The Washington herald., 1914-12-06

account the men to man the ships now
building.
Our coast guns have a mile less
range than the big guns on modern
Dreadnoughts.
we should have at least 100000 men,
regulars and reserves. ready to take
/ the field the moment war breaks out
We should be able to raise and have
available for service a million men
/ depend on $4,000 regulars, 10000 mill
| tiamen and no reserves.
we have not a single movable siege
gun exceeding six inches in diameter.
Nor have we a single motor tractor"
These facts are shown by interviews
with Maj. Gen. Leonard Wood. a point
that appeals especially to Gen. Wood is
the lack of officers. 1t takes much long
er to train an officer than to train a pri-
vate. The officers must be trained first,
too, and then train their men.
Our mobile army in the continental
United States is about per cent Of the
force which it would be necessary to call
to the colors in the early stages of
war with a first-class power" said Gen.
Wood recently. The militia could fur
nish probably 10 per cent. leaving a bal
ance OF practically 70 per cent to be
regular army and the militia to full
statutory strength. and Of volunteers.
Must Have More Officers.
To fill up organizations to full statu-
tory strength with unlnstructed men
would be to destroy largely their eff
cheney; to fail to fill them would be TO
leave them so small that they would
have relatively little power.
Elrtt h. nF
ranks is only one phase of the problem
as it confronts US now. There exists
equally the necessity for building up
with as little delay as practicable a re-
serve OF officers qualified TO serve as
company officers Of reserves or volun-
teers. II we were called upon to mobilize
to meet a first-class power we should
require Immediately several thousand Of
ficers. 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 the rush, hurry and confusion
preceding a war
Gen. Wood suggests an extension of
military instruction in our present
schools and high schools. and summer
college military camps. He also draws
attention to the progressive military ed
ucation which has given Switzerland 4
reliable army of half a million men.
Swiss boy receives a progressive training
when he reaches the age requiring ser
vice with the colors," said Gen. Wood. |
Then because Of what he has learned |
gradually during his school days, his !
actual field service is but sixty days for |
infantry and ninety days for either the !
cavalry or the artillery branches.
The actual annual outlay to the gov
ernment for its reserves does not exceed |
S. OOO, ,OOo, and yet with this extremely |
ter in the hour OF need a fighting force !
of 10000 trained men. We have a popu- |
lation of more than 9o.O00OOO, while that
of Switzerland is less than 100000 but
see how differently we are circum-
stanced in this vieSl matter of military |
personnel.
Australia has lately found it neces-
sary to evolve a somewhat allied system |
of military training for her youth, with
male inhabitants between the years Of
eighteen and sixty. By reason of this |
statutory provision Australia will in the ,
course of a few years have available
trained force of approximately 100000"
Warming of KipIinE.
RUdyard Kipling, in a letter to
friend living in Virginia, recently show
ed that he realized fully. as does every
well-informed man in Europe. the mill
tary impotence of the United States. He
warned his American acquaintance that
the United States would some day be
trampled under foot by a strong enemy
II preparations to resist were not made
while there is yet time.
There are those who point to the rec
ords of the United State3 in previous
wars as showing what we can do to de-
fend ourselves now. Millions of men
would spring to arms, they say. But a
more careful appeal to historical records
shows that even Gen. George Washing
ton berated in severe terms the unstable