Judsonia weekly advance., 1915-12-08

the government must be their servant in 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 quali- fled by principle and by chastened ambi- ton to play.
 It 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 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 sufficient.
 They contemplate an increase of the standing force of the regular army from its present strength of 5,023 officers and 1029S5 enlisted men of all services to strength of 7,136 officers and 134,7 TOT en- listed men, or Al. S43 all told, all serv- ices, rank and file, by the addition of 52 companies of coast artillery, 15 com panies of engineers, ten regiments of in- fantry, four regiments of field artillery, and four aero squadrons, besides 750 oni- cers required for a great variety of extra service, especially the all-smportant duty of training the citizen force of which l shall presently speak, 792 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 sary to render the army adequate fer it's present duties, duties which it has to perform not only upon our own conti- mental coasts and borders and at our in terior 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 to assert some part of it's real power promptly and upon larger scale, should occasion arise, the plan also contemplates supplementins the army by a force of 100000 disciplined citizens, raised in incre ments of 133,000 a year throughout a pe- riod of three years. This it 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- 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- ceed two months in the year.
 It would depend upon the patriotic feel ing 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 whether they made it possi ble for the younger men in their enl- ploy to respond under favorable condi- tions or not. I, 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 shortening of the time within which plans long matured shall be carried out; but it does make definite and explicit program which has heretofore been only inlpliel. 2 held-!.,-ttii n1siids Of fhe 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 a comprehensive plan for put ting the navy upon 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 it 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 of the navy of 7.500 sailors, 2,500 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 1918. It 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 be 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 be carried out 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 27 battle ships of the first line, six battle cruisers. 25 battleships of the second line, ten ar- mored cruisers. 13 scout cruisers five frst-class cruisers. three second -class cruisers. ten third-class cruisers, 10S de- troyers, IS fleet submarines, l57 coast sub marines, six monitors. 20 gunboats. four supply ships. 15 fuel ships. four trans ports. three tenders to torpedo vessels eight vessels of special types, and two ships. This would be a navy fitted to our 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 self-sufficiency and security in all its aspects. There are other great matters which will be thrust upon our at- xxv14 ~x,f11 rrt-