The Cordova daily times., 1920-12-06
MONDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1920
NATIONAL DEFENSE TODAY

Two years ago the united states had one of the great armies of the world the largest by far in our his tory, the most complicated and high ly organized ever devised by Ameri cans at war.
 We are people committed to peace and there was no need for the retention of this vast force after the fall of Germany. Our citizens laid down their arms and returned to their vacations. The vast army was gone.
 This was inevitable and desirable. But something has taken place which was neither inevitable nor desirable. The citizen soldiers have returned to civil life, but military establishment had to remain, and that establishment should have kept all that was possible of the morale and the system created for the effort against Germany.
 1t has not. On the contrary, the of morale. In Washington a great corps of officers has gathered to en- joy easy berths while companies and batteries of the line are without pro- per complements of officers.
 A new law, untried and complicat- ed, has thrown our army organization into confusion, and during this pain full period of transition, individual selfishness, personal pull and the lack of incentive to soldierly work with troops have worked havoc with what few months ago, despite defects of education and experience was a splendid military creation.
 While other nations, weighted like ours with heavy responsibilities and confronted like ours with difficulties and dangers, are devoting all the sci ence and energy they possess in the field of modern military knowledge and method to the preservation and progress of their armies and navies, we are not only not progressing but have gone back
 In departments of military science which every great power recognizes may be decisive in the next conflict we lag deplorably. We the inventor of the airplane, are still far behind after what was one of the worst fiascOes of the late war If a conflict were thrust upon us now or within few years our men would once again pay the heavy price of inferior ity in the air, our cities might be at the mercy of the enemy, and the war itself might be lost by this shortcom- ing alone.
 In morale, in material, in organiza- tion, and science our military situa- tion is deplorable and inexcusable. We do not assume to apportion blame, but the final responsibility rests upon the invalid chief executives deputy, the secretary of war MT. Baker from time to time expresses himself orally in way which has aroused hope that he had progressed in knowl-
 
 edge of our military necessities and of sound defense principles. Yet he has permitted a situation to develop which brands him hopelessly unfit for his office. It Is one of the gravest aspects of our national situation in this troublous period of world history that our national defense organiza- tion is in the hands of MT. Baker and Mir. Daniels. We can only pray that our weaknesses are not taken advan- tage of and that Mir Harding will act as soon as possible to place the army and navy at once under the ablest direction. Both these departments should be given to men ofthe high est executive competence and the soundest judgment Pacifism, which has broken morale of officers and men by favor to slackers and fanatics, weak administration which has al lowed favor and pull to demoralize organization, politics, local influence end lack of grasp of or brazen neglect of strategic principles, in short, about