The Washington herald., 1916-05-15
The New Army Bill.

As measure of tentative preparedness, the
army reorganization bill as agreed to by the
conferees of the House and Senate so far
exceeds expectation as to almost disarm adverse
criticism. As compared with the Hay BILL which
passed the House. it is almost perfection itself.
With the exception of very few defects copied
from the Hay bill or adopted at the dictation
of the White House to concilate the National
Guard it appears to be a well-balanced, common
sense measure of partial military preparedness.
1t offers a solid, broad framework upon which
the land forces of the country may be builded
to adequate proportions and. necessary efficiency,
providing the people of the country willing
to make one last attempt to vindicate the mill
tary system the bill represents-that is the vol
unteer system. If the volunteer system proves
unavoidable under the bill agreed to by the
conferees, the country may come to a realization,
at which every other great power has long since
arrived, and which every lesson of own his
tory emphasizes, that the volunteer system is
undemocratc, ill-balanced, unworkable and dan
gerous
The conference agreement in substance is the
bill prepared by Chairman Chamberlain and his
colleagues of the Senate Military Affairs Com
mittee. 1t contains the only provision which may
reasonably be expected to make the volunteer
system a success-the shortening of enlistment
terms and the making of enlistments more at
tractive to larger class of young in the
country. 1t increases the size of the professional
army to the high point to which increased en-
lstments may reasonably be expected to bring it.
In many respects it overcomes the tremendous
favortism which the Hay bill sought to perpe-
trate.
Chairman Hay, of the House conferees ap-
parently had staked Mis- entire bill the Ma
tional Guards demand that the volunteer. army
provision of the Senate bill be eliminated. By
consenting to this, Chairman Chamberlain pro-
cured the acceptance of practically all the re-
mainder of his bill. This was good trading, be-
cause at best the volunteer army plan was ex-
perimental and there is nothing experimental or
uncertain about soldier who has been trained
professionally, either as a commissioned officer
or as enlisted man, in Uncle Sans military
establishment
The bill provides that the increases to a mini
mum strength of 10000 men shall be made in
FIVE annual ncrements, but permits the President
the discretion of making the increase at time
if he believes the situation warrants. 1t might
be suggested here that it takes long enough to
train soldier; it takes infinitely longer to train
his officers, and the less training the soldier has,
the more his officer needs to inspire fighting
confidence and morale. Therefore, President Will
son could not do better than to call for the in
crease in officers rapidly as proper candidates
can be developed, whether he increases the num-
Der of enlisted men in excess of the requirements
of the annual increments or not.
Time only will demonstrate whether the pro-
vision that the President shall have the selection
Of the site for government nitrate plant is in
good faith or not. There many who believe
that this provision dictated by the President afte
the House had twice refused it, represents not
altogether an abstract interest in military pre-
paredness, and that a great big political debt
was paid when President Wilson induced the
House last Monday to reverse its twce-tried atti-
tude and accept form of nitrate plant proposal
The country owes debt of gratitude to SEN
ator Chamberlain and Representative Kahn, rank
ing Republican member of the House committee,
to virtually all of Senator Chamberain's col
leagues on the Senate committee, and to a few
additional members of the House committee