Evening star., 1933-01-01

| to hold their lines intact and maintain
! their existence as an essential part o.
the armed forces of the United States.
They envison a battle more vigorous
than that with the Barbary pirates
back In the dawn OF the nineteenth
century; more exacting than with the
British in the War of 1912; more
stirring than with the Mexicans, when
| they marched from Vera Cruz to Mexico
City and assaulted the heights oi
| Chapultepec; more troublesome than III
the days of the Civil War; more
momentous than the seizing of Guam
tanamo Bay, Cuba, as an advance base
| for the American Fleet in the Spanish
War; more important than the red days
of Chateau -Thierry. the Argonne Forest
and the Meuse. when new glories were
| inscribed upon their escutcheons. AS
the Marines see 1t, they are battling for
their very existence as part of the
Nations fighting forces.
Fear Complete Extinction.
| They fear, possibly with good reason,
| that they are on the brink OF extinction
Why, they ask, is 1t necessary to cut
| the Marines to save $3.50, 600, q
relatively small sum in the entire fed
eral budget?
"Is not this vigorous outfit. with its
glorious tradition, entitled to better
| treatment at the hands of the Republic
it has SO often + nght SO well to saVe?
| they query.
The United States Marine Corps be-
iieves that instead of being trimmed b.
1.743 enlisted men. as is now proposed
the Nations legislators should heed the
advice of the General Board of the
Navy and other high-ranking naval
officials and build the force up, rather
than tear 1t down, so that this ancient
organization, the first armed force to
be established under the Stars and
Stripes. might be able properly and
efficiently, to carry out its assigned
functions.
Fuller Issues Warning.
Mai. Gen. Ben H. Fuller, commandant
of the Marine Corps, in his recent an
nual report, issued this warning: THE
reduction of the enlisted strength of the
Marine Corps from $4,000 to l5.343 has
made 1t impossible for the Corps to
carry out its primary mission of sup
porting the United States fleet by main
tanning a force in readiness to operate
with the fleet. On the present strength,
only weakly ske-etonized organizations
of such arms that are essential to a
modern military force can be main
tanned.
with the present enlisted strength,
the Marine Corps is not prepared to
perform its allotted task in the event
of a national emergency"
Foremost among Gen. Fuller's recon-
mendations appears the following
That the enlisted strength of the Ma
rine Corps be restored to $4,000, as
soon as the state Of the Treasury war
rants it."
The head Of the Marine Corps forti-
fed this position recently by telling a
special subcommittee Of the House
Naval Affairs Committee that the or
ganization has suffered successive re
ductions in strength since July l, 1880
to such an extent that If the proposed
slash of 1,743 enlisted men is approved
the Corps will have been cut 24.4 per
cent In three years.
Other Arms Not Cut.
Gen. Fuller remarked to the legisla-
tors: THE Marine Corps fails to under
stand why 1t has been marked for re-
duction in this manner, since other
arms Of the service have not been So
reduced.
"The Marine Corps is not aware OF
any responsible criticism having been
made of its ability to meet the tasks
allotted to 1t, or of any reason to sup
pose that the requirements OF its wal
and other missions have been or will be
reduced"
The general recalled that the ac-
| cepted policy IS that the peace-time
strength Of the Marine Corps be one
| fifth of the actual enlisted strength oi
the Navy, or 10000 men, at present
so that 1t might be organized to pro-
vide forces for its wartime functions
| In assisting the fleet in the seizure and
initial defense OF advanced bases ano
| guarding naval shore stations. The
| Navy,s General Board. he said, has rec
! commended that the Marine Corps, In
| time OF peace. should be employed as
| the nucleus of expeditionary forces for
ships detachments, for foreign duty
| forces, as necessary, for garrison forces
/ and for administrative, training ano
supply forces.
The Marine Corps has not been ad-
viSed that its war and other missions
| have been or will be reduced Gen
| Fuller said. but many Marines see thif
coming. He frankly asserted that
! there is feeling that the province Of
| providing expeditionary forces and for
| eign duty may be transferred to the
| Army. Under international law Ma
rines can be landed on foreign soil to
protect American interests without TIL
declaration Of war, but this could not
be done in the case Of the Army, Of
ficials explained.
Would Cut Routine Duties.
| Gen. Fuller depicted the plight of hi'
| organization in this wise.
"The Marine Corps requires approx.
| mately its present enlisted strength fol
It's routine peace-time activities, ex'
cluding those having for their object
| preparations for the emergencies OF
peace and for specific war missions
With its present enlisted strength re,
duced by 1,743, it is plainly to be seer
/ that these ordinary routine actlvltles
must be curtailed by Tery consider
| able reduction all along the line, anc
| there will be no enlisted personnel fol
| force in training and IN readiness
for peace emergencies or for war serV'
| ice with the feet"
/ II the reduction proposed becomes
| law. through the trimming OF appro'
| priations to pay these enlisted men
/ then, Gen Fuller contends. this woulc
mean "the destruction of the fine mill
tary spirit which now pervades the Ma
rine Corps" because the small group:
would De so scattered that adequate
training would be out of the question.
A large number Of non-commissionec
officers are In jeopardy Of losing thetl
cheyrons and being reduced to tht
ranks through the shrinking OF thf
whole organization, Gen. Fuller assert
ed He said
The morale OF the Marine Corps vii
be seriously impaired by the large mum,
Der of reductions of non-commissionee
officers that will be required by the re.
duction Of enlisted strength by l,74;
men. These men have won their pro
motions by faithful and efficient sery
ice, and the loss Of rank and pay VII
be severely felt by them
Would Hurt Quantico.
Gen. Fuller envisioned the placint
OF the East Coast Expeditionary Fore
headquarters at Quantico Va, in al