Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1919-12-01

ence plainly shows the necessity LOT
Fundamental reorganization OF the
army and of the war department u
self, Secretary Baker declared TO-DAY
in his annual report He recommend
ed that the emergency organization
reduced to the peace-time size, pc
made permanent and approved the
general staff bill for regular estab-
lishment adequate in size to be the
nucleus of any great military moplll-
zation the country may be called upon
to make" and backed up by a system
of universal training.
In such policy" Mr.. Baker said,
''the accent is upon the citizen ana
not the soldier; the officers becoming
a permanent corps of experts and the
men a body temporarily devotlng a
portion of their time to military train
ing in order that they may enter civil
life with a sense of national service
and with superior equipment for sue
cess" ........
at is difficult to believe" he said,
DENYING any danger of militarism,
that an army could be formed of
Americans, educated in our common
schools, raised in the free and demo-
cratic atmosphere of our institutions,
which would still be hostile to those
institutions and liberties, The world
war has shown quite clearly that
armies reflect the spirit of the people
from whom they come rather than
create spirit of their own, so that
the size of the army is not so import
ant from the point of view now under
consideration as the kind of an army.
Sclective Service Law.
The selective service law was ac-
cepted as a fair means of assigning
men to military service in time OF
I war, Mr.. Baker said, but compulsory
| service in time of peace would be
poor substitute for the volunteer prln-
ciple properly applied" Raising
standing army by financial induce
| ment is too costly to contemplate, hi
| added, leaving only the method o.
| making enlistment in the army al
educational opportunity to furnisf
the troops
The recommendation for an in
Ecreased standing army he declared
SHOULD not be taken to indicate DIS
I inclination toward the prospect o
disarmament.
!, Those who know the spirit of tn
American army" the secretary salo
"Wil1 not ascribe to ii any provoca
/ tive lHInDbE. IHtIe 10 siOAS iChN -
the career and the sacrifice of the sol
der. but the mild and spectacula
contests of an earlier age have be
come a stern and cruel business. an
while there is cheerful Willingness t
encounter the privations and max
the sacrifices which war demands, tn
men of the American army ar
abreast with enlightened men every
where in the hope that more human
{ and rational processes of adjustmer
will superSede the waste and loss {
armed conflict They are, however,
= the belief that so long as It is nece'
sary for us to maintain an army at a
5 we are not Justified IN having an II
efficient army, and their recon
mendations are to be viewed as Sc
! ting them apart as men who, by req
/ son of their experience, are qualifie
to speak upon the provision whic
should be made for the common goo
. and the common protection shou
Y the test of war become unavoidable
: The Plan Recommended.
The plan recommended, Mr.. Bak
said, looks to the establishment
8 systems of schools teaching the TO
3 NAL branches of education and adj
c ing to them the skilled trades, :"
. that at the end of a term of enlis
II ment the young man entering in b
n nineteenth year will go back to civ
d life with the physical set-up whit
the open. athletic life of the arm
gives, and with the education al
IS training which will make him mo
g valuable in civil pursuits than
It could otherwise have been. Soc
4 and reereational opportunities al
l., col 40
% graduate from the army will bri
,e back with him the social virtues viii
q result from education of mind a
hand acquired in an environme
10 made stimulating by the presence
At high purpose and sense of servi
end generous association with his f
lows"
''The military policy recommend
IN by the war department therefore,
re wolves a new army created with n
Lea spirit, having wide civic usefuine
and of such size and organization
nc to be an adequate reliance in case
IT, need" the report said,
ce Mr.. Baker said the operations
;, France would be dealt with in
:, special report being prepared by G'
IL eral Pershing. Not even the all
war council, he said, had realized
effect upon Germany of the accel
T.. ated movement of troops and suppl
10 from the United States, and all pl;
w had been prepared for q vigor,
EN- campaign in the spring of 1919.
an Troop Movement Ended War.
Had not the great troop movem
id' of the summer Of 1918 been carr
Urn out" he said, "the practically C
TX tinuous battle on the western FIR
from March to November would
have been possible. The saving TO
world in thus shortening the wal
the incalculable alike IN life and tire
lut ure"
iod The text of the initial order to G
eral Pershing which is quoted, sh
PIE he was Instructed to keep the Am
can army "a separate and dist
component of the combined toi
I'M the identity of which must be
-. served The method of co-opera
'ih' with the allies was left to his dis
ton and, Mr.. Baker added, that
authority thus conferred was n
Ia, in any particular modified or dill
ished."
'er- "There were elements in the p
lem which might we'll have ca
grave apprehension" the report
"a THE armies of France, Great Bri
and Italy had borne for three
ISL the furious and deadly assaults OF
great German military machine.