The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-04-07
CHAMBERLAIN ONLYHOPE|
IN SIGHT, SAYS BRECKENRIDGE
'arr'son's Assistant Secretary
Contrasts It With "Hay's
Miserable Crazy Quilt,
DlSSECTS SENATE PLAN

~ HENRY 3. BRECkINRtDGE.
Former Assistant Secretary Of W..
inc Senate military bill cannot h,
CONSIDERED by Itself. Ir we were consid.
erihs 1t by Itself undoubtedly wa sbon,d
~pproach 1t In a more critical frame o,
"ind. hut II is indissolubly linked IN
with the House bill. and has 10 be con.
s'uered In comparison with the Hav
o'l passed By the House OF Representa-.
tives.
Whatever may lie said by way OF ad.
serse criticism Of Senator Chamiberlain's
DIN. all must admit that IL shines no co.
,,ast with the miserable Hay bill. Thu
ma! Dill IL so bad that almost any Sen.
"'oi'ai product would shine by ,om,Nri.
eoh with II. But there il sufficient inheren,
virtue In the chamberlain measure mn,
separates IT by a great gulf from the
tempt product that came from the
HoMer rouse. The regular army proyi-
SION or the Senate bill is very good.
II provides a peace strength for Tho rev.
ular army Of 17s.0OO men, to be brour6 n,
up by its reserves to a wal strength of
|oV'VVo. There is a serious question
whether such "a large regular army can
oe recruited by IA voluntary enlistment.
The Adjutant-General Of the army.
VINO Is tho head of the recruiting SER
vice. states that with present pay and re-
qu'reinents we cannot recruit an army
VI more than 100000 men. and the War
department. recommendation AZ to the
regular army was based upon this judR.
ment OF the Adjutant- General. But there
can certainly he no quarrel with the
senate Tor rying to get the larger
lumber. II such "A regular army can be
raised by voluntary enlistment, IL will
Civ us a better balanced and more ade-
auate force In the Continental United
states. and will provide proper garri-
sons Tor the foreign possessions.
Regulars Not Main Reliance,
or course in considering the elements
OF our land defences tho size of the
regular army Is a matter not to be de-
tefmined by itself. but in conjunction
with other considerations. That Is, the
size OF the regular army depends UPON
what we are to expect from it. II has
never been proposed seriously that our
main reliance for the land defences
should be u regular army. TIL great
numbers required in modern war would
hecccSsitate "A very large and imineasur-
ABLY expensive regular army were we
To rely solely upon a regular army. And
furthermore. a great standing army Is
not consistent at all with Our traditions
and ideals. Our reliance always has
been and always should be upon the
body Of the citizens.
The function Of the regular army Is to
maintain the integrity Of organized gov.
eminent within the nation. to expert
hent IN and STANDARDIZED the military art
and to train the citizen soldiers The
MOE hume rolls and heSNanInL1A sha ~ttt-
Zen army the smaller must be the regu-
lar army, provided the regular army Is
large enough to train the citizen army.
The War Department wanted y small
regular army and 400. 900 national c!ti-
zen soldiers completely under tho con-
troll Of the Federal Government. The
Chamberlain bill c~ontemplates a larger
regular army and . more dependable
organisation Of the citizen soldiers.
There is one great stimulus for hone
for the future national security to be
found in IN. Chamberlain bill. The
foundation is laid for the naturalization
OF the national defence and for a par
tial withdrawal from the senseless and
inipuitouS system of relying upon State
troops for national defence.
Citizen Army = food Point.
Section IS authorizes the President TO
diiu "a IlakAOlldl
volunteer army. not exceeding an aver
x OF 600 officers and enlisted men for
each Congressional district. In other
words provision Is made for the raising
and maintaining of a national citizen
army of 25O. 900 men. This is something
new. something absolutely essential, the
lack OF which has been more responsible
for our military disasters In the pasl
than any other one thing. The value oi
the reform is difficult of appreciation BY
the layman, VINO has not some familiar
ity with our military history and with
the correct principles OF military organi-
cation. Rut II il "a reform nevertheless,
as impor ant from u military standpoint
as was ia" formulation and adoption Of
our own Federal Constitution from Il po,
litical standpoint. Politically the Con-
stitution laid the foundation for making
US IL nation. Before its adoption We were
"A loosely Joined and ineffective confed-
Grafton of States. A. a system of govern
mcnt the old confederation WAS 80 bad
that IL nearly nullifed all the results
that We're obtained by war in the iicyo-
luton. And had 1t not been for the
adoption of the Constitution the ma
ton would have flown apart into UNI
related and rival sections. to fall All
easy prey 10 whatever Power desired u
gobble them UP in detail.
The Chamberlain volunteer army. II
constituted, will work the same mighty |
reform in military organization that tn.
Constitution OF the United States ef-
fected in our political Organization.
Provides . Firm Foundation.
1t will not give us a proper military
system fully developed in the immediate
future. but it will give us "A firm foun-
dalton upon which the most perfect and
adequate system can be built in ac-
cordance with our needs as time goes on. |
II took "A century to build up the gov
ornamental organization of our COUNTRY
on the foundation laid by the fathers.
All the legislative capacity of Congress
was required to develop in Legislative
form the expansion and growth OF the
Government. All the mighty power Of
constructive Interpretation inherent IN
Marshall and his successors was re-
qulred TO give full exposition to the
splendid principles Of the Constitution.
hut II the foundation AS laid In the Con-
had not been sound all the
capacity Of Congress n all the wis |
dom OF the Supreme Court would have
nothing. So In the crisis we face
with respect to the national security, II
we can gain nothing else. let US gain the
establishment Of the firm foundation |
proposed In the Chamberlain bill. so tina |
we might have something DOL which to
build.