El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-11-14

average can be made into good troops
quicker than our own men; DuL most
assureuly there would be numbers OF
Americans who would not be much De
hind the Swiss in such a matter. A
body Of volunteers Of the kind am de-
scribing would Of course not be quite
same size, but they would be immeas-
urably better than the average soldiers
produced by any system we now nave
or ever have had in connection with our
militia.
our regular army would be strength
ened by them at the very beginning
and would be set free in its entirety Tor
immediate aggressive actlon; ana IN
addition a levy in mass of the young
men Of the right age would mean that
two or three million troops were put
into the field who, although not quite
as good as regulars, would at once be
available in numbers sufficient to over
Whelm any eIpediuonary force which
II would be possible for any military
power to send to our shores The exist
ence of such a force would render the
immediate taking of cities like San
Francisco. New York or Boston an inn
possibility and would free US from all
danger from sudden raids and make it
impossible even FOR an army corps TO
land with any prospect Of success.
People Unused to Military Things.
Our people are so entirely unused to
things military that IL is proDaply az
ficult for the average man to get any
clear idea Of our short comings. IN
like what is true in the military ma
tions of the Old World, here the or
binary citizen takes no interest IN the
working Of our war department In time
Of peace. No president gains the
slightest credit for himself by paying
attention to it. Then, when Crisis
comes and the war department breaks
down, instead of the people accepting
what has happened with humility as
due to their own fault during the pre-
vious two or three decades, there is a
80 h
man who happens to be in ottlce at Iho
time There was such roar OF wrath
against secretary Alger IN the spanish
war. Now, as matter OF LacP w per
cent Of our short comings when the war
broke out with Spain could not nave
been remedied by any action on the part
of the secretary Of war. Iney We're
due to what had been done ever since
the close Of the civil war
wholly Unprepnred.
We were utterly unprepared. There
had been no real maneuVerlng OF 50
much as a brigade and very rarely had
any of our generals COMMANDED even 4
good sized regiment in the field. The
enlisted men and the Junior officers Of
the regular army were good. Most Of
the officers above the rank of captain
were nearly worthless. There were
striking exceptions of course, but, TAX
ing the average, 1 really believe that
ii would have been on the whole TO
the advantage Of our army in 1893 II
all the regular officers above the rank
OF captain had been retired and if all
the captains who were unfit to be
placed in the higher positions had also
been retired. The Eeutenants were
good. The lack of administrative skill
was even more marked than the lack
of military skill No one who saw the
congestion Of trains. supplies, animals,
men at Tampa will ever forget the
impression Of helpless confusion that
it gave him.
The volunteer forces included some
ORGANIZATIONS and multitudes of indi-
vfduals offering firstClass material But
as n whole the volunteer army would
have been utterly helpless against any
efficient regular force at the outset Of
the '9S war, probably almost as inef-