The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1915-11-10

world is essentially a mission o
peace and good will among men. Sh
has become the home and asylum o
men of all creeds and races. WlthlI
her hospitable borders they hav
found homes and congenial assocla
tions and freedom and a wide an
cordial welcome, and they have be
come part of the bone and sineW AM
spirit of America itself. America ha
been made up of the nations of tn
world and is the friend of the ma
tions of the world.
But we feel justified in preparing
ourselves to vindicate our right to in
dependent and unmolested action b.
making the force that is in US read.
for assertion.
"And we know that we can do thi:
in a way that will be itself an illus
tration of the American spirit. II
accordance with our American ira
ditions we want and shall work fol
only an army adequate to the con
stant and legitimate uses Of times o.
international peace. But we do wan
citizens who have received at leas
the most rudimentary and necessary
forms Of military training; that they
will be ready to form themselves into
a fighting force at the call OF the ma
ton; and that the. nation has the
munitions and supplies with which tc
equip them without delay should /,
be necessary to call them into action
We wish to supply them with the
training they need, and we think we
can do so without calling them al
any time too long away from thei1
civilian pursuits.
''It is with this idea, with this con-
ception, in mind that the plans have
been made which it will be- my privi-
lege to lay before the congress at its
next session. That plan calls fol
only such an increase in the regular
army of the United States as expert
ence has proved to be required foI
the performance of the necessary du-
ties Of the army in the Philippines,
in Hawaii, in Puerto Rico, upon the
borders of the United States, atthe
coast Notifications, and at the mill
For the rest, It calls for the train
ing within the next three years OF q
force Of 100000 citizen soldiers to
be raised in annual contingents OF
1873, 900, who would be asked to en-
list for three years with the colors
and three years on furlough, but who
during their three years of enlist
ment with the colors would not be
organized as a standing force but
would be expected merely to undergo
intensive training for very brief
period each year. Their training
would take place in immediate asso-
citation with the organized units of
the regular army. 1t would have no
touch of the amateur about it, neith-
er would it exact of the volunteers
more than they could give in any one
year from their civilian pursuits.
"And none of this would be done
in such a way as in the slightest de-
gree to supersede or subordinate our
present seryiceable and efficient Ma
tionaI Guard. On the contrary, the
National Guard itself would be used
as part of the instrumentality by
which training would be given the
citizens who enlisted under the new
conditions, and I should hope and
expect that the legislation by which
all this would be accomplished would
put the National Guard itself upon a
better and more permanent footing
than it has ever been before, giving
it not only the recognition which 1t
deserves. but a more definite support
from the national government and
more definite connection with the
military organization of the nation.
What we all wish to accomplish is
that the forces of the nation should
indeed be part of the nation and not
a separate professional force, and the
chief cost of the system would not be
in the enlistment or in the training
of the men, but in the providing OF
ample equipment in case it should be
necessary to call all forces into the
field.
Moreover, it has been American
policy time out Of mind to look to
the navy as the first and chief line OF
defense. The navy of the United
States is already very great and et-
fcient force. Not rapidly, but slow
", with careful attention, our naval
force has been developed until the
navy of the United States stands rec
ognized as one of the most efflclent
and notable of the modern time.
"All that is needed in order to
bring it to a point of extraordinary
force and efficiency as compared with
the other navies of the world is that
we should hasten our pace in the
policy we have long been pursuing,
and that chief Of all we should have
a definite policy of Development, not
made from year to year but looking
we'll into the future and planning FOR
a definite consummation. We can
and should profit in all that we do
by the experience and example that
have been made obvious to us by the
military and naval events of the &C
tual present.
"Lt is not merely matter of build
ing battIeships and cruisers and sub
marines, but also matter of making
sure that we shall have the adequate
enuipment Of men and munitions and
supplies for the vessels we build and
intend to build. Part of our prob
lem is the problem of what I may
call the mobilization of the resoudces
of the nation at the proper time if ii
should ever be necessary to mobilize
them for national defense.
Eve shall study efficiency and
adequate equipment as carefully as
we shall study the number and size
of our ships, and I believe that the
plans already in part made public by
the navy department are plans which
the whole nation can approve with
rational enthusiasm.
NO thoughtful man feels any
panic haste in this matter. The
country is not threatened from aEy
quarter. She stands in friendly
relations with all the world. Her
resources are known and her self
respect and her capacity to care
for her own citizens and her own
rights. There is no fear amongst
us.
Under the new-world conditions
we have become thoughtful of the
things which all reasonable men con
e.