Middletown transcript., 1915-12-11

this matter, must supply them with the
training they need to take care Of them
selves and OF 1t. The military arm OF their
government which they will not allow to
direct them. they may properly use to
serve them and make their independence
secure-and not their own independence
merely but the rights also Of those with
whom they have made common cause,
should they also be put in jeopardy.
They must be fitted to play the great
role in the world, and particularly in this
hemisphere, for which they are quail
ned by principle and by chastened ambi-
ton to play.
1t Is with these ideals in mind that the
plans OF the department OF war for more
adequate national defense were conceived
which will be laid before you, and which
1 urge you to sanction and put into ef.
feet as soon as they can be properly scru-
tinized and discussed They seem to me
the essential first steps, and they seem
to me for the present suh1ciente
They contemplate an increase of the
standing force Of the regular army from
Its present strength of 5,O23 officers and
1o2.sS5 enlisted men Of all services to a
strength Of 7,l96 officers and 134.707 en-
listed men, or 1883, all told, all serv-
ices, rank and file. by the addition Of 50
companies Of coast artillery, Is COM
panies OF engineers, ten regiments Of in
fantry, four regiments Of field artillery.
and four aero squadrons, besides 80 ofh-
GERS required for a great variety Of extra
service. especially the all-important duty
of training the citizen force OF which I
shall presently speak, 1872 non-commis
stoned officers for service in drill, recruit
ing and the like. and the necessary quota
of enlisted men for the quartermaster
corps. the hospital corps, the ordnance
department and other similar auxiliary
services. These are the additions neces-
arU IN fha Cd fa fOr tfo
present duties, duties which 1t has to
perform not only upon our own conti-
mental coasts and borders and at our in
terror army posts. but also in the Phil
ippines, In the Hawaiian islands, at the
lsthmus. and in Porto Rico.
Force Of Trained Citizens.
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 contemplates
supplementins the army by a force of
100000 disciplined citizens, raised in incre-
ments OF $4,000 a year throughout a pc
riod of three years. This It is proposed
| to do by process of enlistment under
which the serviceable men Of the coun-
try would be asked to bind themselves to
serve with the colors for purposes of
training for short periods throughout
/ three years. and to come to the colors
| at call at any time throughout an addi-
tional "furlough" period of three years
| This force of 100000 men would be pro-
| vided with personal accoutrements as fast
/ as enlisted and their equipment for the
field made ready to be supplied at any
| time. They would be assembled for train
ing at stated intervals at convenient
| places in association with suitable units
Of the regular army. Their period OF
annual training would not necessarily ex-
coed two months in the year.
a - -
| ing of the younger men of the country
whether they responded to such a call
to service or not. 1t would depend upon
the patriotic spirit of the employers of
the country whether they made 1t possi-
BILE for the younger men in their EN-
ploy to respond under favorable condi-
tions or not. 1, for one, do not doubt
the patriotic devotion either of our young
men or of those who give them employ
ment-those for whose benefit and protec-
ton they would in fact enlist.
The program which will be laid before
you by the secretary OF the navy is sim
ilarly conceived. It involves only a
shortening of the time within which plans
long matured shall be carried out; but II
does make definite and explicit program
which has heretofore been only implicit
held in the minds of the committees on
naval affairs and disclosed in the debates
Of the two houses but nowhere formu-
lated or formally adopted. 1t seems to
me very clear that it will be to the ad-
vantage of the country for the congress
to adopt a comprehensive plan for put
ting the navy upon a final footing OF
strength and efficiency and to press thai
plan to completion within the next five
years. We have always looked to the
navy of the country as our first and chiei
line Of defense; we have always seen Il
to be our manifest course of prudence
| he atrODR on the Yaar hV Vaai
we have been creating a navy which nov
ranks very high indeed among the naviei
of the maritime nations. We should nov
definitely determine how we shall com
plete what we have begun. and how soon
Program for the Navy.
The secretary of the navy is as1inl
also for the immediate addition to tn,
personnel Of the navy of 800 sailors
$500 apprentice seamen, and 1900 marines
This increase would be sufficient to car
for the ships which are to be complete,
within the fiscal year 1917 and also 70
the number of men which must be put Il
training to man the ships which will b
: completed early in 1918 It is also neces
sary that the number of midshlpmen a
I the naval academy at Annapolis shoul
be increased by at least 800 in order tina
the force Of officers should be more rap
l idly added to; and authority Is asked t
8 appoint for engineering duties only, ap
I proved graduates of engineering college.
e and for service in the aviation corps
r certain number of men taken from civ
d life.
+ If this full program should be carrie
n out we should have built or building /
= 1921, according to the estimates of surviN
y al and standards of classification followe
It by the general board of the department
n an effective navy consisting of q battle
l. ships of the first line, six battle cruiser
n 20 battleships of the second line, ten a
e mored cruisers, 13 scout cruisers fN
l. tirst-class cruisers, three second-clai
} cruisers, ten third-class cruisers, los d
If troyers. IS fleet submarines, 157 coast su
e marines, six monitors, 20 gunboats, fol
1t supply ships. Is fuel ships four tran
Of ports. three tenders to torpedo vessel
ST eight vessels of special types, and ty
III ammunition ships. This would be a na'
le fitted to our needs and worthy of o
ut traditions.
m Trade and Shipping.
=, But armies and instruments of war a
Ie only part of what has to be consider
III IL we are to consider the supreme matt
of national self-sufficiency and securi
in all its aspects. There are other gre
IL matters which will be thrust upon our
ms tention whether we viii or not. The
st Is, for example, a very pressing questi
A. of trade and shipping involved in Il
h. great problem of national adequacy.
IN is necessary for many weighty reasons
d. national efficiency and development II
as we should have a great merchant n
es rine. The great merchant fleet we OF
1t used to make us rich. that great body
is sturdy sailors who used to carry our f
is- into every sea, and who were the pr
ch and often the bulwark OF the nation,
we have almost driven out of existence
dy ineXcusable neglect and Indifference 6
res by hopelessly blind and provincial I
we Icy of so-called economic protection.
ms is high time we repaired our mistake
he resumed our commercial independence
sar the seas.
)ur For it is a question of independer
IN, |