Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1913-03-23
THE NEW SECRETARY OF THE
ARMY,

The first u~tteranceS OF a new sec.
rotary of war are naturally scanned
with eagerness as a guide to the pol
icy of the administration, says the
New York Post. Mr.. Garrison's have
been looked for with especial interest,
not only because of Mr.. Bryan's pres
ence in the cabinet, with his we'll
known views on peace. but because
Mr.. Wilson's brief regime has thus
far been marked by anything but the
swashbuckling Of the lingo. AS a
whole, we think that Mr.. GarrisOn'S
position will please neither the big
army men nor those who would have
the War department devote itself to
other things than the creation of a
military spirit in the land. Briefly
his position may be summed uD thu ::
RE does not recommend any increase
in the standing army; but he urges a
steady development of the National
Guard through better instruction, the
establishment of a regular army re,
serve, and the creation of the ma
chinery by which volunteers may read
lily be raised in time of emergency.
All Of this, he admits, is but his
hastily thrown together thought and
we need not take this declaration too
seriously. After he has found himsC't
in his Office and has begun to forr'
his own opinions rather than to ia! i,
the color of those in his immediate
encourage, he may look more deeply
and soberly into the questions con-
fronting him. At present he Is much
impressed by the lack of preparedness
OF the country for a great struggle.
Later on he will see that if the hul-
dreds Of millions spent upon our sea.
coast d%etences have not been wasted,
we have a superb system of fortitica-
tons, now reinforced by Il strong ma
Wy. Both of these are ample for the
defence of our coast and %harbOrs. If,
however, Mr.. Garrison means that the
country is not prepared in the sense
that Germany and France and Russia
are prepared. he is correct. More
over. this country would never be
willing to be prepared in that sense
1t is a realization perhaps OF this
that makes him turn to the idea Of a
better National Guard. a reserve, and
a citizen yeomanry in readiness for
the call to arms as volunteers.
His plans, he is careful to add, can
be achieved without additional cost,
or with so little as to be negligible.
But he cannot avoid adopting some.
what the language OF the extreme mil
i~tarist, and saying nothing could be
more %insensate than to refuse to pre-.
pare for an emergency because we
don't foresee its coming" Upon that
theory, any expenditure or sacrifice,
any taX-burden, is justified abroad to-
day.
Passing this question. the secretary,
despite his somewhat bellicnse lam
guage. looks to citizen soldiery rather
than to professionals. His present
professional advisers will tell him
that this all wrong. Gems. Wood ard
Bliss have been preaching 25O,O0G
men and officers as the minimum for
the standing force. Taking up, how
ever, his plan for better instruction
for the militia, Mr.. Garrison will need
to spend many an hour in study of it.
There is grave question how far the
closer association of the regulars and
the militia has improved the latter.
The militia complains with much truth
that in the past ten years it has been
a school OF instruction for regular
officers, who have p%rofited at it's ex-
pense; that the big joint maneuvers
have had their chief use in informing
the regular generals and staff how not
to feed and march and overwork the
citizens who leave their offices every
year to maneuve in the coen. Mr..
Garrison will, we believe, find that
the militia cannot be mace the re-
serve he hopes without more and
more destroying its usefulness as
State troops. On the one hand, he
will find, if they talk frankly to him,
some army officers who go so far as
to say that the regulars are fast up
proximating the standards of the mill.
tia" as a result of present conditions;
on the other, he will find a newspaper
like the Boston Herald soberly ex,
planning the excellent appearance in
Washington of the First Massachu