Evening star., 1925-10-11
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM VILE
. RESIDENT COOLIDGE'S Oma-
y ha speech has thrown a bomb
shell into the ranks Of Army
and Navy men. 1t comes at

- ha speech has thrown a bomb
Shell into the ranks Of Army
Il and Navy men. 1t comes al
the very moment that the mill
tary and naval budgets for the fiscal
Year 1862 are under consideration
Leaders in both services fear that the
effect of the Presidents freshly pro-
claimed demand for economy in de
fonse expenditure will make is eX
ceedingly difficult, if not impossible
Tor either the War or Navy Depart
ment to obtain the minimum appropri
auons each of them Is asking for.
1t is recognized that Mr.. Coolidge
has SO effectually sold" his economy
program to the country that the peo
pie. acting through Congress. are like
lT to heed the Presidents arguments
In favor Of progressive retrenchment
In the realm of preparedness. Mill
tary and naval authorities believe II
would be relatively easy to prove
that not dollar or a man can he
taken from the existing defensive es.
ttbllshment of the United States with
out endangering national safety. But
those who hold this opinion admit in
the same breath that as against the
coolidge economy policy neither proof
nor argument would make much head
way.
In any event. the Omaha speech
fairly effectively puts an embargo on
attempts within the Army or Navy to
boost preparedness. Anything in
that line must emanate from civilian
sources.
Wadsworth TO Lead Fight.
From such quarters strong voices
viii be raised up as soon as Congress
Is in session, OF at least whenever the
l-y,, "a -
paredneSS matters. Senator James w.
Wadsworth, jr., Republican, of New
York, chairman of the Senate COM
mittee on military affairs. will be In
rhe forefront of the budget battle for
adequate Army appropriations. In a
special interview with this writer, Sen
ntor Wadsworth said:
The annual cost of the entire mill
tary effort of the United States is
S26l SOC, 900. That is less than one
tenth lof the total annual cost of the
Federal Government. This expendi-
lure is the result Of five years of
constant, severe pruning both by the
Bureau of the Budget and Congress.
IN each of these years the appropria-
tions have been cut down. I know
from constant and intimate contact
with the War Department and its
work that the most rigid economy has
whole system is subjected to a terrific
strain. In other words. the national
defense act is barely surviving, and
hat is all. If the support accorded
TO 1t by Congress is further diminish
ed, portions of the machinery will
stop functioning. and all of 1t will
become inefficient. There is nothing
in this world as eXtravagant as an
inefficient military establishment.
There is no economy in a third-rate
Army. It should be first-class, or we
shouldn't attempt a national defense
scheme at all.
Sees no Room for Cut.
Frankly, I cannot see where any
substantial cut can be made unless
we are content to reduce the National
Guard or the reserve, or both, or dis
charge some thousands of men from
the Regular Army. In contemplation
Of this last alternative we must re.
member that the National Guard and
the reserve cannot possibly continue
in a reasonable state of efficiency un.
less the regulars are able to supervise
heir training. If the regular estab.
lishment, already stretched to the
breaking point, can't perform its
function, the whole scheme must fail
in short time.
Go to any Army post or training
camp today and you will find the
regular units just hanging together.
mere skeletons, so greatly have they
been reduced in strength. You will
find that the horses of the Cavalry
and Field Artillery average 15 years
Of age and that hundreds Of them are
20 years old or more. You will
learn that there are fewer civilian
employees under the War Department
than there were in 1913, in spite Of
H. e.
clerical work of the department has
GroMn tremendouSlV since that time