Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1914-05-14
ARMY IS EFFICIENT
Officers of General Staff Compare
Chaos of 1898 to Now.
System Also Seen In Work of Navy
Every Road and River in Mexico
Mapped by Agents of United
States Secret Service.

Washington, D. C.-"The difference
between preparations for war in 1898
and now" said an officer of the gen.
eral staff of the army, lis just the
difference between a general staff and
no general staff, a state of relatively
high efficiency and chaos. There are
lot of people going around this town
today who think that the army and
navy are asleep at the switch, so to
speak. They will awaken some day
to find some foreign military observ-
ers complimenting this government
on its ability to furnish fighting men,
fully equipped on short notice"
This observation was based on the
assertion of a veteran correspond
ent in Washington, who complained
that he could find no basis of COM
parison between the Spanish war days
in Washington and the present time.
"You will recall" said the army Off
Ger, that the Spanish war literally
fell on the war department like light
ming out of clear sky, comparatively
speaking While there had been in
timations from time to time that the
United States would be compelled to
intervene in Cuba, sooner or later,
and while chiefs of division and OF
bureaus in both the war and navy de-
partments had done all they could to
bring order out of chaos, the fact was
that there were no central men or
organizations about which the whole
departments revolved except the civ
ilian secretaries.
mo one central body, like the pres
ent general staff of the army and
navy, no one individual like the chief
of-staf or the admiral of the navy.
was officially responsible for the eff
cheney of either the army or the navy
There was no one charged with the
work of taking steps In advance to
meet crisis.
I'm the present crisis work on the
Mexican situation began in the war
and navy departments when the Ma
dero revolution broke out. From that
time down to the present the staff at
the war college Of the army and navy
has been in the closest possible touch
with the situation In Mexico. The
names of the commanders and their
fighting characteristics have been
learned and studied; the size of their
respective forces has been known,
particularly those of the Independent
commands, whose following is largely
personal in the territories in which
they operate.
There Is today not road or river
in Mexico that is not sketched on the
war maps Of the war department, even
down to available drinking water.
Last January the secret service Of the
navy department put marine officers
into Mexico in civilian clothes, and
what they do not know about the rail-
roads Of Mexico and the by-paths,
should those railroads be destroyed,
is not worth knowing.
Scott marched to Mexico City
without a railroad, and the army will
If it has to do so. While the rail-
road would help matters much and
would materially expedite the for
ward movement, the army is on It's
mettle in the present crisis and Will
make good to the satisfaction Of the
people who support it.
'"The main test, SO far as the army
goes, lies in the rapidity Of mobiliZa-
ton of the state militia and the Volun-
teers. This nation does not maintain
a standing army large enough to meet
an emergency even such as this one.
Invasion of any foreign country Is no
longer an easy matter. The state mi
litia will always find place hereafter
In the first army that goes to the
front
Every effort has been made to i'm
bue that service with the high ideals,