The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1916-01-28
from the instruction work, and by an
entirely different set of men.
From Thursdays Daily.

| III view Ol tu0 udJlOu- Wlue ulSCuo-
sion of the preparedness of the Unit
ed States for war" The Free Press is
today publishing short interviews
with number of the prominent men
of the city on the subject of larger
army and navy. These opinions were
given on the spur of the moment, and
without any preparation for public
interview:
President C. H. Cooper of the
Mankato Normal School: Prepared
ness? Yes, that is something we
must thing about at the present time.
/ believe we ought to have thorough
ly good navy of moderate size, but
not necessarily as large as the navy
of the British, and / think we ought
to have an efficient army of moderate
size. Efficiency is of the utmost inn
portance. Common good sense shows
that we should certainly have first
class protection from any invading
army We spend considerable money,
| but the expenditure does not seem to
get the amount of efficiency which a
similar amount gets in Germany for
| instance. There is too much of the
lieve in Strengthening both to a
reasonable degree, but am not in
sympathy with the extremists who
are shouting for the limit of pre-
paredness.
Superintendent F.. ]. Sperry of the
Mankato Public Schools: Certainly
believe that we ought to organize our
resources and get them in shape to
make the best use Of them in case of
need. We should accumulate more
ammunition and other material, and
organize the army so we could call
out a very large force if necessary.
We need considerably larger navy
and army than we have now, although
possibly not as large as the British.
Our present army and navy appear
somewhat pitiful when compared with
the army and navy Of Great Britain
and Germany, and l have often
wondered what we could really Go if
we were forced into a big war. If
Wilson declared war, what would We
have to back up the declarations"
Evan Hughes. Judge of Probate: Il
am in favor of better preparedness,
especially on the part of the navy, be-
cause with formidable navy we
could meet any invading navy on a
more equal footing. | would not adj
wise a much larger army, as it would
foster a spirit of militarism. An
adequate navy would protect our
coast from any invasion, and there
would be no need of an immense
standing army"
C. E. Phillips, City Attorney: 81
feel that it is very essential that a
great deal more should be done in the
way Of preparedness than has been
done. The United States should have
the strongest of defences possible, but
do not think it is necessary to go to
the extreme measures advocated by
some The federal government should
adopt some uniform policy of gradu-
ally Strengthening the army and navy.
believe that on account of our iso-
lated position, far from any European
countries, and being the strongest
nation on this continent, that it is
not necessary to maintain an army of
the strength that they do in Europe,
but we should go about the work
gradually and build up and strength
en- our army, and especially the navy
Our munition plants on the eastern
coast ought to be moved farther in
land to protect them from any chance
invasion, and have them where the
people in the interior OF the country
could always be supplied with war
equipment if it ever became neces-
sary"
Judge w. F. Hughes: eff we had
good navy we would have about all
we need never fear that any foreign
from an unfriendly country. With the
proper coast defenses, protection to
our harbors, and an adequate navy
we need never fear that any foreign
nation will land troops on the United
States"
Attorney Miles Porter, former
state representative: Eyes, cur army
and navy needs considerable i'm
provement. l think we should pay
particular attention to coast defenses
Along out Atlantic coast we have
seven fortified ports, but it appears
possible that an enemy might be
able to make landing at some of the
unprotected places. l believe that the
first thing that should be done is to
work for better coast defenses There
should be reasonable increase in
our navy, but as far as the army is
concerned, think if they get it large
enough to keep any invaders in check
until the citizens can be armed it
will be large enough. / don't antici-
pate thouble with the European
countries. They will be exhausted
and the people will object to war for
some time to come. But our navy
should be increased and our army
strengthened. However, l have no
sympathy with the move to make
universal military service. 1t is I'M
American and unnecessary, and just
the thing that will ultimately lead to
war. hope the time will soon come
when men will all feel like the little
French school teacher, who was COM
PEELED to go to the front, and promised
clerical position. He was forced to
go in the trenches and deserted, say
ing that he would not kill brother
man. He was captured and shot, but
met his death very bravely. His
spirited refusal to kill brother man
is the right spirit, and will put an end
to wars