Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-12-07

| earnestly recommend to your perusal
| the reports OF their proceedings and OF
| the actions Of their committees. You will
get from them, think fresh conception
of the ease and intelligence and advan-
tage with which Americans of both contl-
nents may draw together In practical
cooperation and of what the material
foundations OF this hopeful partnership
! OF interest must consist-of how we should
build them and of how necessary II is
l that we should hasten their building.
Defense and Economics
There IN. 7 venture 10 point out, Rn
especial Significance Just now attach
ing TO this whole matter of drawing the
Americas together In bonds of honor
able partnership and mutual advantage
because of the economic rendiustments
which the world must Inevitably witness
within the next generation, when peace
shall have nt last resumed its henlthful
tasks. In the performance of these
tasks believe the Americas to be
destined to play their parts together
] am interested to fix your attention
on this prospect now because unless
you take II within your view and per-
NIT the full Significance of 1t to com
mand your thought, l cannot find the
right light in which to set forth the
particular matter that lies at the very
front OF my whole thought as | address
you today, I mean national defense.
Must Protect Democracy
No one who really comprehcuds the
spirit of the great people for whom we
are appointed to speak can fail to perceive
that their passion is for peace, their
genius best displayed in the practice OF
the arts Of peace. Great democrnclcs
nrc not bcIliEercnt. They do not seek
or desire war. Their thought is of In
dividunl liberty and of the free labor
md tIn
thought that duickcns IL. Conquest and
dominion nre not in our reckoning or
agreeable to our principles.
But Just because we demand unmolested
development and the undisturbcd govern
ment of our own lives upon our own prin-
ciples OF right and liberty, we resent, from
whatever quarter IL may come, the aE-
Eression we ourselves will not practice.
we insist upon security In prosecuting
our se1f-ChoScn lines of national de-
yeIOpment. we do more than that. we
demand IL nlso for others. We do not
confnc our enthusiasm for individual
liberty and free national development
10 the incidents md movements of nf-
fairs which infect only ourselves. We
feet IL wherever there IN "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 of the
sea, ana nave deemed IL as important
that our ncighbors should he free from
all outside domination as that We our
selves should be; have set America aside
as a whole for the uses Of independent
nations and political frrcmen.
An Instrument of Peace
out Of such thoughts grow all our poll
cies. we regard wnr merely ns means
of asserting the rights of people
nunin4f nnErPaAiOn. And
Herccly Jealous of coercive or dictR-
torinl power within our own nation M
of aggression from without. We VIII
not maintain standing army eN-
cept for uses which are as neces
sary In times of peace as in times of war;
and we shall always see to 1t that our
military peace establishment Is no larger
than is actually and continuously needed
for the uses of days in which no enemies
move against us. But we do believe in a
body Of free citizens ready and sufficient
to take care of themselves and of the
Governments which they have set up to
serve them. In our constitutions them
selves we have commanded that "thc
right of the people TO keep and bear
arms shall not he lnfrinGed," and our
confidence has been that our safety In
times of danger would lie i'm the rising
of the nation to take care of Itself, as
the farmers rose at Lexington.
But war has never been mere matter
of men and guns. II is Il thing of disci- |
pinned might. If our citizens are ever to
fight effectively upon a sudden summons |
they must know how modern fighting Is
done and what TO do when the summons
comes to render themselves Immediately
available and Immediately effective. And
the Government must be their servant in
this matter. must supply them with the |
training they need to take care of them |
selves and of it. The military arm of
81. t1n,- ytrffl ,nt
allow to direct them, they may properly
use TO serve them and make their indie
pendence seCure-and not their own inde-
pendence merely. but the rights also of
those with whom they have made COM
mon cause. should they also be put in |
jeopardy, They must be fitted to play
the great role In the world, and par
tIcuIarIy in this hemisphere, for which
they are qualified by principle and by
ambition TO play.
Army First Confederation
Ii is with these ideals In mind that
the plans of the Department of War
for more adequate national defense
were conceived which Will he laid be-
fore you, and which urge you to sane |
tIOn and put into effect as soon they
can he properly scrutinized and dis
cussed. They seem 20 me the essential
first steps, and they seem "a me for the
present
They contemplate an increase of the |
standing force OF the regular army
from Its present strength of 5023 off,
GERS and IO2,OS5 enlisted men of all
services 10 strength of 7I36 officers
and 134,7O enlisted men, or ,s43. all
told, all services, rank and file, by the
addition of 81 companies OF coast artil-
Iery, Is companies of engineers, 10 regi-
ments of Infantry, four regiments of
field artillery and four aero squadrOns
besides $50 officers required for "A great
variety of extra service especially the
all II-impOrtant duty of training the cItI-
zen force of which 1 shall presently
speak TD2 nOncOmmissiOned officers for
service In drill recruiting and the like
and the necessary quota OF enlisted men
for the quarteFmaster corps, the hos
pitaI corps, the ordnance department.,
and either similar auxiliary services.
These are the additions necessary 10
render the army adequate for its present
duties, duties which it has TO perform not
only upon our own continental coasts and
borders and at our interior army posts
but also in the Philippines, in the Ha-
waiian Islands, at the Isthmus and in
Porto Rico.
100000 Citizens to Aid
by way of making the country ready
TO assert some part OF its real power
promptly and upon a larger scale,
should occasion arise, the plan also
eOntemPiates supPlementinE the army