New Britain herald., 1916-01-22
EX-SECRETARY OF WAR STIMSON ENDORSES PLAN l FOR CONTINENTAL ARM Favors Compulsory Universal Military Trai ing Which He Declares is True Solution
 of the Defense Problem. REGARDS GARRISONS PROGRAM
 AS SOUND INITIAL SIT

Official in Taft Administration S
 Legislation to Pay State Militia fr
 National Treasury and Devd
 Them Into Federal aCitizens' Ar
 Would Be a Mistake-Troops
 mardly & State Froce. E
 Washington. Jan. 22.-Unqualif
 endorsement of the administratioH continental army plan was given E day by Henry l.. Stimson, secretaryN war in the Taft administration, in address before the National securN league.
 Declaring himself in favor of coz pulsory universal military service the true solution of the defense prsa lem, MT. Stimson said, he regarded 4 problem now advanced by Secret4 Garrison as the sound initial step.
 "If congress is not ready yet sanction universal training" he sal "the measures which are enacI should be those which, so far as tlI go, are in accord with this great fu1 amental duty and which, as ti} passes and experience ripens, N lead most naturally to the establiI ment of such a system"
 Legislation Mistake.
 "One of the propositions which being seriously urged before congr{ is that we ssould pay our state nl itia from the national treasury 4 should attempt to develop them if our federal citizens army while tfl still retain their legal character aal state force. Four years ago, whenI was clear that no other force of i'd eral reserves could be obtained frd congress, I reluctantly gave my \ proval to a pay bill in order to N tain the advantages of training al discipline which the measure provl ed. Further study of the subject a1 of the situation evoked by the uE have made it clear that such legisI tion would be mistake.
 Under the federal constitution tE national guard or orga. .Azed militia primarily a state force instead ofl national reserve, and I do not s5 lieve that any effective national cil zen army can be created out of force dominated by forty-eight sa1 arte sovereignties. Tor nearly \ teen years strenuous efforts have bea made by the federal government, we'll as by the state authorities, to X crease the number of the guard, "A it has remained nearly stationary Ta ratio of its enli5tmentS to our popl lation Is so far below that in othl English-s speaking countries as to n1aI it clear that some funuamental dcfaa is at work. #...
 State Military Force.
 Tt seems to me that these dcIel can be traced directly to the fact tfl the national guard is in fact a std military force which wc arc also Il quiring to dc duty for thn uauctI government. Sc long as such ford exist tho states are tempted ta si| their police duties and to rely whol upon citizen soldiers for that puI pose.
 What is even worse. thcvc llI gradually grown among our laborirE classes the feeling that the only sea diers with whom they are practical acquainted represent different claA of the community and are maintaineN for the purpose of being used again them.
 Finally, this liability to state p' lioe duty has tended to shape the ter of enlistment and the training or militia to the disadvantage or tne function as national troops
 CorIparativeIy Long Periods. F.
 Instead of being trained througI brief but continuous periods Of intel0 sive work with the colors and there after being left comparatively free
 reservists, the militia are held to couN paratively long periods with the coloa lnder a system of weekly armorN drills. a system which is not only thN least effective way of teaching a maN 10 be a soldier but also tends, froFA he length of time during which
 imposes a continual though slight of8 igation upon him, to discourage en istment.
 "The national guard is, other tha he regular army, our only preser 'orce of even partially trained soA fiery. Nothing should be done discourage it. But such encourageE nent should be in the direction oE it wholly into the servic if the federal government and not oE ,erpetuating it in its present status to. grant federal pay E he individual militiamen for hi K weekly service rendered to the state eems to blur the great lesson whic
 s emerging from the European Wa { is to yield again to the theory Una