El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-12-05
in the national legisla-

preparations in the national legisla-
tUre. He declares:
we should have AZ battleships
built and building. Instead, we nave
%; electives with four scrap iron rel
les and eight venerable survivors. We
need 1877 destroyers, ready or on their
with 16 which are jokes. We need
80 fast scout cruisers but we have
only three
with our limitless coast line our
submarine strength is fourth among
the worlds navies. We have an aver
age of about five tOrpedoes to each
torpedo tube in our fleet but three
! quarters Of them are the old snort
( range variety and should pc scrap eG'
I'VE have not a single dirigible bal-
loon. We have not single armoreu
aeroplane. What aeroplanes we have
are too few to reckon.
"Our navy is now short $4,000 men,
according to assistant secretary OF the
navy Roosevelt without taking into
account the men to man the shlps no"
building.
range than the big guns on the mod
ern dreadnOughts-
should Have 100000 Men Ready.
I've should have at least 100000
men. regulars and reserves, ready TO
take the field the moment war breaks
out. We should be able 10 raise ana
have available for service million
men within a few weeks Instead we
must QeDtIlQ OH oorVVN 0e1 AAAfAA1f
: militiamen and no reserves. Three
fifths Of the militiamen do not know
how to use a rifle properly.
Too Few Officers, Says Wood.
These facts are echoed by inter
views with Maj. Gen. Wood. A
point that appeals especially to Gen.
/ Wood is the lack of officers 1t taxes
much longer to train an officer than 10
tain a private. The officers must De
trained first. too, and then train their
"Our mobile army in the continental
/ United States is about 9 percent OF the
force which it would be necessary 10
I-cau to the cOlOrs in the early stages
Of a war with a frstclass power,
said Gen. Wood recently The militia
could furnish probably 10 percent, leaN-
! ing a balance of practically 20 per
cent to be made up of men necessary
/ to fin up the regular army and the
militia TO fun statutory strength ana
/ '"To fiji up organizations to full stat
utory strength with uninstructed men
/ would be to destroy largely their ettl-
cheney; to fail to fill them up would
be to leave them so small that they
4 would have relatively little power.
! But the need of more men in the
/ ranks is only one phase of the prob
! lem as il confronts US now. There
( exists equally the necessity for build
ing up with as little delay as prac-
| tiCable, a reserve of officers quallIleu
( &c serve as company officers Of re
serves or volunteers II we were called
: upon to mobilize to meet a firstclass
/ power we should require Immediately
i several thousand officers. Where are
we to get them. This is a matter OF
/ vital importance and one which should
| be attended to at once and not left TO
I the rush, hurry and confusion pre-
! ceding war"
Offers n Remedy.
| Gen. Wood suggests an extension OF
l military instruction in our present
! schools and high schools, and sum
J mer college military camps He also
J draws attention 30 the progressive mil
! itary education which has given swift
| erland a reliable army of half a mil
! lin men.
by starting with the lower grades
| the Swiss boy receives a progressive
/ training which eliminates at his grad
uatidn or when he reaches the. age
| requiring service with the colors'
I said Gen. Wood. Then, because OF
| what he has learned gradually dur
| ing his school days, his actual fieId
/ service is but go days for infantry
! and 80 days for either the cavalry OF
7 the artillery branches
The actual annual outlay TO the
! government for its reserves does not
! exceed IS, COO 600. and yet, with this
| extremely economical outlay, SwltzeI-
/ land can muster in the hour Of need q,
! fighting force Of 100000 trained men me-
| We have a population of more than w.
! 100000, while that Of Switzerland Is