Evening star., 1933-01-01
MARINES PREPARE FOR MOST
STRENUOUS FIGHT OF CAREER
Colorful Arm of Nations Forces Fears
Extinction Through Economies
Planned by CONGRESS.

| for training: fewer could turn out a
platoon. fewer still a company, very
| few a battalion, and perhaps none a
regiment and none a brigade. So unit
| training would suffer severely and
would probably be nil for the regiment
or higher unit" asserted Gen. Lane.
Adams Joins Protest.
Training would suffer further loss
through probable loss Of the training
stations It Is possible at present to
maintain possession of the various
buildings and sites Of our training sta
tons, by the exercise of vigilance,
against all comers, although the de-
fense has not always been successful
against powerful governmental inter-
ests desiring possession. Nature abhors
a vacuum, and, consequently, aids and
abets the aggressor in the matter of
vacant Government buildings. Under
the circumstances, the Marine Corps
could not hope to retain these Citations
in the face Of the night birds seeking
to occupy them"
Secretary Adams, Admiral william ".
Pratt, chief OF naval operations, and
other high-ranking naval oficials add
ed their voices in protesting against
any slash in the Marine Corps.s
REAR AQflI al Jcllu v. (AdSe, CildlI-
man of the General Board. had this to
say The General Beard, in deter
mining the strength OF the Marine
strength of the Marine Corps is neces-
Sary."
Rear Admiral Frank B. Upham, chief
Of the Bureau of Navigation, Navy De-
partment, said that he is advised the
British in Asiatic waters have three
times the number of Marines that
American naval vessels do. Admiral
Upham said. Depletion OF the Navy
and Marine Corps has been a real
source of concern to me. Depletion of
the Marines and Navy means that We
are that much less prepared for war."
Coordination Held Good.
Rear Admiral Thomas T. Craven,
u. S. N, chief co-ordinator of the Fed
eral Government, asserted that splen-
did coordination and cooperation be-
tween the Marines and Navy exists.
He added that this arrangement is
better than being handled by two de-
partments Of the Government. Other
Marine Corps and Navy authorities are
also on record in opposition to any re-
duction In the enlisted rength OF the
Soldiers OF the Sea"
Should the anticipated cut become
effective. the Marines say, this would
bring the present strength Of the
organization down to below what it was
before the United States entered the
World War-when 1t was SGT officers
and 14981 enlisted men. The present
strength OF the corps is l5,343 enlisted
men, and the proposed slash Of l,743
would bring 1t down to 13,60o. Presi-
dent Wilson was authorized to increase
the corps in an emergency TO 693
officers and 17,400 enlisted men, which
he did, by executive order, on March 26,
1917. The maximum reached occurred
during the World War, when the
Marines numbered 3017 commissioned
officers. 324 warrant officers and 75,5o0
enlisted men.
Record Is Cited.
And their record? The Marines set
it down, proudly, thus:
June IA, TITS, the Marine Corps or
ganized, making 1t the Oldest OF the
three military branches, from date OF
actual authorization.
Following the Revolution" writes a
former commandant of the corps, Maj.
Gen. John A. Lejeune, now retired and
serving as superintendent Of Virginia
Military Institute at Lexington, Va,
Marines fought in the naval war with
France against the Mediterranean
pirates of Tripoli and the Barbary
States, in the War of 1912, in the
Mexican War, in the Civil War. against
the West Indian pirates, against the
Chinese, Japanese and Koreans, against
the cannibals of the South Sea Islands,
against several tribes of American
Indians, and landed to protect American
life and property in every quarter OF
the globe. on occasions too numerous to
mention"
Marines have been called upon TO
serve on foreign soil to protect American
life and property every year since the
Spanish American War, in 1898. Gen.
Lejeune recalls. In the Philippine in
surrection, In Samoa, as part OF the
Peking relief column in the Boxer
Rebellion, in Panama, Cuba, Honduras,
in Nicaragua-and elsewhere over the
globe, they have protected the Colors.
To France went 10000 Marines dur
ing the World War. and they left be-
hind them as dead 55 officers killed
and l,45e enlisted men, with 25 officers
and 753 enlisted men who died of their
wounds Casualties totaled 356 officers
and 1852 enlisted men.
The Marines contend that their corps
has always paid for itself, that it can be
mustered and moved with rapidity,
without preliminary details, as soon as
| TRANSFORMATION is offered, and that its
primary duty Is with the Navy, the
spearhead of Americas battle force.