Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1916-02-02

Numbers count in modern warfare
humbers that are ready. That COM
mander who gets there first With the
most men wins, as the I e6ciate
general. Forrest, said. Germany had
her numbers ready. All that prevent
ed her from conquering Europe was
that her opponents also had numbers
ready: but not so many and not quite
sc ready, as the result of the wal
proves to date.
I'm iIurcoe every able bodied man is
81 soldier. The numbers are had in
extensively. Patriotism, and not the
taxpayer. foots the bill. The United
States and Britain are the only coun-
tries hat hire their soldiers, the only
countries that have regular armies.
Therefore. we pay an c%xtravgant price
for a handful of soldiers.
We have Il military appropriation of
$lOO. 100000 a year and get 10000 SOL
dierS. without reserves, n without
adequate guns. motor transport, or air
craft. Before the war Germany pen
5000. 900, 900 a year and had a standing
army of 100000, with ample d
equipment and a reserve, making II
total of $780, 900 ready for the field.
France spent 5000, 600, 900 and had IA
standing army of $4,000 and a total
of about $500, 900. But all her reserves
were not equipped. That made the
UlJl0IGtlCC. II khVG ~ liz SlGkl.
How long would any European army
that set out without reserves have last
ed lin this war? With reserves o fill
the gaps made by death. wounds and
sickness. England had reserves. 9th
erwise. soon after the retreat from
ions her expeditionary force would
have been finished. BY filling up tho
gaps with reserves, she was fighting
with full battaliOns a mOnth after. Sir
John French had fallen back on Paris.
II the United States army had suffered
a similar disaster, our 100. 900 would
have all been gone in three months.
Must Have . New Army System.
Before we can ave an adequate de-
Tense we must reform the army itself.
We must have a new system. The
European system is the result of 100
years experience. 1t has stood the test
of time and of this war. Hardly an
lCnglishman who has been in battle but
is for universal service. He has learned
from his warfare the error of a system
that sends q man who is down on his
luck" to the recruiting sergeant, stand
ing in a public square, or to climb the
stairs in a side street under the pla-
card: Men Wanted for the United
States Army"
If times are good. we get few re-
cruits. When we nave prosperity to
defend. our army is short of men. Our
preparedness n our patriotism. as far
HI IL Is represented ny PR VdI CulleSSS.
fluctuate with the %itinerant labor mar
ket. Bad times means that more men
enlist to fight for the flag as a last re-
sort. In Europe, the flow of ecruits
is the same year in and year out. The
system is definite and dependable.
There IS q deep moral idea back of
universal service which every Euro
pean realizes. but 10 American n few
Englishmen realized it until this war.
What your country demands Of you is
YOUR life. One mans life is worth just
us much to him as another's; whether
he is a day laborer, or a millionaire.
1T is the only capital he a to give.
In universal service, you nave every
body of all classes, shoulder to shOul-
der. The result has e practically
10 assertions in Europe. while the per-
centage OF assertions in our regular
army is colossal.
The United States he's never fought
q first class power single handed on
land. In the Revolution france helped
us. In 1912. the British were fighting
rur raw levies were whipped in practice
',ily every engagement in 1912. At Lun-
f;y's Lane we had regulars. at New Or
leans. trained frontiersmen and sharp
shooters. A superior number Of UNI
trained troops retreated before infer
Tor numbers of British who took and
burned Washington. The school books
do not tell 1t that way, but 1t Is the
truth. We need not be ashamed of the
truth, considering the skill of our ar
mics north and south once they were
prepared in the Civil war, where they
fought with unsurpassed herOism and
efficiency. IL in the north we had had
100000 trained troops at the start OF
the Civil war. we would have ended It
In six months: if the southern states
had had 100000 against h u~nprepared
north, they would ave taken Washing
ton. Philadelphia and New York. I
think that no professional officer will
dispute this. Soldering being the busi-
ness of soldiers, they ought to know
what they are talking about.
I'VE Have Everything In Our Army
Excspt Soldiers and Guns"
to hull capacity. They economixe.
lions. A trained German soldier costs
Germany $500 q year., or counting the
reserves. so a year! In France It In
little higher. Our soldiers cost us
year apiece.
We have pointed the finger Of scorn
~ the British laboring classes who held
ur the RritlDh gOvernment for higher
wages. while our whole army system
u based on that idea. We IN paying
.~1l6Oy0o0.0o0 . year for pensions for
volunteers IS the civil war, the cost to
IRtor geueg14t6U1 d 8~OaFeadlne10. Add
that 70 thu o1oe.o0o.ee0 ana oNrsoutlay
= e3eQsAeoaeez ysar noe 1cs.SSe sol-
p~aSsjofssIm = matter Of dollars We shall