The Washington times., 1914-08-26

as it has beenllately. would, it is ar
gued, compel this country to consider
what to do about putting its land forces
in condition to repel possible invasion
in force.
Plan to Seize New York.
This country and Germany are
friends, and the chances are will al
ways remain so. Still. there has in
late years been some serious CONNER
cial friction. And II is a remarkable
fact that a member of the German gen.
eral staff not long ago mapped out a
plan whereby the Germans could throw
large force of their superbly organ
lied army into the eastern part Of the
United States. seize New York and
other big cities and hold them indefi-
nitely-
Far-fetched as this may seem, ii
would not be impossible with an ade-
quate force of transports to do 4.
Americans will question whether any
to Germany. Nevertheless. given con-
troll Of the sea. and a fleet of fifty
transports, il would be possible for
Germany to throw a force into New
England or elsewhere along the At
lantic coast that would be more than
equal to any force this country could
concentrate in the short space OF
time required to hurry troops across
the Atlantic.
Would Take Cities in Rear.
Such forces would not attempt to
enter any fthe well-fortified har-
bors, but would land at some unforti-
fed place, not unfavorable to ship
ping, and would take the great cities
in the rear. This is the plan advocat-
ed rot long ago by a German officer
who discussed the possibilities Of war
with America. He pointed out the
fact that the capture of a few great
cities like New York. Boston. and
Philadelphia, would strike q hard
blow at the United States in a fnas1 :
cial sense and might lead to willing
ness on the part of this country to
make peace.
II is quite evident the German
strategist has not sounded the depths
of the American temper. but it is true,
IN the opinion of many students Of our
military situation. that the European
war and the forces put into the field on
sudden notice by various countries show
the weakness of the United States
Sudden war with big power would
find ii almost helpless on land. II would
take months of preparation 70 get the
forces in shape and, in the meantime,
much damage might be done. The
remedy cannot be large standing
army because the public will not con-
sent u IL ne II a
remedy is to be adopted. is to find some
scheme Of giving a large share Of the
Young men training to arms without
removing them from civil life except for
short periods.
Plan by General Wood.
This is the plan which Gen. Leonard
Wood. former chief of staff. favored
He believes in the short enlistment, in
student camps and in other methods
whereby a large element of the popula-
tion gets trained to arms and at the
same time is not taken from civil life
long enough TO work to disadvantage
This is the theory of the Swiss meth
Cd under which little Switzerland prob
ably has the best shooting and most
effective force of civilian soldiery in
the world. Every able-bodied man is
well able to bear a rife in defense of
his country If the need comes
Not alone a great victory for Germany
NAV cause this country to think hard
oil its military policy. Increasing po-
tency of Japan in the Pacific may DO
the same thing. The crushing of Ger
many and the rise on her ruins of an
other great military nation as Russia,
might do the same thing. II the Eu-
ropean war is fought to 4 draw and the
+ Iropean nations continue about as In
the past 10 have to spend most of their
time watching each other, the United
States will be enabled TO go on its un-
prepared way rejoicing. and probably
will do il.