The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-03-24
The Exposure Of . National shame.


The Exposure Of . National shame.
Americans have been told so fire.
Inently that the United States army
and navy, mar for man. gun for gun,
ship for ship. cduallei. II they did
not surpass, the armed forces Of other
nations, that most Of them believe 1t.
Is that belief justified: or have we
been deceived, and lurcd into a false
confidence in our dependence on those
arms Of the public service to which
we look in time of peace for the per-
formance OF we'll understood duties.
and I'm time Of war for preservation
from disaster in the first attack
What Is the record?
Within n week it has been dis
closed that the machine gun In Use In
the army is u daylight gun. its feed
SO delicate that in the dark IL cannot
he depended on to function properly.
The aeroplanes assigned to accom-
pany the punitive force following
VILLA have proved incapable: there
Is talk Of atmospheric conditions their
engines could not withstand; they
were sent up without observers or
mechnnicians; and those which sur-
vived their flights, inStend of complet.
ing their service "a scouts have been
ordered To search for those which
could not keep the air. Moreover.
their number was pitifully made
quate. aud the country is told that
the Government finds 1t difficult to
obtain satisfactory motors, In a day
when the European aeroplanes, ma
chimes Of American invention. some
VI aLlciI'dH '~ohNti u''loh' peii'ihh as
a matter OF course n duty incompa-
rably more difficult than any that has
been put upon ours.
These facts have been divulged
despite a censorship more rigid than
has ever been attempted here before.
What the full report will show no
man dares to foretell. viii 1t reveal
that transportation was inadequate.
the commissariut uneluul to it's task,
the quartermaster's supplies Of i'm
proper character and insufficient In
amount, the medical stores unsuited
in kind and deficient in quantity; The
answers 10 these questions will he
given when PKRsHING returns to the
United States; the history of the not
remote past supplies II suggestion that
must be rejected until it Is officially
confirmed.
II the army had dirigiblc balloons.
they should be with PERsHIN0. for the
practical aid they could give and for
the training their crews could gain
from exercise in the field. But the
army has no d~irigibles, or II It pos
sesses them they are hidden away
where they can he Of no use. Occa-
sionally we see Il photograph Of a
gas bag in a shed, with descriptive
matter assigning 1t to the army, hut
that II has ever left the builders
hands Is not recorded. The country
does know that the army acrOna utical
school has been ~savagcly attacked III
the Senate. and that no pretence OF
a defence has been made for II.
Man for man" the army equal,
my Of its size in the world. But
how many e does It count TO
regiment! What Is the number OF
soldiers, recorded ms individuals ant
not by organizations, under PER
SHINES command? How many buyo
nets. not companies or regiments. are
In Panama? How many organization,
al to-day put their nominal peac.
strength In the field? We hear q
a regiment, and set II down for /
thousand men: II marches on, full
strength. with 6S5 rifles behind 1t,
Colonel. During all the recent tall
of war from men highly placed, tn,
necessity of preparedness, the terrih
dangers of the nations foreign relu
lions. the army has been far below