The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1915-12-09


selves and of it, The military arm OF their
government. which they will not allow To
direc; 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
fled by principle and by chastened ambi-
tion to play.
II 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
] urge you 10 sanction and put into ef-
feet as soon as they can be properly scru-
tinixed and discussed. They seem 10 me
the essential first steps. and they seem
to me for the present sufficient.
They contemplate increase of the
standing force Of the regular army from
It's present strength OF 5023 officers and
h..ssS enlisted men Of all services to a
strength Of 7l3G officers and l34. .107
| listed men. or 1888. all told. all serv-
Ices. rank and file. by the addition of 81
companies of coast artillery. Is COM
panies OF engineers. ten regiments of in
fantry. four regiments of field artillery.
and four aero squadrons, bes. s.des $50 onl-
GERS required for great variety of extra
service, especially the al-'mportant duty
OF training the citizen force of which !
shall presently speak, 792 non-cOmms-
| stoned officers for service in drill. recruit
| ing and the like. and the necessary quota
| of enlisted men for tile quartermaster
| corps. the hospital corps. the ordnance
department and other similar auxiliary
services. These are the additions neces
sary to render the army adequate for its
present duties, duties which 1t has to
nllF
mental coasts and borders and at our in
| terror army posts. but also in the Phil
| ippines, in the Hawaiian islands. at the
isthmus. and in Porto Rico.
Force Of Trained Citizens.
BY way of making the country ready
10 assert some part of Its real power
promptly and upon larger scale. should
occasion arise. the plan also contemplates
| supplementine the army by force of
10000 disciplined citizens, raised in incre
ments OF l33.0oO year throughout a pc
| riod Of three years. This 1t is proposed
to do by a 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-
| tiohal "furough" period Of three years
| This force of 100000 men would be pro-
| 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.
1t would depend upon the patriotic feel
| ing of the younger men of the country
whether they responded to such call
to service or not. 1t would depend upon
| the patriotic spirit of the employers of
the country whether they made it posi-
BILE for the younger men in their en-
ploy to respond under favorable condi-
| tions or not. I, for one. Go 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. 1t involves only
shortening of the time within which plans
| long matured shall be carried out; but 1t
| does make definite and explicit a 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. It seems to
| me very clear that 1t will be to the ad-
vantage OF the country for the congress
| TO adopt comprehensive plan for put
| ting the navy upon a final footing of
strength and efficiency and to press that
| plan to completion within the next five
years. We have always looked TO the
| navy OF the country as our first and chief
| line of defense: we have always seen II
| to be our manifest course of prudence
| to be strong on the seas. Year by year
| we have been creating a navy which now
| ranks very high indeed among the navies
| of the maritime nations. We should now
definitely determine how We shall com
plete what we have begun, and how soon
Program for the Navy.
The secretary of the navy is asking
| also for the immediate addition to the
| personnel of the navy of 1900 sailors
25oO apprentice seamen and 1.500 marines
| This increase would be sufficient to care
| for the ships which are to be completed
| within the fiscal year 1917 and also for
! the number Of men which must be put in
| training to man the ships which will be
| completed early in 1915. 1t is also neces-
| sary that the number of midshipmen at
| the naval academy at Annapolis should
! be increased by at least 300 in order that
the force of officers should he more rap
! idly added to: and authority is asked to
| appoint for engineering duties only. ap-
proved graduates of engineering colleges
! and for service in the aviation corps a
! certain number of men taken from civil
! life.
| If this full program should he carried
| ont we should have built or building in
| 1921, according to the estimates of surviv-
| al and standards of classification followed
| by the general board of the department.
| an effective navy consisting of - battle
| ships of the first line. six battle cruisers.
| 70 hattlcships of the second line, ten arr
| mored cruisers. IL scout cruisers. five
| frst-class cruisers. three second-class
cruisers ten third-class cruisers, los de-
| troyers. Is fleet submarines. 151 coast sub
| marines. six monitors. 20 gunboats. four
| supply ships. II fuel ships, four trans
| ports. three tenders to torpedo vessels.
| eight vessels of special types and two
ammunition ships. This would be a navy
| fitted to needs and worthy of our
traditions.
Trade and Shipping.
But armies and instruments OF war are
only part of what has TO be considered
if we are to consider the supreme matter
of national se!f-sufiiciency and security
in all Its aspects. There are other great
matters whicff.will be thrust upon our at