Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1916-02-02
by FREDERICK PALMER

Numbers count IN modern warfare
lumber that are ready. That com
,mander who gets there first with the
most men" wins, as the , eocrate
general. Forrest. said. Germany had
her numbers ready. All that prevent
ed her from %conquerinS Europe was
that her opponents also had numbers
ready; but not so many and not quite
SO ready. as the result of the war
proves to date.
In Europe every able bodied man is
Il soldier. The numbers are had in
extensively. Patriotism. and not the
States and Britain are the only
tries that hire" their soldiers, the only
countries that have regular armies.
Therefore,, we pay an price
for a handful OF soldiers.
We have n military appropriation of
$1OO, 600, 900 a year and get 105, 900 SOL
dierS, without reserves, and without
adequate guns. motor transport, or air
craft. Before the war Germany spent
S26C. 900, 600 a e and had n standing
army of 100000, with ample modern
equipment and a reserve. making n
Franc spent 5000. 600, 600 and had IA
standing army Of $4,000 and a total
of about $500, 600. But all her reserves
were not equipped. That made the
difference. II gay Germany the start.
How long would any European army
that set out without reserves have last
ed in this war;? With reserves you fill
the gaps made by death. wounds and
sickness. England had reserves. 9th
erwise, soon after the retreat from
Mons her expeditionary force would
have been finished. BY filling up the
gaps with reserves. she was fighting
with full b%attaliOns a month after. Sir
John French had fallen back on Paris.
II the United States army had suffered
a similar disaster. our 100000 would
have all been gone in three months.
Must Have . New Army System.
Before we can have an adequate de-
Tense we must reform the army itself.
We must have a new system. The
European system is the result of 100
OF time and of his war. Hardly an
Englishman who has been in battle but
is for universal service. He has learned
from his warfare the error of a system
that sends a man who is down on his
luck" to the recruiting sergeant. stand
ing in a public square,, OF to climb the
stairs in a side street under the pla-
card: Men Wanted for the United
States Army
If times are good. we get few re-
cruits. When we ave prosperity to
defend, our army is short of men. Our
preparedness anu OuI pdlTlOllSIIl, aS lit
as it is represented by preparedness.
fluctuate with the itinerant labor mar
ket. Bad times means that more men
enlist to fight for the flag as a last re-
sort. In Europe. the flow of recruits
is he same year in n year out. The
system is definite and dependable.
There IS q deep moral idea back of
universal service which every Euro
pea realizes. but no American and few
Englishmen realized it until this wal.
What your country demands Of you IS
your life. One mans life is worth just
as much to him as a%nother's: whether
he is a day laborer, or q millionaire,
it is the only capital he has to give.
In universal service, you have every
body of all classes. shoulder to shOul-
der. The result has been practically
no assertions in Europe. while the per-
centage of assertions in our regular
army is colossal.
The United States has never fought
d first class power single handed or
land. In the Revolution France helped
Us. In 1912. the British were fighting
france at the same time as US. Yet
rur raw levies were whipped in practic-
ally every engagement in 1912. At Lun-
,.y's Lane We had regulars. at New Or
leans. trained frontiersrnen n sharp
shooters. A superior number of un.
trained troops retreated before infer
Tor numbers of British who too and
burned Washington. The school books
do moi tell 1t that way. but 1t is the
truth. We need not be ashamed of the
truth, considering the skill Of our ar
mics north and south once they were
prepared in the Civil n where they
fought with unsurpassed heroism AND
efficiency. II In the north we had had
100000 trained troops at the start Of
the Civil war, we would have ended Il
In six months: II the southern states
q had 100000 against the unprepared
north. they would have taken Washing.
ton. Philadelphia and New York.
think that no professional officer viii
dispute this. Soldering being the bust.
ness Of soldiers. they ought to know
I'VE Have Everything In Our Arm,
excspt Soldiers and Guns.
In Europe they run their army plant,
TO run capacity. They economics
Their armies are busihesslike institu.
lions. q trained German soldier cost
Germany $500 q year, Or counting tn,
reserves. $40 q year! In France It Il
little higher. Our soldiers cost u,
$o.O00x9EyeAr apiece.
We have pointed the finger Of scor,
q a Brttieh lab0rtn9 classes who hell
ursEthexDratt1h gOvernmSnt tor hiGhe
SyaNWhllo our whole army eystAn
d based IA that idea We : payinl
41e0,0e9.0o0 Q year for pensions 20
yolunteers q the civil val. the cost I
49, o~e1eelel6nas 0f u~nreadinsss. IA
1gBS3oQMeeAooa ysar To- 1ek.ooo ooi
der ata1Aot 0egSnAnyss 4,eoeyNo0 "a
e3e.eoey ~. A. long . ~ can usak
p1tfsoltsm : matf1GIof dollars " shai