New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-05-09
Reorganizing Our National Defences

prt W. r.ouirs these immediately--that is, in
Tim. Of peace and at full war strength-while We
reouire 10 raise as many more men by expansion
in case of war What is the best way 70 do Il?
"The answer is to create a framework which we
can expand filling the ranks of two battallons per
regiment in peace and of four in war. This can
be accomplished by creating regimental organi-
cation Of five battalions, total Of seventy
two regiments, an increase of forty-two on our
present establishment. Battaons and are the
peace footing battalions is the territorial depot
battalion, or half battalion, and and are the
reserve war battalions, non-exlstenr in time OF
peace"
The success. Of the scheme, be says depends on
two thngs--the War Departments offering suih-
GENTLY liberal inducement for retired soldiers TO
join the reserve battalions, and on getting good
officers to train them. This, he declares, could be
done by having with the active battalions more
officers than are actually needed. Neither diff
Guilty would be insuperable were it approached in
a liberal spirit. West Point should be enlarged,
he adds and another military college provided.
zone of the most emphatic lessons of all mill
tary history is that a regiment is about as good
as its officers, fact which our public has never
realized" he continues. "Our statesmen have al
ways been inclined TO act the opposite assump-
tion and produced CHASTITY butcheres in conse-
quence,"
On many matters now before the public John
ston gives brilliant and original opinions, attack
ing rooted prejudices and the cheap claptrap Of
pacific oratory, with which New Workers have
grown familiar. OF disarmament he says:
"One of the grayest obstacles to Disarmament
lies in the fact that no two nations are situated
in the same way. Will Germany disarm7 This
means the surrender of her ambitions 10 expand
over the less we'll occupied regions OF the world.
II means the arousing of fear that the hostile
or alien elements within the empire, the Danes.
the Poles, the Asace- Lorraners, even the Bavar-
ians or Saxons, might then attempt 70 assert local
sovereignty. 1t means fear that the superior num-
bers of Russia, which could not be wholly dis
armed, might prevail against her.
at has just been said that Russia could not
wholly disarm. Her Cossacks are the finest raw
cavalry in the world, though useless in organized
armies for lack of training. But if organized
armies were suppressed they might then easily
prove the decisive force. For even if these prim-
tive tribesmen could be made TO surrender
bne and sword and ammunition, even il the man.
ufacture Of arms were declared illegal, it is OBJ
vousy they who could most rapidly hammer out
from the ploughshare the spear head or the sword
and the days of Attila might be on US again.
ain the case Of England the difficulty is even
greater The English army has long been main
tanned for colonial and not for European purposes.
Would she be required TO put il down on Euro
pean disarmament or might she retain IL? To
put it down would open The Khyber Pass and
create a new Mogul empire. Will'Afghanstan
be required TO dsarm, and will Arabia, and il so,
who will enforce the decree and how"
OF Russia and the German dread OF her, which
he finds largely justified, Johnston says:
Russia overbalances Europe. The Germans
are largely justified in their fear Of Russia not
justified in terms of civilization, perhaps for there
is yet no ground for supposing that Russia is
incapable OF equaing such developments Ger
many can point to; but justified in terms OF size,
in terms of self-asserton. of independence Take
the mere matter of bulk. From the Prusso- Rus
sian frontier Warsaw it is just a thou
sand miles to the extreme western point Of France,
but eastward 20 ~-aG;vostok on the Pacific is four
or five times that distance, and all under the
Cars flag
Clearly the bulk of Russia, now that railroads
are so rapidly killing distance overtoppcs that OF
Western Europe. z-esn-up Russia, half Europe
and half Asia, WIFI make the terms Europe and
Asia obsolete"
In regard to army investigation. he says;
There is at present an outcry that should
investigate the army. Is il worth while, poor
thing? 1t does its BEST it generally has done
what was possible under hopeless conditions. It's
feebleness is known TO all and may be estimated
at sight. What topsy-turveydom TO investigate
the innocent sufferer and to leave uninvestigsted
the source of all the evil the body with which
lies the responsibility for the army's condition
that is. Congress. There the point at which IN
vestigation is necessary and. in fact. urgent"