New Britain herald., 1916-01-06

men annually. The men would en- list for three years with the colors and three years on furlough, and would be armed, equipped and officered. Their training would be done by the officers and men of the regular army organ izations and they would be paid dur ing the time of their service on the same basis as the regular army.
 For convenience of designation, he continued, this force has been called the Continental Army, equipped and trained in time of peace. There is absolutely nothing new in this sug- gestion, as it has been a result reached and expressed by the very best military authorities this country has produced. It will not have escaped your notice that this pro- posed system Is practically the same thing as the Swiss and Australian systems, leaving out the supervision of the public schools and work there in of military character, and com pulsory military service. If compul- sory military service is now desired for the country, and legislation con- cerning it can be expected by the con- gress, then 8 short provision in the act will accomplish it. Such a clause would provide that wherever the quota required of any district by certain date is short of the proper number, seIective process to obtain that num- Der shall be put into effect
 Size of Regular Army.
 Turning to the question or the slze of the regular army necessary to train the continentalS and carry on Varl- ous military activities of the war de-
 Mr ~ or>r-i- son said it had been demonstrated to him that a mobile force of 50, 900 and 10000 coast artillery troops would serve all needs. Such 9 force, an ln- crease of nearly 10000 over the pres ent army he said, would be cOmpara- lively inexpensive, would require no additional quarters and could be re- cruited. For these reasons he recom- mended the addition of ten regiments of infantry, four regiments of held artillery. fifty-two company of coast artillery, fifteen companies of engin- eers and four aero squadrons to the present force bringing the enlisted strength in two years up to l34,fof and the number of officers to 7,O86.
 "The officers and men of the new organizations are absolutely essential 1T the war uepdItlIciI p1"%1h As0 W M fairly tried out" he said. Tn the plan of the war college division of the general staff, an army of 250,000 is so distributed that in continental United States, there would be left 121,- 900 mobile army troops. In the war department plan, these divisions are at peace strength, so that they are capable of expansion. The war col iyrici rla year enlistment, with six years in re- serve, and, eventually, at the end of eight years makes up a line of 5OO,OOO men of the regular army, of whom 121, ,0o0 would be with the colors and 379,000 in reserve.
 Actually With Colors.
 T do not, for one, believe that you can safely count on a force that is made of those presently in the ser vice with the colors plus those who are through with their active service and are back in civil life, as scattered all over the country, if the force is to be your first line. In the plan pro- | posed by the war departm ent, the first | line would consist of those who are | actually serving and those in the Con tinental Army, who are actually serv- ing. The reserves of these organiza- tions would be available just as they would be in the war college division plan, but they are not counted upon as part of the first line
 If anything whatever of value is to be accomplished at this session of | the congress, certain general princi- pies must be recognized as underlying | the whole subject. l sincerely believe | that an attentive study of the whole | subject will lead to the conclusion pre- | viously stated, that small highly trained effective, regular army, ex pansible in character, federal volun- teers, raised officered and trained in time of peace, and the national guard for state uses, is the best solution.
 With respect to the coast fortifi- cations and accumulations of reserve material, it does not seem useful to add anything to what is stated in my annual report. These two matters re- quire an aggregate of $46,000,O00 a year for a period of four years and this f necessity must be kept in mind in dealing with any proposed policy"
 For Federal Purposes.
 MT. Garrison told the committee he believed enlistment in the national guard would increase if the state forces were free from the liability for service in labor disorders.
 'I believe the best men in the na- tional guard" he said, "are there for federal purposes, not for local police purposes"
 HOLD HEARINGS ON