Evening star., 1921-12-08

os eacn nesaIsp a%' oeess sese %Ss IN num-
bers to maintain tho Rekular Army,
to devote themselves to the lifetime
study sof an intricate profession. ana
to difpse the leaven OF their knowl"
edge Through the mass Of The naaop.
ects falls directly upon these. We
should. accordingly, give them our
operation.
During my brief experience In this
department hevs observed . growth
omoers Of the Regular Army. the Ma.
tional Guard and tho Reserve Corps.
and . communion between them and
the civilians OF the country that 10
the finest promise Of . critical year In
this department The ultimate con.
this cooperation, this community Of
spirit. must be fostered and main.
tained As one OF the greatest sources
OF strength in defense Of our ideals.
Tells Of Steps Taken.
Step by step. Secretary Weeks tells
National Guard and the organised re-
serve-has been brought into being.
The major function" Of the Regular
Army, he says. 10 to provide . corps
the of IN. cles aa aas
not be subjected to the excessive
dangers that confront raw troops II
called for q war emergency.
As we decrease the size OF our
standing Army" the Secretary says:
our instructional work among citi.
Gems: We cannot AFFORD to let the
numbers OF our regular officers dc.
cline. Neither can we afford to per.
init their quality to be lowered"
can obtain from the Military Acede.
my approximately only one-third Of
the requirements for the peaoe.time
organization Of the Army. Mr. Weeks
expresses the belief that the ques-
the capacity Of this institution in the
near future should be given consid-
Asserting that there is mo longer q
doubt" that graduates Of the Reserve
Ie viii cons,itute % the on main anHs'ea soSres q
supply for reserve ofiicsr material
needed to NIL out the skeleton organi.
zation, Mr.. Weeks says the appropria.
tions now available for the summer
training camps for such ofaeers limit
Il earnestly hope" he adds. that
the authorization for the following
years will be Increased to enable us
to handle, at least, majority Of those
who apply for this training"
Mobilization Of Industry.
Paralleling the plans for mobilisa-
Mr.. Weeks shows. runs a similar work
in connection with industries which
10 meeting hearty cooperation among
business interests. Also. there 10 60
ing forward . study Of all mechanical
and other developments. in order that
nique OF war behind the technique Of
new equipment. from the infantry
hand grenade to tho heaviest gun Of
the artillery" the report says. are be-
ing produced, and. as they are fully
supplant existing standard types. both
with the troops and in the scheme OF
quantity production in var, that un-
derlies the departments efforts.
Similar studies as to poison gas and
chemical warfare matters generally
ing:
ciple to the use OF poison gas. I am
Of the opinion that we cannot safely
presume q similar attitude on the part
Of possible opponents and neglect the
we wish to insure a successful de-
Tense in a possible war. I hope for
continued support of this activity by
Congress and by the chemical indus
tries themselves"
Ar DevelsDnents.
In dealing with the air Develop
ments OF warfare, Mr.. Weeks says:
I'VE are already much behind the
leaders in such development, and there
Is thus in our present project for ma
tional defense q defect that 10 one Of
Its salient feature4"
The report points out that CONNER
cial aviation 10 an essential factor In
adequate development for war In the
air. and that other nations are pro-
noting aircraft development CONNER
cially through direct subsidy.
"it is conceivable that we will be de-
ficient in air force for defense unless
greater support and encouragement
are provided.
Il consider It suficiently important
to urge constant progress toward de-
and municipalities should be invited
to cooperate IN determined and ef-
fective provision Of suitable national
routes. Governmental support should
be given to the extent necessary to
insure prompt initiation Of the air
FINALLY, consideration should be
given to the possibility Of more direct
methods OF encouraging the industries
concerned in air development. II no
other method avails. by direct SUBJ
sidy.
II recognize the seriousness Of such
influences as matter Of precedent,
but even more impressive is the Sc
riousness Of the situation that might
confront us IL our air power falls
short Of the standards attained by
other states"
Need Of Adequate Funds.
While outlining fully the extraordi-
nary steps taken by the department
to reduce expenditures ana renewing
pledges to keep q frm hand on the
purse strings in all that is done, Mr.
Weeks points out the places where, in
his opinion, too great q limitation
upon Appropriations will strike down
the machinery Of self-defense that
has been devised and make lessons
Of the war valueless to generations to
come.
upon the change Of administration,
he says, an aggregate Of $13.43l.440.
withheld from apportionment to opef-
atinH services, was turned over to the
new administration Of the War De-
partment. At the same time, it was
estimated that the total expenditures
from the Army appropriation would
at the end Of the fiscal year result in
q deficiency Of $15.00o,o00. The econ
omy measures taken at once were
such that not only was no such de-
ficiency created, but the department