New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-01-07

army and less on the continentals T.
Mir. Kahn asked. 40,
81 think not" said Mr.. Garrison. III
we are TO rely on the regular army
as our sole defence we must have one
Of 500 600. The expense, believe, would
be prohibitive. But IL we are not going
TO. | think a few thousand, more or
less. Of the highly trained regulars
would make little difference. while me
same money spent on increasing the
continental army would give much
greater strength. The real use OF the
regular army, believe. will be TO tram
tho continentals."
Representative Littlepsge asked one
question; , 4,
Are you and the President In so-
cord7"
absolutely" was Mr.. Garri'ons an
swer. A.
Briefly. tho plan defended. by MI
Garrison to-day, proposes tho ere"
tion Of a mobile Federal force o.
moro thnn 100000 men I'm six years
accumulation Of n huge reserve OF am
munition and equipment and elaoorato
extension of the coast defences. me
whole proiect involves an increased
cvrcnditure Of 5000, 100000, and an an
pual War Department budget ne'e
uf.er Of more than s2OO.0OO,OOO, hS
comporcd with IN average OF slOo'ooo'-
GOO for the last few years.
Nstion's Existence May BE at Stake.
"The integrity Of the nation ana rs
very existence" the Secretary snlu'
"may depend upon what Is done IN thIs
matter at this time. This great oPpol-
tunity will be lost unless a wise, sen.
sible and practical policy is the result
OF the consideration ana action VI ''''
Congress. ,,ui,orv
resnon abilities of the nation, reaching
INTO the insular possessions, CHINA
Alaska and the Panama Oaha' No"''
Mr.. Garrison added:
eve have determined and announced
that the sovereignty Of the other re-
nublics on this hemisphere shall re-
main inviolable, and must therefore NJ
ali times stand ready 10 make good our
position in this connection.
lie then quoted figures to show tne
full strength Of the army on June so
Iast-IO5 9p3 officers and men OF the
combatant forces-and their present
distribution. To these should be added,
he said. 1873 officers and USE men OF
tbe non-combatant arms of the service,
bringing the total number OF federal
trooPs up TO 1O6,6l9. lie pointed out
that the item of pay alone made up
approximately 30 per cent OF the totaI
proposed appropriations At,
The United States, including Alaska,
said the Secretary, is Of greater area
than the combined total Of Austro- Hun
gary. Belgium, the British Isles, bul-
garia. Denmark, France, Germany
Greece. Italy. Japan, Portugal, russia
in Europe. Spain and Turkey in Europe
the total Of these areas representing
only 81 per cent Of that OF the united
at will. of necessity" he added, "be
conceded by any one who admits that
military force is requisite at all that
our present military force is totally IN
adequate to meet our sponsioilties'
"1he chaos which a crisis always
produces where preparations IN advance
Lave not been made makes II certain
that several months OF necessity would
intervene after the outbreak OF war
before any considerable NUMBER OF
volunteers would be ready 10 take their
training. and months Of training must
then ensue before they could be ready
10 be sent into battle
Trained Reserve Needed.
Modern warfare, while it has dem
onstrated the increased use OF mecnan-
ical instruments of war, has also dem
onstrated the increased use of num-
bers. In addition. therefore, TO those
with the colors, subject 70 instant
call. there should be at all times in
the country large numbers Of men
available, by reason OF previous ser
vice. for military purposes. Our i'm
mediate problem, therefore, seems to
be. How shall we meet these require
ments?
"The adjutant general, after most
careful consideration Of the whole
subject matter and personal attention
thereto, reaches the conclusion that ne
cannot expect, under present condl-
tiona. to recruit more than 10000 men
per year for the army. II would,