The Sentinel=record., 1916-12-19
AMERICA SHOULD PROFIT
 FROM THE PRESENT WAR
Generals Scott and Wood Declare That This Country Was Utterly Defense. less Against Well Organized Foe This Country Needs an Army of 1,5oo coo MEN.

Washington. Dee. lS.-Tle mobiiiz- alton of the national guard for border service was described as a military failure, emphasizing the urgent ne cessity Of abandoning the volunteer system as the nations reliance for de- | fense, in statements today by Major Genera Hugh h. Scott, chief Of staff of the army and Major General Leon ard Wood commanding the eastern 1 department, before the senote su0- ! committee considering the Chamber. 1 lain universal military training bill
 Both Of the generals advocated uni versal training General Wood de- clared that the country now was utterly defenseless against a well or ganized foe. that the mobilization Was a tragedy and that if the euardsmen had meg go"d rooas they would never have known what hit them. '" General Scott told the committee that lessons drawn from the present war 1 proved that in case Of war with first class power the United States would immediately need a united force O. l50O0o9 men with another I5o0 o0o available within 90 days.
 On the other side of the question ! the committee heard Walter l.. Fish CT of Chicago, former secretary of | the interior, who opposed universal service, though he stood for adequate defense measures and suggested a regular army of half million. He thought if the pay of privates were raised to 80 a month the service would be mere attractive to recruits. General N ood from whose depart ment went S5000 of tbe guardsmen sent to the border, said of the men en- rolled when the call came an average of 30 per cent of each company had to be dropped for physical defects and the organizations went to the border filled up with green men
 Its been a tragedy he said, but worth all it cost if We only profit by it. It was not the fault of the officers or men. but of a defective system. If we had been compelled to meet god troops down there, it would have been a scene of carnage The guardsmen would never have known what hit them
 What should we do with the national guard, generai?' Senator Brady ask ed.
 Tt should be replaced as rapidly as possible with men trained under a universal service system" General Wood replied. When the system has been well started, I would drop the national guard entirely from any scheme of national defense, although We want every officer and man O. them in the new plan. But it must be straight out federal force"
 Yet the states must maintain tn national guard or some force. S'enR tor Brady suggested
 q believe a constabulary should be maintained by each state, not mili- tary force" explained the general ,, The police are trained to control while troops are trained 10 kill. Thee is less resentment when men are handled by police than when troops are called out The people feel 1t is the policeman's business"
 General Wood outlined his own plan for universal service, which in effect would be combination of the Cham Eerlain. itself an adoption of the Aus tlalian system, and the French gener a staff plan His scheme would pro vide that all physically fit men be given six m0nths training during their nineteenth year, passing then into the organized reserve to be avail abe for the first line duty only be- tween tn ages Of 2l and %. after which they would be passed into the unorganized reservrs- Ik %. The l result would be force og trained men wiul5e ,oe smeat of more than 4,OO0,C SSn addi.
 peA
 and