Evening star., 1925-07-20
U. S. Army and Its Work
VI-Camps and Adequate Army Are Necessary for
Preparedness the Greatest Economy in Long Run.
BY CEN. JOHN ]. PERSHING.

(Editor's note-The tolloloing is the
last of a series Of sir articles, iUTTt-
TEN for the Associated Press, descrfb-
Sno activities OF the Army OF the
United states during the Summer
0oHthS Of 1920
The Army's Summer camps are
modest in comparison with the sranu
maneuvers which are held annually
by most of the great and small ma
tions of the world. These Summer
camps are Without militarism, because
our defense 9vstem is the most demo
cratic in the world. They are based
upon the highest ideal of service 10
country, for they are purely Noluh-
tary. The young men go to the camps
because they wish TO be constructive
acnve citizens. not because the .lfo'-
ernment insists upon their being just
THAT. In most countries military serN-
ice is compulsory.
These Army camps, modest in size
and length are the beginnings of pre-
parednesS in our country. Ihey are
purely American, in keeping with
American traditions, ideals and prln-
Ciples.
AT this time 1t again seems neces-
Sary to sound the warning against the
danger of unpreparedness. There
III this country. We have come out of
all our wars with the best of iuten-
tionS and high resolves heuCeforth TO
be prepared TO preserve our peace and
liberty But these resolutions, like
those made by so many each New
Year, have always been broken. After
each war we lave lapsed into our old
habit of neglect. Temporary eXpedi-i
enCy has always tempted us to keep
Il
ment. AS a result the preparation
that should be made is never made.
Always. to our great surprise, war,
with all its confusion and cost in lives
and nsbney, has come to us largely
because of our weakness.
! Peace Prophecy Ages Old.
We always have heard the 'no'more-
war" prophecy. 1t was particularly
strong after the War of 1872. 1t is or
foreign importation, having been
needed ages ago by nations. which
were thereafter destroyed by AZ and
have only left their ruins to I eXca-
waited by scientists.
We hear much at the present time
of economy. That is all important in
governnert az in business. But there
are two kinds of economy-the true
and The alleged. When a farmer re-
fases to paint or reshingle his barn
ne is not saving money but losing 1t,
for he is merely speeding the day
when he will have no barn at all. "A
farmer may think that il is economy
not to fertilize his fields or rotate his
crops, but he is merely destroying the
value of his land and losing his most
valuable possession.
1t is not economy to save $50, 1000 900
spend $50, 900 100000 in two years dur
ing war 1t would take l 900 years to
save at $40, 900 a year what was
thrown away in two during the World
War This is not considering the most
priceless of all things-American lives.
a military establishment, like a great
business, is the product of years OF
labor and thought. 1t cannot be made
IN few months or years. 1t took us
18 months, in spite of our $50 200, ,000,-
600, to put an American army in the
field for four months in the World
War.
Favors Waste Elimination.
Our people should be Jealous of
economy and efficiency in government.
To my mind, they should be most
jealous to avoid duplication in gov
ernment and can still reduce the cost
of our Government by many millions
by preventing duplication. There is
no doubt that our Federal, State and
city governments have agencies doing
the same work and at three times
what il actually should cost our peo-
pie. ! think personally we should get
back to the Constitution, that our
Federal Government should confine its
attentions to its own field. our States
to theirs, and our municipalities to
theirs. That would save money by
eliminating waste. At best, only little
can be saved even on a yearly basis.
and any further cuts must be at the
expense Of our Army and Navy's eff
cheney and our future safety. The
way TO save is by better business or
ganization and better coordination in
the different spheres of local, State
and Federal government.
In national defense it behooves this
country to follow that course which
our experience has shown TO be the
wisest and the safest and the most
economical. In other words, we must
maintain a reasonable army and must
make preparation against the posi-
bility of war or be false to our obl-
cations TO our country and its future.
Conforming to our traditions, our
forces must be democratic, with moth
ing that Savors of militarism. They
must be economically and efficiently