Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 215, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 September 1919 — MARCH SAYS U.S. MUST PREPARE [ARTICLE]

MARCH SAYS U.S. MUST PREPARE

SAYS WORLD-WIDE UNREST MAKES LARGER ARMY NECESSARY. Germany never would have provoked the United States into entering the war if war expenditures of the war department had been used for preparedpaM-dH-tHne-of" Tieace. the bouse military committee was told Thursday by Gen. March, chief of staff. The general appeared at hearings on the war department s plans Tor permanent military policy. The interest on the $14,000,000,000 spent by the war department, the general said, would finance the future military program advocated by the department, which calls for a system of universal military training and a regular army of 576,000 men. World-wide unrest prompted the department to propose a large army, Gen. March said, explaining that the regular army would be the skeleton organization of a field army of 1, 250,000 men. •. . “It would be a practical-sized force for invasion . in moderatesized war,’’ said th* general. “It would also provide,” he continued, “a first line of defense from attack and behind which we could train in a big war.” = . . ‘sln the last war we were fortunate enough to have a ring of iron that our allies built around the enemy, and behind which we could train. The war department never wants to be caught in that situation again.” To carry out the war department s plans, expenditures of $683,000,000 would be necessary the First y ear r but the maximum annual cost-would not exceed $900,000,000, is the opinion of March.