New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-12-08
National Defence
Duty of the Hour

Duty of the Hour
There is, I venture to point out, m
especial significance just now attach
ing 20 this whole matter Of drawing
the Americas together in bonds of hon
orable partnership and mutual advan-
tGge because of the economic readjust-
ments which the world must inevitably
witness within the next generation,
when rcace shall have at last resumed
its hcaltnful tasks. In the perform
ance Of these tasks I believe the Ameri-
cas- to be destined 10 play their parts
together ! am interested to fix your
attention on this prospect now because
unless you take il within your view
and permit the full significance of it
20 command your thought I cannot find
the right light in which to set forth
the particular matter that lies AZ the
very front Of my whole thought as
address you to-day. ! mean national
defence
No one who really comprehends the
spirit of the great people for whom we
are appointed TO speak can fail to per
ceive that their passion is for peace,
their genius best displayed in the prac-
ticc Of the arts OF peace. Great de-
mocracies are not belligerent. They do
not seek or desire war. Their thought
.of individual liberty and of the free
labor that supports life and the uncen-
sored thought that quickens it. Con-
quest and dominion are not in our reck-
oning or agreeable TO our principles.
But just because we demand unmO-
Tested development and the undisturbed
government Of our own lives upon our
own principles of right and liberty we
resent, from whatever quarter il may
come, the aggression we ourselves will
not practise. We insist upon security
in prosecuting our self-chosen lines Of
national development We do more
than that We demand IL also for
others. We do not confne our enthu-
siasm for individual liberty and free
national development to the incidents
fand movements Of affairs which affect
only ourselves. We feel 1t wherever
there is a people that tries to walk in
these difficult paths Of independence
and right. From the first we have
made common cause with all partisans
Of liberty on this side the sea, and
have deemed IL as important that our
ueighbors should be free from al out
side domination as that We ourselves
should be; have set America aside as
a whole for the uses of independent
nations and political freemen.
Ready for Self-Defence.
Out of such thoughts grow all our
policies. We regard war merely ms a
means Of asserting the rights Of a
people against aggression. And we are
as fercely Jealous Of cOercive or dicta-
toral power within our own nation as
Of aggression from without. We will
not maintain standing army except
for uses which are as necessary in
times of peace as in times Of war; and
we shall always see 10 IL 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 IH a body Of free
citizens ready and sufficient 10 take
care OF themselves and Of the govern
ments which they have set up TO serve
them. In our constitutions themselves
we have commanded that "the right OF
the people 20 keep and bear arms shall
not be infringed," and our confidence
has been that our safety in times OF
danger would lie in the rising Of the
nation TO take care Of itself, as the
farmers rose az Lexington.
But war has never been a mere mat
ter of men and guns. It Is a thing OF
disciplined might. II our citizens are
ever TO fight effectively upon a sudden
luminous, they must know how modern
frhting is done and what 10 do when
TIC summons comes TO render them
selves Immediately available and imme.
d.atcly effective. And the government
must be their servant In this matter
must supply them with the training
tbev need 10 take care Of themselve'
and Of il. The military arm OF then
government, which they will not allo"
% direct them, they may properly use
10 serve them and make their inde-
uendcnce sccure-and not their own In
dependence merely. but the rights also
Of those with whom they nave mace
common cause. should they also De pu'
/ I'm jeopardy. They must be htted 20
play the great role in the world ana
particularly IN this hemisphere, i9i
which they arc qualhed ~ pilhc'P'e
and by chastened ambition to play.
II Is with these ideals In mind thai
the plans Of the Department OF var
/ FOR more adequate national defence
were conceived which will be laid De-
. fore you, and which | urge you 70 sane
/ ton and put into effect as soon as tney
can be properly scrutinized and dis,
cussed. They seem TO me the essential
FIRST steps, and they seem 20 me for the
( present sufficient.
For a Larger Army.
/ They contemplate an increase Of the
I standing force Of the regular army
! from It's present strength OF b,023 off,
GERS and l02.9s5 enlisted men Of all ser
vices % a strength OF 7,i8G officers and
/ i3f,7O7 enlisted men. or l4i ,si3, all told,
OF services, rank ard Gle, By the add
ton o. hfty-twO companies Of coast
artillery, fifteen companies of enRi-
| neers, An regiments Of infantry, four
regimen Of Geld artillery and four
aero squadrons. besides 100 officers re-
] qpirod for a great variety of extra ser