The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-12-01

ence plainly shows the necessity for fundamental reorganization Of the Army and of the War Department it. self, Secretary Baker declared recent ly in his annual report. He recom- mended that the emergency organiza- tion, reduced to the peace-time size, be made permanent, and approved the General Staff bill for a regular estab- Ishment adequate in size to be the nucleus of any great military mobtliz- alton the country may be called upon to make" and backed up by a system of universal training.
 1 Tn such a policy" MT. Baker said, the accent is upon the citizen and not the soldier; the officers becoming a permanent corps of experts and the men a body temporarily devoting Iportion 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.
 It is difficult to believe" he said denying any danger of militarism, 1 that an army could ba formed or Americans, educated in our common schools, raised in the free and dem ocratic atmosphere of our institutions, which would still be hostile to those institutions and liberties. The World War has shown quite clearly that ar mics reflect the spirit of the people from whom they come rather than create 8 spirit of their own, so that the size of the army is not so impor- Itant from tic point of view now un- ider consideration as the kind of an army"
 The selective service law was &C., cepted as a fair means of assigning men to military service in time Of war. MT. Baker said, but compulsory | r,F poor substitute for the volunteer prin- ciple properly applied' Raising standing. army by firn ~"io7 induce ;ment is too costly to contemplate, he added, leaving only the method of
 making enlistment in the army an
 educational opportunity to furnish
 the troops.
 The recommendation for an in creased standing army, he declared
 should not be taken to indicate a dis Inclination toward t?e prospect of dis armament.
 Those who know the spirit of the American army" the Secretary sa1d,
 twill not ascribe to 1t any proVoca- tive temper There is glory left Tn the career and the sacrifice 0f the soldier but the mild and spectacular contests of an earlier age have be-
 come a stern and cruel business, and while there is cleerful willingness to
 encounter the privations and make the sacrifices which war demands, the men of the American Army are abreast with enlightened men every where in the hope that more humane and rational processes of adjustment will supesede the waste and loss oi armed conflict. They are, however
 of the belief that so long as it is nec- essary for us to maintain an army al all we are not justified In having an Iinaffrfcnt army and their recommend ations are to be viewed as sett1ng them apart as men who, by reason or their experience, are qualified to sneak mon the provision which should
 be made for the common good anu
 inc common pfotection should the test
 of war become unavoidable.
 1 "The plan recommended, MT
 Baker said. looks to the establish
 ment of systems of schools teachlng E l the formal branches of educatlon anu | adding to them the skilled trades,
 so that at the end of term or en- | listnent the young man entering m l his nineteenth year will go back to 1 civil life with the physical set-up
 which the open. athletic life of the
 Army gives. and with the education l and training which will make him
 more valuable in civil pursuits than i he could otherwise have been. So- cia1 and recreational opportunities also must be supplied, he said, so | that the graduate from the ArnlE twill bring back with him the social
 virtues which result from education
 of mind and hand acquired in an en-
 vironment made stimulating by the
 presence of a high purpose and sense
 of service, and generous association
 with his fellows"
 'The military policy recommenoea
 bv the War Department, therefore
 involves a new Army created with a
 new spirit, having wide civic useful
 ness and of such size and organlza-
 tion as to be adequate reliance ln
 case of need" the report said
 MT. Baker said the operations 1n
 France would be dealt with in the
 special report being prepared by Gen l ara1 Pershing. Not even the Allied { war council. he said. had realized the
 effect upon Germany of the accei- 6 ! erated movement of troops and sup
 plies from the United States, and all plans had been prepared for viz = oro1s campaign in the Spring of a 1919.
 "Had not the great troop move nent of the summer of 1918 been carried out" he said. '.the practical 6 1v continuous battle on the western e front from March to November "ouIo V not have been possible. The SaNlhl :. to the world in thus shortening tnt war is incalculable alike in life and 0 treasure"
 f The text of the initial order te General Pershing which is quoted = = shows he was instructed to keep the e American army a separate and dis l. tinct component of the combined n forces, the identity of which mus ,, be preserved" The method of co S oneration with the allies was left tc his discretion and, MT. Baker added
 that the authority thus conferred v twas never in any particular modl . fled or diminished"
 ''There were elements in the prob e lem which might well have caused $ grave apprehension tha report said @ sp1-1e armies of France, Great Britain j. and Italy had borne for three year ]. the furious and deadly assaults Of thu 1T great German military machine, tn a toll levied by battle upon the mai i nations had been aD