The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1915-12-11

training they need to take care of them
selves and OF II The military arm Of their
government. which they viii 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 quail
fed by principle and by chastened ambi-
ton 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 be laid before you. and which
urge you to sanction and put into eff
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 SOB officers and
strength of 7.136 officers and 134,7O7 en-
listed men, or IA. s43 all told. all serv-
ices, rank and file. by the addition of -
companies of coast artillery, I5 COM
panies Of engineers. ten regiments of in
fantry, four regiments of field artillery,
and four aero squadrons, besides $50 on
GERS required for great variety OF extra
service. especially the aIl-important duty
Of training the citizen force of which I
shall presently speak, 1872 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 for it's
present duties. duties which it has to
perform not only upon our own CONT
mental coasts and borders and at our in
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 its real power
promptly and upon a larger scale, should
occasion arise. the plan also contemplates
experimenting the army by a force Of
400 coo disciplined citizens, raised in incre-
ments of $4,000 year throughout pc
Rod 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-
tionaI ''furlough' period OF three years
This force of 400, 600 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-
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 a 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
| tons 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 1t involves only a
| 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 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 ad-
| vantage of the country for the congress
1 to adopt a 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
I
| 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
| ma Of he Of Z call
| $500 apprentice seamen, and LOO marines
This increase would be sufficient to care
for the ships which are to be completed
within the fiscal year 1917 and also fol
the number Of men which must be put in
training to man the ships which will be
completed early in 1913. It is also neces
sary that the number of midshipmen al
the naval academy at Annapolis should
be increased by at least 800 in order that
the force of officers should be more rap
idly added toi and authority is asked tC
appoint for engineering duties only, ap
proved graduates of engineering colleges
| and for service in the aviation corps
certain number of men taken from civi
life.
If this full program should be carried
| out we should have built or building IL
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 p battle
| ships of the first line. six battle cruisers
| % oattleSh1pS or the second line. ten ar
| mored cruisers, 13 scout cruisers, nv,
frst-class cruisers, three second-clas
cruisers, ten third-c1ass cruisers los de
troyers, IS fleet submarines, Isl coast sub
marines, six monitors, 20 gunboats, fou
supply ships. Is fuel ships. four trans
ports, three tenders to torpedo vessels
eight vessels Of special types, and tw,
ammunition ships This would be a nav,
fitted to our needs and worthy of on
traditions.
Trade and Shipping.
But armies and instruments Of war ar
only part of what has to be considers
If We are to consider the supreme matte
of national self-suf1ciency and securit,
In all its aspects There are other grea
matters which will be thrust upon our at
tentiOn whether we will or not Their
Is, for example, a very pressing question
of trade and shipping involved In thf
great problem of national adequacy
is necessary for many weighty reasons o
national efficiency and development tina
we should have q great merchant ma
rine- The great merchant feet we one
used to make US rich that great body o
sturdy sailors who used to carry our fla
into every sea, and who were the prid
and often the bulwark Of the nation "
have almost driven out OF existence b.
inexcusable neglect and indifference an