The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-12-10
GARRISON EMPHASIZES NEED OF GREATER MILITARY STRENGTH
 FOR US. TO MEET EMERGENCIES
In Annual Report Refutes Arguments of Those Who Oppose More BulNarks of National Defence-Con-
 hict Between Right and w Inevitable, He Says

i Throughout the more than century and a quarter of our existence. the results existing in the world to-day do not warrant the belief that our example has had any beneficial effect
 There are some who decry taking any precautions or making any prepa- ratfons of the military power of the Nation because they say it will not prevent war but will provoke it. Men and nations must prepare to meet their responsibilities; if it is mad Evisable to develop strength sufficient to repel wrong because such develop ed strength may be n1isused, human nature has indeed reached an inn pass. Why should it be presumed that just mah or just nation will cease to be just because it has the power to be unjust? We must eith- CT trust others or trust ourselves.
 s'Another stumbling block to some is the suggestion that no preparation should be made and no precaution should be taken because II pone can foreteH how much we may have to meet and what we will require to meet it. Here again the idea ennb odied in this suggestion would stay all human progTess. There will be some who assert that the devastating effects and the horror produced by the war now being waged make it certain that war will be avoided for a long period of time after the close of the present war. They will argue that the exhaus- ton of resources and the recollection Eof the awful suffering will have the ing upen war. What basis is there for such belief? Certainly such basis cannot be found in history-our own or that of other nations.
 There will be those who believe and assert that the time when war can be avoided by negotiation or ar-s gbitration or other like means will be advanced if we refrain from adopting a proper military policy, but will be set back, if we do SO. It is difficult to comprehend on what basis such a belief can reasonably rest. and there fore it is difficult to reason about it. It seems to rest upon the idea that if we are feeble and weak in action, we will be strong and persuasive in eoun- sell that by avoWedly neglecting to prepafe to protect our rights we will be the better able to secure their protection by appeal. by arbitration, or by argument No one need have the slightest fear that our voice for peace- ful settlement of the auarrels of na,- tiens will receive. any the less atten- tIan because Awe stand foR the right and are prepared to maintain it at any proper cost On the contrary, the voice of such one is always lis- stned to and usually controls.
 If the determination arrived at by these whose knowledge and e1peri- ence makes their judgment practical ly conclusive is accepted, we should have in this Gountry a force of at least 6eos0Qe men ready for instant re- sponse to a call in the event of war or the inminence of war. It is surely not necessary to state the many req sons why this force may not be sup piled by a regular standing army of that number canstantly under arnfs. There is no legal way that the Nation- al Guard can, in time of peace, be governed, offered, or trained by the National 'GoYernment; and there is no legal way. excepting by Volunt eering, that it can be made available to the Nation in time of war to any greater. extent than specified in the Constitu- ton, which eonfessedIy falls short of the necessary uses te which an army
 may have to be put in the event of a war with a foreign nation,
 It becomes necessary, therefore, to devise seme method of making avail able for the use Of the nation in time of war national force in supplement of that part of the national force. to wit, the Regular Army, which is con sfantIy under arHass a part of the Ar Eay. in other words. to be raised and maintained by Congress and governed in all respects in accordance with it's directions When this system is de- vised and made operative the Nation would militarily be in this situation: It would have, as the Gonstitutien provides, an Army raised and main tained by it, composed of a certain number constantly under arms, and a very much larger number definitely identified in personnel. provided with equipment and organization. possess 4<>R kr- G. instant call, The States would have the Organized Militia, developed with Federal assistance to the highest practicable point of efficiency, avail. able for the purposes specified in the Constitution, and so circurnstaneed that in the event of a war with for eign nation they could, by their own volition, immediately take their place with the other military force of the Nation.v
 The report takes up in detail the plan of military preparation already made public and endorsed by Presi- dent Wilson, and declares the Swiss and Austraiian systems are founded on governmental institutions and pow CTS differing so radically from those in the United States that any attempt to adapt either to America use would mean great delay. q
 Enough has been said to demon StFate, l1le oecfeIary concludes that to get something done now=some- thing that is well worth whiIe-tEe best course is to recognize and operate under existing conditions. The other course is to imagine vain thing and accomplish nothing.''
 Turning to Our abiding national policies,F' the board finds these to be the Monroe Doctrine and the policy of avoiding "entangling alliances" To maintain these. it says, a co-ordinated policy of land and sea defense must be evolved.
 The report contains 9 table of the military strength of the seven leading foreign powers as of August. 1914. and also an estimate of the available ship ping for military expedition to the United States. It says a sfPeasonable slaa1zs ttaat r.,.