The Washington times., 1913-09-15
WANTS CHANGES|N
ENL|STMEN LAWS
Secretary Garrison Will Urge
Congress to Shorten the
Service Requirement.

secretary OF W ar Garrison Will recon-
mend to Congress liz the near future inn
portant changes in the enlistment laws
of the United States. He declared this
morning on his return from 4 two
months absence in the West. that. in-
stead of the present system of requir-
ing men to serve four years with the
colors and three years in reserve, he
will ask Congress for authority to de-
crease the enlistment period to three
years. with the privilege to be enjoyed
by the men of entering the reserve at
any time prior to the expiration of
the three years term. when they shall
have shown complete proficiency in the
arts of war.
That" said Secretary Garrison, lis
the only solution / seee by which we
may escape the necessity of large
standing army, which none of US wants,
and, at the same time keep ourselves
prepared for emergencies that may
arise We must, in other words, build
up a trained seserve. and to do this we
must attract young men OF the land
to take the training which the army af=
fords. without requiring. them to give
up four years of their life.
i've must get them to appreciate the
fact that military training in the regu-
lar army IL good for them. and give
them the same incentive which college
would to apply themselves in such a
way as to enable them to complete the
course in, say. twelve months or two
wears Moreover we must make them
feel that, in taking this course in mill
tary training, they will not be wasting
their time as far as ther future careers
In private life are copcerned, and to
that end it is my purpose to establish
vocational schools in the army. for the
enlisted men.
Has Great Faith In Plan.
The army was never in better shape
than it is today, but it is nevertheless
a fact that in many instances We have
but sixty-five men to company, which,
in time of war, must have full com.
plement Of $50. Therefore, in time OF
eighty-fve raw recruits, and the
efficiency of the entire company will
be as eighty-five to sixty-five.
by enabling young. vigorous. and
patriotic men to enlist, and encourag-
ing them to fit themselves for early
discharg-, we shall not only be enlist
ing a better class OF men, but Va shall
h. building up SO much faster trained,
patriotic reserve which, in time OF war.
would fill up the ranks quickly win WIN
country where / have thrown out a
suggestion along this line. it has taken,
and I have every reason to believe that
the plan would work splendidly.
The Secretary declined to discuss the
conclusions which he has reached in
reference to the main purposes of hia
trip. namely. to inspect all army posts
in the South, Southwest and West with
a view to eliminating those which are
useless and expensive to maintain.
1T is not a question for discussion
but for action" he said smilingly.
Hopes Congress Will Cooperate.
At the same time the Secretary Is said
to believe that his efforts along this line
will not be opposed by Congress.
Mr.. Garrison finished his tour Of the
army posts about two weeks ago. and
since that time has been spending a
vacation with his family. When he
reached his Office this morning he was
tanned and showed some gain in weight.
His first caller was General Mcintyre,
chief of the Bureau of lnsular Affairs
of the War Department, who called to
take up with the Secretary. among other
things, the report Of Dean Worcester,
alleging that a system Of peonage eX-
listed in the Philippine Islands, under
which boys and girls were let out for
work under conditions Of slavery. Mr..
Garrison has not had opportunity to
read the report while away, and cOnse-
quently, he said, he was unable to dIs-
cuss it with Francis Burton HarIisony
the new governor general Of the Philip
pines, when the latter met him in New
York about ten days ago.
When the President returns tomorrow
from Cornish. Mr. Garrison will take
up with him the question of the other
tND vacancies on the Philippine COM
mission. He declined this morning to
affirm or deny the report that the two
positions would be given to former Con-
gressman Curry of New Mexico, and
Congressman Peters OF Massachusetts.