The Sunday telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1914-1927, 1916-10-22


and consider itself adequately pre-
pared Mr. Hay, OF Virginia, is ad-
mittedly the fairy godmother OF the
bill. He made such effective use Of
his position as chairman of the COM
mittee on military affairs in the House
that the bill as 1t stands is almost en-
tirely of his inspiration. Good or bad
ii must be entered to his account. Its
provisions are his provisions, and its
spirit is his spirit.
Many Protest.
Ever since he first led his bill out
OF the House of Representatives and
railroaded II through the conference
committee against the well-nigh sim
gle-handed resistance Of Senator
Chamberlain, certain prominent Amer
lean citizens whose records as faith
full public servants insure for their
opinion a respectful hearing have per-
sistently and yehemently protested
against it. Among these are eX-Secre-
tary Of War Root CRepublican1 ex-
Secretary OF War Wright CDemocrat);
ex-Secretary OF War Garrison Demo
craft, who rendered his resignation to
the president as a protest against the
bill; ex-SecretaTy OF War Stimson IRE
publican: ex-Assistant Secretary Of
War Breckenridge Democrap, who
resigned as a protest against the bill;
and Secretary Of War Baker Demo
crau. And there are many others.
Their voices have been but family
heard. however. through the hubbub
OF platitudes which heralded the bill.
II is manifest TO all that the pro-
test OF these men means that the bill
is worse than nothing and that It
has been passed for petty political
reasons, against the united opposition
OF our military experts. have dis
cussed the bill with the most author
itatiye Of these experts, and what fol-
lows is the result of my best efforts
10 present composite of their views
and beliefs.
To begin with. Mr., Hays bill au-
thorizes an increase in the regular
army. This is an increase on paper.
and will in actually prove lagely iic-
titlous. For several years the regtl-
lar army has had an authorized"
strength OF over one hundred thous-
bud, and yet the actual strength Of
he army has been with difficulty
maintained at about ninety thousand.
Merely to increase the authorized
strength will not necessarily alter this
situation. The lack Of recruits isl
directly traceable to certain funda-
mental defects which Mr.. Hays army
bill makes no attempt to remedy,
One fault lies in the continued
maintenance of some forty useless lit
tie army posts, which were estab-
lished in various outlying congress
sional districts for pork-barrel rea-
sons. Many congressman strive tol
obtain army posts for their own dis
tricts in order that their faithful con-
stitutents may reap profits from the
construction and maintenance there
OF.
Ridiculous System.
From military point OF view i'll
is as ridiculous 10 divide our army
among scores Of isolated posts as it \
would be to subdiylde and scatter
about the country a big manufactur
ing concern. In foreign countries the
troops are quartered in large cities
in units of not fewer than twenty
thousand. so that they may be efi-
GENTLY trained. so that the overhead
of fatigue duty performed by each
individual soldier may be reduced. and
so that the men may spend their spare
time profitably and pleasantly.
America, on the contrary, has so
many dreary and isolated posts that
our diminutive army is scarcely able
to garrison them all. In consequence
our enlisted men devote more time to
the care OF buildings and grounds than
to study the art Of war. Each man
must serve as laborer and a sCav-
enger, although he enlisted as 4 SOL
die. He spends large part of his
day in fatigue duty, which implies
such tedious work as sweeping up,
cutting grass and shoveling snow.
Such occupations. which are scarcely
aIluring to young men ambitious of
making the profession Of arms their
life-work, become unbearable when
performed in small outlying congress
sional districts in Montana or north |
ern Vermont, where the sole amuse-
ments are watching desert sunsets or
attending second-rate moving picture
shows. Is it any wonder that enlist |
ment in our regular army has become
the last resort Of the desperate when
OUT troops dTC CONSTANTLY IGlulluGu Dy
their very environment that the regu-
lar army is maintained primarily to
satisfy the personal ends Of congress-
men and secondarily to serve its coun-
tTy7
However, 1t is perhaps unreasonable
~ object because bill which insti-
Zltes new forms of pork does not abol-
fish existing pork-barrel army posts. |
Upon careful examination of the army
reorganization bill 1t appears to be most
only a new vehicle for the conveyance
OF private pork from the public treas
ury through individual congressman
to their personal henchmen, but also
promises to institute vast new sys-
tenn for the dispensation of political
plums, a system outrivaling even the
present extravagant pension system
and the notorious Rivers and Har-
bors."
Makes Job for Friend.
Its Section VIII has become ia
nous as evidence that the bill was
conceived for pork more than for pre-
paredness. This section cannot be
too often called to the attention Of the
American public, for 1t illustrates only
too well the spirit which actuated Mt.
Hay. 1t reads in part as follows: