The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1915-12-07

as or Aggression rom Wlfn0ut. we
will not maintain standing army ex-
Icept for uses which are 90 necessary
in times OF peace as ID times OF war,
and we shall always see to 1t that our
military peace establishment Is no
larger than ia ,actuslly and: continuous
II needed for the uses Of days In which
no enemies move against NJ. But we
do believe In body. Of free citizens
ready and sumcient to take care scf
themselves and Of the governments
which they have set up to serve them.
In our constitutions themselves we
have commanded that ''the right Of
the people to keep and bear arms shall
not be infringed." and our confidence
has been that our safety in times OF
danger would lie in the rising Of the
nation to take care Of itself, rs the
farmers rose at Lexington.
| War Disciplined Might. H.
But war has never been q mere mat
ter of men and guns. 1t is q thing
of disciplined might. II our citizens
are ever to fight effectively upon 1
sudden summons, they must know
how modern fighting is done, and what
to do when the summons. comes to
render themselves Immediately avail
able and Immediately effective. And
the government must be their servant
in this matter, must supply them with
the training they need to take care of
themselves and OF 1t. The military
arm of their government. which they
| mill ~ all k,l
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 am
bition 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 he laid before
you. and which l urge you to sanction
and put into effect as soon as they can
be properly scrutinized and discussed,
They seem to me the essential first
steps. and they seem TO me- for, the
present sufficient -
They contemplate an increase of the
standing force of the regular army
from it's present strength Of 5.O23 Off
GERS and 1O:.0S5 enlisted men of all
services to u strength of 7,136 officers
and 134,7O7 enlisted men. on .14f.S4433
all told. all services, rank and. file. by
the addition of fifty-ewo companies of
coast artillery, fifteen companies OF en-
gfneers. ten regiments Of infantry, four
regiments OF field artillery and four
aero snuadrons. besides $50 officers re-
quired for p great variety OF extra
service, especially the all important
duty Of training the citizen force OF
which l shah presently speak. 792 non
commissioned officers for service in
drill. recruiting 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 Ire. eSsary to render
the army adequate for, it's present du-
ties, duties which it has to perform
not only upon our own continental
coasts and borders and at our interior
army posts, but also In the Philippines.
in the Hawaiian Islands. at the 18TH
mus and in Porto Rico.
BY way Of making the country ready
to assert some part Of It's real power
lpromptly and upon larger scale
should occasion arise the plan also
contemplates experimenting the army
by force of 100000. disciplined citi.
zens, raised in increnents of 1873 600 a
year throughout q period. Of three
years This it is proposed to do by a
process Of enlistment Under which the
serviceable men of the country would
be asked to bind fhcmselves to serve
with the colors for purposes Of train
ing for short periods throughout three
years and to come to the colors at call
at any time throughout an additional
"furloush'' period Of three years. This
force of 100000 men would be pro-
vided with personal accouterments as
fast as enlisted and their equipment
for the field made ready to be supplied
at any time They would be assem-
bled for training at stated intervals at
convenient places in association with
suitable units of the regular army.
Their period of annual training would
not necessarily exceed two months in
the year. 2.
1t would depend upon the patriotic
feeling of the younger men of the
country whether they responded to
such a call to service or not. It
would depend upon the patriotic spirit
Of the employers of the country wheth-
er they made It possible for the young
err men in their employ to respond IN
der favorable conditions or not for
one do not doubt the patriotic devotion
either of our young men OF Of those
who give them employment-thosef for
whose benefit and protection they
would in fact enlist L, would look
forward to the success Of such an ex-
pertinent with entire confidence. :.
At least 50 much by way Of prepare
ton for defense seems to me to be alb
solutely imperative now. We cannot
do less. -
The program which will be laid be-
fore you BY the secretary Of the navy