Semi-weekly herald. [volume] (Durango, Colo.) 1907-1917, 1915-12-09

Dlay the great role III the "oIiui
and particularly in this hemisphere
Tor which they are qualified by prln-
ciple and By cnastened ambition TO
play.
1t is with these ideals in mind that
the plans of the department OF war
Tor more adequate national defense |
were conceived which wlll be Iald
before you, and which | urge you TO
sanction and put INTO effect as soon
as they con be properly scrutinized
and discussed. Ihey seem to Inc the
essential inst steps, and they seem
10 me for the present sufficient.
They contemplate an increase OF
the standing force Of the regular
army from its present strength OF
live thousand and rwenty-tnree OIL
eers and one hundred and two thous-
and nine hundred and eighty-five en-
listed men of all services 10 a strength
oil seven Thousand one hundred and
trirty-siX officers and one hundred and
thirty-four thousand seven hundred
and seven enlisted men, or l4l, S43, all
told, all services, rank and file, by the
addition Of fifty-two companies OF
coast artillery, fifteen companies oil
engineers, ten regiments OF infantry,
Tour regiments OF field artillery, and
four aero squadrons, besides seven
hundred and fifty officers required
Tor a great variety Of extra service,
especially the all important duty OF
training the citizen force OF which /
shall presently speak, seven hundred
and mnety-two non-commissioned Off
GERS for service in drill, recruiting
and the like, and the necessary quota
Of enlisted men for the quartermaster
corps, the hospital corps, the ordnan-
ce department and other similar auxil-
ery services. These are the additions
necessary 10 render the army adequate
or its present duties, duties which
1t 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
Stands, at the lsthmus and in Porto
Rico.
BY way of making the country
| ready to assert some part of its real
! power promptly and upon larger
scale, should occasion arise, the plan
also contemplates experimenting the
army by force OF four hundred thou
| sand disciplined citizens, raised IN
ncrements of one hundred and thirty
I -hree thousand a year turnout a
period OF three years. This 1t is pro
posed to do by process of enlistment
tnder which the servicable men OF the
country would be asked TO bind them
selves to serve with the colors for
purposes of training FOR short periods
| lhruout three years, and TO come to
ne colOrs at call at any time thru
out an additional "furlough" period OF
hree years. This force of Jour hun
dred thousand men would be provided
with personal ACCOMPLISHMENTS as fast
as enlisted and their equipment for
he field made ready to be supplied at
any time. They would be assembled
or training ut stated intervals al
convenient places IN association with
| uitable units of the regular army,
Their period OF annual training would
not necessarily exceed two months in
.he year.
1t would depend upon the patriotic
| ceiling 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 wheth-
II they made it possible for the young
| ar men in their emplov to respond
| under favorable conditions or not. /,
or one, 90 not doubt the patriotic
devotion either of our young men or
Of those who give them employment
those for whose benefit ana pro-
lection they would in fact enlist. /
| look forward TO the success of such
IN experiment with entire confidence.
At least SO much by way of prep
aratlon for defense seems to me to
oe absolutely imperative now. We
cannot do less.
The program which VIII be laid be-
lore you by the secretary OF the navy
is similarly conceived. 1t involves
only a shortening OF the time within
which plans long matured shall be
! carried out; but 1T does make defin-
lite 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 advantage of tho country for
the congress TO adopt comprehensive
plan for putting the navy upon a
final footing of strength and efficien-
cy and to press that plan to COM
pletion 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
1t to be our manifest course of pru-
dence to be strong on the seas. Year
by year we have been creating a
navy which now ranks very high in
deed among the navies of the maritime
nations. We should now definitely
determine how we shall complete
what we have begun, and how soon.
The program to be laid before you
contemplates the construction within
| five years Of ten battleships, six bat
tie cruisers, ten scout cruisers, fifty
destroyers, fifteen fleet submarines,
eighty-five coast submarines, four
gunhoats, one hospital ship, two am
munition ships, two fuel oil ships, and
one repair ship. 1t is proposed that
of this number we shall in the first
year provide for the construction of
two battleships, two battle cruisers,
three scout cruisers, fifteen DESTROY