The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1916-03-02
ARTILLERY IS FIRST
MANY FIELD GUNS WANTED BY
THE EXPERTS FOR THE
LARGER ARMY.
PLENTY OF AMMUNITION, TOO
Imp7 'tance Of This Branch, Foreseen
by General sehofieId, Has Been Alb
soIuteIy Established by the Great
Warfare In Europe.
BY GEORGE CLINTON.

Washing g'Nn.-If preparedness legis-
lation goes tn. h.ough, as at present 1t is
planned, It is probable the regular
army will be increased by the addi-
ton Of between 10000 and $4,000 men.
1t seems likely that congress will pro-
vide that as large a part Of the in
crease as possible shall be put into the
field artillery, for it is established
that fields guns, that Is light artillery.
are the allin-all of the present war, a
fact that army men say was proved
before the conflict was a month old.
Winfield Scott Hancock once said
that the tariff was a local issue, and
for saying it was laughed at and voted
into retirement. The developments of
the years, many men hold, have vindi-
Gated Hancock's words. John M.
Schoteld, major general of the United
States army, foresaw the coming of
the sharp need Of greatly increased
numbers Of field guns If wars were to
be won. He was abused and charged
with a desire to help the artillery
branch Of the service at the expense
OF sister branches.
There are few regular army officers
today who are unwilling to give Gen.
eral Schof1eld credit for hard sense
and keen foresight. Field guns are
doing the work in Europe today, and
teld guns, at the present time, mean
something more than three-inch rifles
and the smaller weapons by courtesy
called cannon. Siege guns have be-
come field guns. Heavy artillery also
can be moved, laboriously 1t is true,
but nevertheless successfully, from
one point to another Artillery seems
to be the prime weapon of modern war
fare.
Artillery First Requisite.
Army officers in Washington are
alive to the situation. They want
well-balanced army, of course, and
they will resent any attempt to cut
down other branches to increase the
but rather than weaken the
force Of artillery they probably will be
willing that sacrifices in other
branches shall be made. What they
want, however, is enough field guns,
and enough ammunition to serve them,
to make certain the efficiency of the
field artillery forces.
When your correspondent was at
the front in France, near the Argonne
forest, st. Mihiel and Verdun, and
later in the trenches in Lorraine, he
got some realizing sense of what ar
tillery means in this war, and, more
over, he learned definitely the neces.
sity Of unlimited ammunition for the
guns in service.
The cannonading from both the
siege guns and the seventy-f1ves of the
French and the seventy-sevens of the
Germans was virtually. incessant.
There was lull at night, but all
through the day the cannon roared
along the forty or fifty miles Of front.
'or on a still day It is possible to hear
he gunfre for many miles on either
side of the listener.
Every foreign officer who spoke on
he subject at all, dwelt upon the ne
'essity Of field pieces, shells and still
more shells" Shrapnel for certain
lses is going out of date, and before
ong 1t may take its place with the
.rrow of the ancients. High explosives
re the proper projectiles for warfare
S it is carried on today, and it is cred
table to the American service to be
BILE to say that Uncle Sans army of.
GERS realized this fact before General |
rench had succeeded in making his
hief, General Kitchener, yield his pref |
renee for the well-nigh useless shrAp-
ell.
Are Coast Cities Safe?
Sharp knowledge may be had of the
Numerically opposed views in Wash
lgton on the subject of preparedness
y comparing some Of the things that
ne anti-preparedness folks say with
lings said by the champions of prep
ration.
There is an anti-preparedness COM
littee here which is putting out many
Ieas against the enactment of any
Preparedness Legislation this winter
nd, by intimation at least, against
~ preparedness legislative plans for
~ winter to come. These anti-pre-
lredness advocates, virtually every
le of whom is pacitist, hold that
do not need any more ships and
at the army is big enough as it is
I'd that nothing should be done to
cate a volunteer force, nor to In
ease the strength Of the militia.
1t Is through the anti-preparedness
mmittee that one hears that our |
asst cities do not need any further !
cans of defense than they now have.
d that no enemy ever will try to I
ace our big towns under tribute. nor I
molest the good American people {
any way. On the other hand, the {
Vocates of plan to put the United t
ates into position to defend itself
ainst aggression say the condition '
things Is such that any foe that can {
ercome our navy can lay New York {
der tribute in two hours, OF in ruins t
the time that it would take a bonn 1,
to batter the city to pieces F
the springing fires to burn it up. v
Ammunition for Two Hours. n
=
t is said this condition of things is t
ested by facts which congress has O
In its possession for years and n