South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1915-12-14
EVEN OUR ADMIRALS AND GENERALS
ARE PRONE TO DISAGREE.

The incomprehensibe thing about professional
war experts that the army insists on ignoring the
existence Of the navy and the navy insists on ignoring
the existence It is this fact that makes II
necessary fer civilian branches of our government
congress and the executive departmental mediate be-
tween the two and adopt compromise plans
The nationai-defens report of the general army
star is striking example It calls for the creation Of
AN effective mobile lighting force Of 100000 men,
with all the equipment required for great an army
entailng an expense the first year of more than
100000 O0O--fve times present army expenditure
and a cost of S51sO0O.0OO year thereafter
The price is at first blush. appalling. We may ad-
init however that if the a real no expense
is too great pay for our safety the immediate
question is what the stans reasons for de
mandng great army2
The military experts have figured out that Germany
and Austria, cooperating in attack on the United
States could land a fully equipped expedition of more
than 100000 Atlantic coast within six weeks
and that Japan could land 100000 men on the Pacific
coast than two months
We may waive the question whether these hgures
are reasonable 1t does seem absurd to reasonably
well citizen say that the many hundreds or
even thousands Of ships needed 70 transport an army
soldiers with the vast quantity of munitions
and supplies required for warfare ia foreign land
under modern conditions could German ports,
cross the Atlantic and all ashore in so short a
period as six weeks with the landing facilities
on the Atlantic at their disposal and coast de-
Tense guns firing a shot But must assume that
That million Teutons could come and land in SIN
weeks, ready conquer us. I've had no navy.
That little IF" the army experts bithey disregard
Wat do you suppose our navy, warned months be-
foreland would doing while that vast armada was
steanling slowly across the Atlantic? What would all
our submarines be doing while those thousands of
transports supply ships approaching our ports
or lying at anchor the landing?
The army simply ignores the ocean. and shuts its
eyes to the biggest strategic fact of this which is
the protection OF England 10y its fleet
our navy is and always must be our first line of
defense Even present, though inferior TO Ger
many's navy. superior squadron that Ger
many would dare send across the Atlantic while she
has an enemy left in Europe. With navy bigger
than Germany s-whch ought TO have and Will
have soOn-what possible chance would that clumsy
armada have of getting within striking distance o
New York making landing with lighters on an
exposed coast? The same reasoning applies to Japan
whose stronger than the squadron We
shall soon have i'm the Pacific alone
Manifesty. il branch of national defense is
to be greatly enlarged should Zoe the navy, although
the naval experts nearly one-eyed in their views
as the army But whatver plan of defense is
worked the army and navy should be considered
as coordinate branches of defense cooperating in
particular a rational system of adjustment would
keep running into absurd extremes at the
behest of either the generals the admrals