El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-12-05
Military Experts Declare
This Country Is Impotent
in Military Strength.
BY VICTOR ELLIOTT.

Wv TAsHINGTON. D. c.. Dec. s.
M Only one Of the great nations
of the earth is more helpless
TO defend itself on land than the
United States. This is China We have
not even such a mobile army as Bel
GUM, while compared with Servia' S
military establishment our army looks
No amount of argument, of theory,
of discourses on the yellow Peril
could impress this nation as four
months of the great European war
have done. Without taking sides IN
this conflict. observers from this shore
Of the Atlantic almost unanimously
have drawn the conclusion that rlSht-
eousness and treaties, together or
siuEly, cannot protect people when
war comes their way.
The speaker denOunCing our mill
tary state is embarrassed by the
wealth of material The most extreme
statements can be borne out by care
fuI statistics and the greatest anxiety
is apparent in the minds of the best
informed.
Navy is Losing Efficiency.
The navy, Of course, is vastly better
Oft than the army. But even here,
eN-secretary Of the navy, George Won
J. Meyer, declares the efficiency has
fallen alarmtnEly in the last two
years The general board of the navy,
which has fought unsuccessfully for
four battleships a year, has just met
"a luEL nGE appointments II ueEluEu
$4,000 more officers and men are
needed to main the ships now built or
building, but JOsephus Daniels. secre-
tary of the navy, refused to make
this recommendation.
The navy, even if no longer the sec
ond strongest in the world, is formid-
able compared to the army. Accord
ing to the recent report of the former
chief of staff, Maj. Gen. W. w. WOth-
erspoon, a document which is likely
to become historic, the actual fight
ing strength Of the army with the
cOlOrs, and without deductions for Of
ficers and men sick, on furlough, de-
tached service, ETC. is 2I38 officers
and 45,96S men.
This is a single army corps, that
unit of European campaigns which
sounds so small I'm the present cable
news. But it does not mean an army
corps drawn upon on shore at the
point where an enemy is trying TO
land. This little mobile force is scat
tered an through the As states, Alaska,
Porto Rico, Hawaii and the Philip
pines.
What a miserable if plucky little
body of troops would bar the way OF
a clever enemy. evadinE our navy and
swoOping down on some of the thOus-
auds Of unprotected points along our
coast can be imagined even by tie
laymanl
roosevelt Gives WarninK.t
Theodore Roosevelt has recently
pointed out how easily strong power
could seize the great cities of BOs-
ton. New York and Philadelphia, and
demand billions Of dollars from the
inhabitants. That would not be con
quering the country, of course, the
middle west and the Pacific states
might resist for years, slowly arm
and even finally drive out the inva-
der, but at what a fearful cost in
lives and money this result would be
achieved
The defence question stares congress
in the face in the shape of the reso-
luton introduced by representative Au-
gustus r. Gardner, of Massachusetts
for the creation of a national security
commission. This board is to consist
OF three senators to be appointed By
the president Of the senate, three rep
resentatives to be appointed by the
speaker Of the house and three Other
persons to be appointed by the presi-
dent of the United States. They are
to investigate and report upon the
preparedness of the United States fol
war, defensive or offensive.
Should Have A. BattIeships.
Congressman Gardner is the most
active exponent of better military