Bisbee daily review., 1915-12-19
GENERALS AND ApMlRAls

GENERALS AND ADMlRALs
 The ncomprehens'ble thing about our professional var experts Is that he army insists on ignoring tho ez istcnce of Che navy and the navy nsts ignomg tho existence of the army It this fact that makes it nee ossary for civilian branches of government gress and the execu,tye departmeut-to mediate be .ween the two and adopt compromise plans
 The national defense report of tue general army staff striking example. It calls for the creation of er fectiye mobile fighting force of I5OOdOO men with all he equipment required for great army, entang ln for the first of more than s5oOOoOOOo- five times our present army expendture-and cost Of 53l9 100000 year thereafter
 The price is at first blush appalling. We may admit however that if the need real expense is great To pay for our safety The immediate question s, what are the war stars for demanding so great Ia 9my2
 The military experts have figured out that Germany and Austria, cooperating in an attack the United States could land fully equipped expedition of more than 1,OOOOOO men on our Atlantic coast within six weeks, and that Japan could land 24ooOo men the Pacific coast in less than two months
 We may waive the qeusuon whether these figures are reasonable. IL does seem absurd to reasonably well informed citizen to say that the many hundreds even thousands of ships needed transport army 1OOO. 900 soldiers with the quantity of munitions and plies required for warfare in foreign land under mod conditions could leave German pors the Att .antic and set all ashore in short period six weeks, with the best landing facilities the At coast at their disposal and defense guns firing a shot But We must assume that the army eS- perts know what they talking about that a million Teutons could come and land in six weeks, ready to conquer us, Five had no navy.
 That little "if' the army experts bthly disregard
 What do you suppose our navy warned months be- forehand, would be doing while that vast armada was steauing slowly across the Atlantic? What would all our submarines be doing while those thousands of ports and supply ships were approaching our ports ing at anchor for the landing?
 The army simply ignores the ocean, and shuts its eyes to the biggest strategic fact of this which ls the protection of England by its fleet
 Our navy is and always must be first line of de fease. Even present though inferior to Germany navy it superior any squadron that Germany would dare send carss the Atlantic while she has enemy left in Europe. With a navy bigger than Germany s-whict we ought 10 have and will have somewhat possible chance would that clumsy armada have of getting with in striking distance of New York or making landing with lighters on an exposed coast? The same reason ng applies to Japan whose whole fleet is no stronger than the squadron shall soon have in the Pacific alone
 Manfesuy. if one branch of our uatlona defense h to be greatly enlarged, it should be the navy ahoust the naval experts are nearly oneeyed in their view as the army But whatever plan of defense h worked the army and navy should be considered a coordinate branches of defense cooperating in eveu particular. rational system of adjustment would kee us from running into absurd extremes the behest either the generals or the admiras.