The evening herald. (Klamath Falls, Or.) 1906-1942, 1919-12-01
LARGE ARMY
IS ADVOCATED
BY SECRE ETARY


necessity for fundamental feorganl-
zatiOn OF the Army and OF the War
| Department itself, Secretary Baker
declared today in HIS annual report.
iio recommended that the emcr-
gency organization, reduced TO the
pcace-time size. be made permanent,
and approved the General STAFF bill
for regular establishment "ade-
quatc in size to be the nucules OF
any great military mobilization 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
and not the soldier; the officers be-
! coming permanent corps OF eX-
| perts and the men body tempor-
| nfHy devoting a portion OF their
! time to military training in order
that they may enter civil life with a
sense Of national service and with
superior equipment for success."
"It is difficult to believe" he said j.
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 institu-
tiOns, which would still be hostile
to those institutions and liberties.
| The world War has shown us quite
clearly that armies reflect the spirit
rather than create a spirit of their
, own, so that the size Of the army Is
not so important from the point of
view now under consideration as the
! kird OF on army"
The selective service law has ac-
cepted as fair means Of assigning
men to military service in time Of
war, Mr.. Baker said, but compulsory
service in time of peace would be IA
substitute for the volunteer princi-
| pie properly applied" Raising a
standing army by financial induce
ment is too costly to contemplate,
he added, leaving only the method
of making enlistment in the army
an educational opportunity" to fur
nish the troops.
The recommendation for an in
creased standing army, he declared.
should not be taken to indicate a
| disinclination toward the prospect
of disarmament.
| "Those who know the spirit of the
American army" the Secretary said,
| will not ascribe to It any provoca-
tive temper. There is glory left in
the career and the sacrifice OF the
soldier, but the mild and spectacu-
lar contests OF an earlier age have
become a stern and cruel business.
and while there is cheerful willing
| ness to encounter the privations and
makethe sacrifices which war de-
! mands, the men of the American
Army are abreast with enlightened
men everywhere in the hope that
more humane and rational process
es OF adjustment will supersede the
waste and loss Of armed conflict
They are, however, of the belief that
SC long as 1t is necessary for us to
maintain an Army at all we are not
justified inhaving an inefficient
Army, and their recommendation
are to be viewed as setting them
apart as men who, by reason of
their experience, are qualified to
speak upon the provision which
should be made for the common
good and the common protection
should the test of war become un-
avoidable."
The plan recommended, Mr.
Baker said, looks to the establish
ment of systems of schoo, teaching
the formal branches of education
and adding to them the skilled
trades, $50 that at the ond OF term
of enlistment, the young man en-
tering in his nineteenth wear will go
back to civil life with the physical
set-up which the open, athletic life |
of the Army gives, and with the ed
ucation and training which will
make him more valuable in civil
pursuits than he could otherwise
have been" Social and recreation
al opportunities also must be sup
Piled, he said, so that the graduate
from the AJmy will bring back
with him the social virtues which
result from education of mind and
hand acquired in an environment
made stimulating by the presence of
a high purpose and sense of service,
and generous association with his
"