Evening times-Republican., 1916-05-31
Cun1n,i11s Makes Statesn1anlke
Outline Of Present Problems

! MARK 8. Watson in Chicago Tribune.]
Washington. May 31.-America
must prepare. and as quickly as pos
stble, but preparedness will neither
begin nor end with the fitting out OF q
great army and navy" Senator Albert
B. Cummins, Of Iowa, said today In
| outlining to the Chicago Tribune some
! Of the graver national problems.
UNLESS in addition to these we have
citizens who are willing to fight for
! their country because they believe in
it's institutions, recognize Its justice,
and reverence it's sovereignty, prepared
ness will not be complete.
"And unless we go ahead steadfastly
| with social legislation which will pro-
duce such a loyal citizenship. we will
| have missed a very important part OF
preparedness . &@ .a
| Champions Popular Rights.
The Iowa senator has lost nothing
from his old time championship Of
1 popular sovereignty and popular
rights. These rights, he finds, are just
as much in need Of protection today
as they ever were, and not even the
riveting of interest on the needs of an
army and navy does he feel should
remove economic industrial and social
reform from the horizon Of the repub-t
d, lican convention in its platform delib-;
| erations. u
Emphasis on this phase Of the coun-
| try's immediate needs Is one of the
most striking features OF the aggress-
i've campaign which Senator Cummins
has long been conducting. But he is
able to include in his horizon the in
ternational problems now before the
icountry-none of which he appears to
believe has been adequately answered
by the present administration.
i AssaiIs Wilson Policies.
| Citing the results obtained by diplo-
macy when the United States had a
much weaker army and navy than to-
| day. Mr.. Cummins made 1t clear that
| he could not countenance a defense OF
the administrations blunders on the
| plea that there was little force back
Of the warming He testified to his
confidence in the great strength OF a
sound moral force such as the United
States had.
The Mexican policy Of Mr. Wilson he
referred to bitterly as IAN uninterrupt-
ed hideous mistake" and zone long.
bloody blunder.'' The European policy
and foreign policies generally he re-
ferred to as being wrong in perform
ance rather than in conception. Among
the faults most easily discernible he
cited weakness, vacillation, a sugges-
ton Of insncerity. lack OF clarity.
and an overabundance Of -rh etoric.
+ Favors Strong Defenses.
Il would like to make my position on
preparedness clear" he began. II am
as much in favor of strong army and
navy as any one can be, and have con-
tended and am contending for both.
! When we interpret Strong in terms OF
men and Of ships there may be diff
ference Of opinion.
II stood for an army increase to 25O.-
900 men, believing4seven that insuffi-
cient for all needs at all times. The
time has not come for it, but 1t Is GER
tain that we, can not be prepared for
instant war without compulsory train
ing Amy country which depends on
voluntary enlistments simply can not
be ready for war Immediately. I still
believe in the national guard as an
instrumentality. not perfect. but more
efficient potentially than a voluntee,
reserve could be. !, That 1HAta is why e op,
J View on Senate Bill.
"The Chamberlain bill Is the first at.
i tempt to organize the army on a scien-
I tific basis. and it promises to supply
I system instead of patchwork. Its
weakness lies in the difficulty Of en-
listing men at SIS a month; especially
In times Of prosperity. 1t is the weak
ness of any volunteer system. If pay
were raised to $25 a month and other
inducements were held cut betterins
the enlisted. mans condition. we might
reach the army limit. but have grave
apprehension for that ability at pres
ent."
Senator Cummins spoke on Genera
Woods declaration that raise in pay
would not be needed, but that permits
sion to transfer regulars to the re-
serve force as soon as they had become
proficient would make the service
much more attractive. The success OF
this the Iowan considers problemati-
cal. 80 = 30
Favors Voluntary System.
1.-The soldier must be young" Sena-
tor Cummins explained. "Now at 20
a boy is in school or is looking about
for his life occupation. and he is toe
much Handicapped by an army enlist
ment il it is followed by five or six
years in the reserve. 1t is too much
for him to bear. instead of having
every boy bear it with him. There is
no way in which the United States
could enforce training in The schools
It must be left to the individual states
and New York is doing this now. We
can encourage the voluntary system
and are doing that now in many
schools, and I am thoroughly in sym
pathy with IT,
| The senator sketched hastily two
bills he introduced early in the session
i One was for enlarging the national
| guard to & peace basis Of 400. 900 and q
war footing Of 100000. The other was
for the utilization Of six or eight Of the
i present useless army posts as military
training schools, each Of which should
annually turn out an average Of 400
4 students with military training-bud
fitted for civil life.
i Would Furnish Trained Officers.
4 These men, Mr.. Cummins thinks
would become the officers Of the ma
tional guard.
The lack Of enough well trained
officers has been one Of the principal
weaknesses Of the guard" he went on
4 II believe my plan would remedy the
situation and by making the national
guard more attractive, would aid in
bringing into the organized militia
nearly every man in the country who
had not already had some military
training In school.
"The bill further contemp1ates that
they should rank thru life as second