Evening star., 1916-08-01
TEXT OF MIR. HUGHES SPEECH OF ACCEPTANCE

IL ccVll
Interior purposes, and the adminfstra-
tion should have known how to secure
the entire protection Of every legitimate
ognition Of our just demands as a
neutral nation.
Denounces Plots.
I'VE denounce all plots and con-
spiracies in the interest Of any foreign
nation. Utterly intolerable 10 the use
Of our soil for allen intrigues. Every
American must unreservedly condemn
them and support every effort for their
suppression. But here. also. prompt.
the part of the administration were
needed. There should have been no
hesitation, no notion that 1t was wise
and polite to delay. Such an abuse OF
our territory demanded immediate and
thoroughgoing action. As soon as the
administration had notice of plots and
conspiracfes It was its duty to stop
them. 1t was not lacking in resources.
Its responsibility for their continuance
cannot be escaped by the condemna-
tion Of others.
I'VE are a peace-loving people. but
we live in a world Of arms. We have
no thought of aggression and we de-
sire to pursue our democratic ideals
voted are we to these ideals, so intent
upon our normal development. that I
do not believe that there fs the slight
est danger of militarism in this coun-
try. Adequate preparedness is not
| militarism. 1t Is the essential assur-
! ance of security; 1t is necessary safe
guard Of peace.
"shockingly Unprepared."
TT is apparent that we are shocking
ly unprepared. There is no room for
controversy on this point since the OBJ
ject lesson on the Mexican border All
our available regular troops Qess, I
| believe. than 100000 are there or In
Mexico, and IS these have been deemed
insufficient the entire National Guard
has been ordered out-that is, we are
summoning practically all our movable
military forces in order to prevent
bandit fncursions. In view of the
warnings of the past three years, 1t IS
inexcusable that we should flnd our
selves in this plight. For our faithful
guardsmen, who with a fine patriotism
responded to this call and are bearing
this burden, have nothing but praise.
But 1 think 1t little short of absurd
that we should be compelled to call
men from their shops, their factories,
their offices and their professions for
such a purpose. This, however, is not
all. The units of the National Guard
were at peace strength, which was only
about one-half the required strength.
II was necessary to bring in recruits,
for the most part raw and unframed.
Only small percentage of the regt-
ments recruited UP to war strength
will have had even a years training
in Naf rd w
maximum means 100 hours of military
drill, and. on the average, means much
less. Take the Eastern Department as
an illustration. The states in this de-
partment contain about 70 per cent Of
the entire organized militia Of the
country. / am informed. by competent
authority, that the quota of militia
from this department recently sum-
moned with the units raised to war
strength as required would amount to
about $4,000 men; that IN response to
this call there are now en- route to or
on the border about $4,000 men, and in
camp in their respective states about
| $4,000 men: and thus, after what has
already been accomplished, there still
| remain to be supplied in recruits about
$4,000 men. Men fresh from their
| unprepared have been hurried to the
border for actual service. They We're
| without proper equipment, without
necessary supplies, suitable conditions
Men with dependent families were sent.
and conditions which should have been
| well known were discovered after the
| event And yet this exigency. COM
paratfvely speaking. was not a very
grave one 1t involved nothing that
could not readily have been foreseen
during the past three years of dis
| turbance, and required only modest
| ministration while pursuing its course
| in Mexico should have permitted such
conditions to exist is almost incredible.
Says President Has Followed, Not
"In the demand for reasonable pre-
paredness the administration has fol-
lowed, not led. Those who demanded
| more adequate forces were first de-
scribed as nervous and excited Only
about year and a half ago we were
| told that the question Of preparedness
| was not pressing one: that the coun-
try had been misinformed. Later. un-
der the pressure Of other leadership,
this attitude was changed. The admin
| istration. it was said. had learned
something and 1t made belated de-
| nand for an increased army. Even then
the demand was not prosecuted con-
sistently and the pressure exerted on
Congress with respect to other admin
istrative measures was notably absent.
The President addressed Congress but
| little over six months ago. presenting
the plans of the War Department. and
Congress was formally urged to sane
tion these plans as the essential first
steps, They contemplated an increase
of the standing force of the regular
army from it's then strength Of o,o23
officers and 1O2,9SJ enlisted men, to
strength of 7,136 officers and 134,10I
! enlisted men, or 141.s43 all told: 1t
was said that these additions were nee
sary to render the army adequate for
proposed that the army should be sup
piemented by a force of 100000 disci-
plined citizens raised in increments of
1890 a year. through a period of
three years At least. SO much by way
of preparation for defense seemed to
the President to be absolutely fmpera-
tive now He said: We cannot do
less But within two months this pro-
gram was abandoned, and the able Sec
retary of War, who had devoted him
self persistently to this important ques-
ton, felt so keenly the change In policy
that he resigned from the ca binet. Now,
the army organization bill provides for
an army on paper of 17S,000. but, In
fact. it provides for only 100000 en-
listed men for the line of the regular
army for the fiscal year ending June 30.
1917, and I am informed that for the
next fiscal year there will be an in
crease of only $4,000. The plan for the
supplemental federal army completely
under federal control was given up.
Naval Administration "Incompe-