Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1915-12-08
we demand 1t also for others.
 Question of Preparedness

Ous oA sucA thoughts grow all our policies. We regard war merely as a means of asserting the rights of a peo- pie against aggression. And we ara as hercely jealous of coerciye or dic- tatorlal power within our own nation as of aggression from without. We Will not maintain standin4 army ex. cept for uses which are as necessary III times Of peace as in times of war: and we shall always see to it that our military peace establishment is no larger than is actually and continu. ously needed for the uses of days in which no enemies move against us. But we do believe in body of free clt1zens ready and sufficient to take care Of themselves and of the govern ments which they have set up to serve them.
 But war has never been mere mat ter of men and guns It is a thing of disciplined might If our citizens are ever to fight effectively upon sudden summons, they must know how mod ern lighting is dor }, and what to do when the summons comes to render themselves immediately available and immediately effective. And the gov- .ernment must be their servant in this matter, must supply them with the training they need to take care of themselves and of it.
 It Is with these ideals in mind that inc n1Qnc nf ha for more adequate national defense were conceived which will be laid be- fore you, and which I urge you to sanction and put into effect as soon as they can be properly scrutinized and discussed. They seem to me the essential first steps, and they seem to me for the present sufficient.
 Larger Army Plan.
 They contemplate an increase of the standing force of the regular army from it's present strength of 5,O23 officers and 102,9S5 enlisted men of all services to strength of 7,136 officers and 134,7O7 enlisted men, or 141,S43, all told, all services, rank and file, by the addition of fifty-two companies of coast artillery, fifteen companies of engi- neers, ten regiments of infantry, four regiments of field artillery, and four aero squadrons, besides 75O officers required for great variety of extra service, especially the all important duty of training the citizen force of which I shall presently speak, 792 noncommissioned officers for serv- ice in drill, recruiting and the like, and the necessary quota of en- listed men for the quartermaster corps, the hospital corps, the ord nance department. and other similar auxiliary services. These are the ad- ditions necessary to render the army adequate for it's present duties, duties which it has to perform not only upon our own continental coasts and bor- ders and at our interior army posts, but also ill the Philippines, in the Hawaiian islands, at the isthmus, and in Porto Rico.
 By way of making the country ready to assert some part of it's real power promptly and upon a larger scale, should occasion arise, the plan also contemplates supplementing the army by a force of 100000 disciplined citi- zens, raised in increments of 133,. 900 a year throughout a period of three years. This it is proposed to do by process of enlistment un' der which the serviceable men of the country would be asked to bind them. selves to serve with the colors for pur. pose of training for short periods throughout three years, and to come to the colors at call at any time throughout an additional ''furlough' period of three years. This force of 100000 men would be provided with personal accoutrements as fast as enlisted and their equipment for the field made ready to be sup. piled at any time. They would be assembled for training at stated in. tervals at convenient places in asso' citation with suitable units of the regular army. Their period of annual training would not necessarily exceed two months in the year.
 At least so much by the way of preparation for defense seems to me to be absolutely imperative now. We cannot do less.
 The Naval Program.
 The program which will be laid Re' fore you by the secretary of the navy is similarly conceived. It involves only a shortening of the time within