Evening star., 1915-01-22
ARMY BILL DEBATED
| BY HOUSE MEMBERS
Measure Carrying Appropria-
ton of $1O1, 100000
Discussed.
FACING THE DEMAND FOR
LARGER DEFENSE FORCE
Representative Hay Heard in Behalf
of the Administration Pres
ent Military Policy.

Debate under the Hve-nlnute rule on
the army appropriation bill carrying siol.-
10000 began today in the House of Rep
| resentatives, following the conclusion of
| the seven-hour general debate yesterday
afternoon. The military affairs committee
faces today the attempts Of Represent
| ative Gardner of Massachusetts and other
big army" advocates to amend the bill
SO to greatly increase the fighting force.
| and, incidentally. the annual expenses of
this branch of the national defense.
Gardner Amendments Voted Down.
The attack on the bill began today,
when Representative Gardner of Mas
sachusetts endeavored to raise the
aeroplane appropriation from 100000
to s1,000,00o. He said that of the thir-
ty-two aeroplanes in the army. six are
crippled, none is armored. and that the
reserve aero fleet is nothing but a lot
of spare parts Both Representative
Hay. chairman, and Representative
Kahn, ranking republican on the mill
tary committee, said that the bill car
ries all the aeroplane money the army
asked for. and the Gardner amend
ment was voted down.
He also offered unsuccessfully an
amendment to increase the personnel
of the coast and field artillery. He
claimed that the coast artillery is 5s4
officers and nearly 1900 men short of
the requisite number for complete
coast defense.
Present Policy Defended.
The present military policy was defend
ed yesterday by Representative Hay Of Vir-
ginia. chairman of the military affairs
committee, who deprecated the war talk,
and said it is not necessary to add a
single man to the standing army of the
United States, while Representative Kahn
of California, ranking republican member
of the committee. and Representative
Gardner of Massachusetts insisted that
the present force is inadequate.
In the course of his speech. Represent
ative Hay said:
Representative Greene of Vermont,
formerly adjutant general of his state.
declared that the military reserve ques-
tion never will be satisfactorily settled
until each of the forty eight states Of the
Union consents to surrender its exclusive
jurisdiction over its quota OF the So
called National Guard" He said the
states should undertake the movement to
this end.
Without adequate Defense"
Representative Kahn Of California said
he believed in being prepared for any
possible emergency. and that the United
States did not have an adequate de-
tense"
Il have no fear of any early trouble
with any foreign country" he said, '.and
yet l recognize the fact that rulers and
ca binets and peoples are all human. This
| country should be So well equipped that
In case any country wants to engage IN
war with US; that country will thInk two
or three times before it takes up
cudgels.'
Representative Sloan of Nebraska de-
90, A,a
recently was sentenced by a court mar
tiai to dismissal from the army for con-
duct unbecoming an officer and a gentle
man. Mr.. Sloan said the officer had made
brilliant record in the Philippines, was
brave, courageous, pure in Ianguag
| thought and action" and could not have
been guilty of the offenses with which
he was charged.