Evening star., 1919-10-12
n REPRESENTATIVE KAHN, chair
~ man of the House committee on
military affairs and hence in a


~ man of the House committee on
military affairs and hence in
measure the representative OF
the thought of the party in the ma jority
In the House. recently discussed the
size of the Army proposed under the
terms Of the War Department bill The
occasion was his attendance at the
weekly luncheon meeting OF the officer
personnel of the Army finance division
under Brig. Gen. Herbert NJ Lord.
where they meet to talk over in an in
ormal way the affairs of the division
Repre- ser tative Kahn started with the
proposition that in the absence of in
cVltable necessity Congress ought not
to impose an additional bL rden Of A bill :
lion dollars annually by authorizing an
Army Of the size-576. .oo0--indicated in
'he bill submitted to the committees on
military affairs Of the two houses Of
Congress. He stated that the war had
cost the country already S32, 900. 600, 900
and that the end is not in sight. 1T is
true he said. that the interest on a
small part OF this huge sum spent annu-
ely m preparation of the country to de-
fend itself might-and probably would
have made Germany take a second
thought before provoking the United
was not done. and the nation has now
10 meet the debt" He expressed a fear
that congressman and high governm ent
officials had so long been thinking in
millions that they find 1t extremely diff
cult to come down to the ways Of econ
cmy: but that, he said. is what must be
done.
The chairman Of the committee gave
his personal view that an army 100000
strong should be ample for the require
ments of the uni1ed States: but that 1t
must be backed up by the annual train
that in the course Of the next few years
there would be available for the defense
Of the nation an Army Of million men.
more or less, well organized to form
first line of attack while more were
forming behind them. Such course
would render the nation ae long as It
remained on it's own soil and did not In
termeddle with foreign affairs Invinci-
BILE
The cost of maintaining the training
great as that of the huge standing
Army; and the benefit to the young men
would prove to be great credit against
the cost Of making them At for the duty
which a war would impose upon them.
II this benefit did not meet the entire
be more than swallowed up In the ma
tional insurance against war which will
result from the possession Of force
trained to the use Of arms.
X X
The College Of Surgeons Of the Uni
versity of Edinburgh. Scotland. has
made Rear Ad-
University Honors miral William
C. Brais 1t d.
eraf Of the Navy. an honorary fellow
of its body. Few higher compn
ments can be paid to any surgeon
than to be called to this long .estab-
lished and exclusive body of sur
geons. No decoration could convey a
more glowing tribute than this from
professional men Of the officer who
was in charge Of the health of the
Cd Of the war. but in the long days
before the war, when the bureau was
unostentatiously making ready for the
day that 1t thought might come. and
which did come with a vengeance.
1t Is due to the perfect organization
of the Navy surgeon generals office
that the task was so well met; and
now perhaps the most exclusive surgi-
cal body in the world has expressed
its feeling on this subject by making
honorary fellows
X +
AS far as the Army is Concerned, the
essential feature of the Stiness bill
is that it WILL
The Stiness Bill if it becomes
and Army Officers. crease the pay
Of all enlisted men, active and retired,
80 per cent and Of all officers 30
per cent per annum There is no room
for doubt that the present rates Of
Army pay need radical revision; but
quarters as to the wisdom of these
provisions. however great the merit
In point of simplicity.
The reasonable complaint that an
officer could not with pay f1xed on the
pre-war value Of money meet the ad-
vanced cost Of living has been met
during the past few months with the
statement that nearly all officers had
received a boost in rank that had
brought s their Pay up to the adyanesa
theory OF higher pay for advanced
rank Is that the grade imposes re-
sponsibilities and calls for efforts
which entitle the incumbent to a cor
Officers are saying that the advanced
eat up a good part of the increase.
However. 1t is matter OF small diff
ference that officers have had the emer-
eency rank and the higher pay: for 1t is
about to be taken< away from them.
With the rapid reduction in number Of
the armed forces. even with the added
numbers of officers under the bill au-
thorizng the War Department to retain
1900 for the present year, the average
advance in rank Is small. Very few off,
GERS after November l will be as much
as two grades above the rank they
would be holding If there had been no
war They will not average a full
grade; and many officers, although
higher In their number, are not ad-
yanced in grade at all, and consequently
will get no advance whatever in pay.
This state of affairs suggests two con-
Gitions which are intolerable to the gov
ernment: The first is the injustice to
the officer, and the second is the demor-
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