to heed
them or to make ary proper provision
therefor. In consequence it suffered the
loss OF its capital the burden of a great
pension list and the humiliation of
silence upon the causes Of the war in the
treaty of peace. History repeated itself
upon other subsequent occasions where
similar conditions existed.
Inc Maine was blown up in Havana
harbor in February. 1898 For a long
time before that there were distinct
4i1,Cr =;
orders in Cuba had forcibly brought the
attention of the government and the
country. to the impending crisis. Two
successive Presidents, Of opposite politi-
congress that the situation was such
that the United States could not continue
TO endure it. During all of this period
there was not that active interest in the
SITUATION which patriotic people should
/ reel and exhibit. and effective prepara-
ton for efficiently raising, equipping and
maintaining an army was not provided
curious but striking illustration of
with OF = h interest is shown
of the so-called Dick bill in 190;. That
DILL, as first drafted, not only dealt with
the militia. but provided for the organiza-
tlOn OF volunteer reserve force. The
members Of the National Guard, taking a
proper personal interest in that part of
the bill which affected them. aroused in
terest therein. The citizens as a whole
taking little or no interest i'm the matter
providing for volunteer reserve force,
ignored that portion Of the bill: AS a re
wholly to giving federal aid to making
the militia more effective, and contained
no provisions upon the absolutely neces-
sary matter OF raising volunteer forces
anu having reserve.
People to Blame.
Do not misunderstood me- | am not
criticising Congress. II the people take
no interest in any particular portion Of
government you can scarcely expect con-
gressmen enthusiastically to devote theil,
tine and attention to that which does not
appeal to their constituents It will be re-
called that IN England a government was
voted out of office in June of 1895 because
OF a shortage in the ammunition supply
The early failures in the South African
war were charged to ineNcusable neglect
OF proper preparation for war-proDer
preparation I'm time of MISREPRESENTATION
for which parliament itself was largely
responsible. The people however, finally
opened. saw the long existing situation
AND turned the government out to show
their dispie2suIe thereat. 1t hardly seems
possible that the American people highly
Intelligent as they are, should need such
severe lessons in order to cause them to
take the slight necessary precautions to
avoid such undesirable conditions
The need for an army arises from the
1act that 1t takes two parties to keep
the peace, and at best any nation can
control only one party-namely, itself.
II is surely not necessary to cite in
stances to show that many wars We're
brought on by an issue forced by one
nation upon another. and that the latter
would nave kept the peace, if possible.
The contingency of war in the present
state of civilization must be one that ALI
reasonable. thinking men must consider
All reasonable. just people desire peace
both with respect to individual differ
ences and national differences. Private
conflicts between private invididuaIs over
personal interests have largely ceased
and their settlement been left to tri-
bunals. But it must be remembered thai
the effectiveness of this method of set
tlement is because back Of each tribu-
, nal is the entire force of the state 1t is
impossible to believe that every defeat
!. ed litigant gracefully and willingly
yields, and that he would not resort tt
force if he felt that force would avail
him anything. Whether or not this de-
sirable method of settling international
disputes can be accomplished, 1 do not
now propose to discuss; nor is it proper
that l should do so in this connection
1t is fact that no such tribunal for
those questions that are most likely to
bring on war has been established And
until 1t is. We can only be guided in the
future by what has taken place in the
past. The past contains SO many in
stances of unexpected war, SO many in
stances of the lamentable consequences
: Of unpreparedness for war, that any
nation Of intelligent people is fully adj
vised OF all the dangers of inattention
and inaction In this respect
, Protection Of the Seas.
Our country is fortunate in that it has
: no powerful neighbor on this continent
which requires the maintenance of q
, large army in times of peace. The
stretches of water that separate us from
other great nations are, however, no
! longer the protection that they used to
be. The oceans furnish fine highways
for the transportation of troops and
. supplies. and improvements in shipping
! have made it easily possible to utilize
. these highways over long distances The
distances, 1t is true, are still a protec-
ton, but it would be foolish to close our
eyes to the fact that at various points
of the public domain OF the United
| states we are still vulnerable to attack