Richmond Palladium (Daily), Volume 35, Number 327, 2 October 1910 — Page 17
T1TE RICHMOND PAIXADIUSl AXD SUN-TELEGIIAM, OCTOBER, 1910.
TO ASK CONGRESS FOR DIG RESERVE CORPSJF TROOPS War Department Wants Men Who Have Seen Regular Ar
my and Militia Service,
Ready for Emergency. REPORT ON DEFENSES
WILL BE SUBMITTED
Department Has Acted Under Congress' Instructions to
Show to Public the Need of
Coast Defenses.
" BY RODERICK CLIFFORD.
Washington, Oct. 1. Congress will be called upon by the war department at the coming session to create a re
serve corps of trained soldiers men
who have seen servile in either the regular army or the militia organiza
tions, and who will be In immediate readiness for war. To this end, it is said, the department will work hand in hand with the militia organizations or the various states. A program for the general betterment of the fighting force of the nation Is to be discussed, outlined and decided upon when the war department experta attend the coming annual session of the militia organisation of the various states, which Is to meet in St. Louis, beginning. October third. When congress convenes, it is expected that the department will Immediately submit its report on the McLaughlin resolution, adopted by the house, which seeks accurate Information as to the ability or the United States to defend Itself against the attack of an enemy, with especial reference to the defenses of the Pacific coast The resolution waa Introduced
in congress by Representative Mc
Laughlin, or Pasadena. Cal., who reflects the general sentiment or the Pacific coast members over the Japanese war scare. Report of Department. The report of the war department. It Is, said, will be olaln and truthful and 'will show that the country la woefully deficient in the ability to defend Itself, were it to become engaged In a conflict with a world power. At present there is only an available army of 140,000 men for Immediate defense, men trained in the art of war. Sixty thousand of these are militia men and eighty thousand regulars. As a defender or either the Atlantic or the Pacific coasts, Ihls'army would be absolutely Insufficient, it Is said by army officers. A world power war would mean a mighty naval conflict ir we were at war with Japan, the righting' would be on the Pacific. ' Defeated and our Pacific fleets destroyed, Japan would practically have this country at her mercy In landing an Invading army. Within a month she could land more men from transports than pur combined regular and militia strength- It would be impossible to protect the Pacific coast line, It is said, with' 150,000 men, three hundred thousand trained fighters at least needed. On the Atlantic and Southern coasts the same conditions would hold true,
It la declared, were we at war with a European tower, such as Germany or England. With our fleet destroyed. It Is said, that at least 600.000 trained
men would be needed. to resist an In
vasion.
"The o'd Idea" said an officer the
other day "that the patriotic Amerl
can farmers, armed with pitchforks, can hurl back all Invaders of our soil
Is "tommy rot" in these times. It was formerly true, but not now. We
must have available fighting men.' Measure ef Relief.
One of the measures of relief, that
It Is said will be suggested to con
gress as practicable, is the creation
or a "reserve corps." This body It Is
contemplated, will be made up of all
men who have served an enlistment in the regular army, or who served a
definite period In the militia organ cations. It is suggested that the members of the reserve be paid about $30
a year and that for a period of ten
days in each year, they "join" the col
era. They would be maintained In companies, arma be set aside for their use snd opart from ten days annual
drill and encampment all they would have to do would be to keep the officers or the reserve In touch with their
address so that they could be reached
without delay.
Experts have figured out that while the regular army costs $100,000,000
n year to maintain 80.000 men in train
ing, $5,000,000 a year would keep a reserve corps of 200,000 men in camp of instructions for ten daya each year.
pay all transportation and commissary
expenses and provide for the small
yearly salary the members of the re
serve corps would receive. Such a
reserve corps of 600.000 could, within
ten years, it Is pointed out. be built up and maintained at amall cost As
tbe years progressed the corps could
bo increased until a million men. cltl
n soldiers of -the United States, would be trained, equipped and ready
for Instant warfare. Could Gt Good Men. Under the present arrangement a man discharged from the regulars or militia drifts away. There are thousrnds of men who have seen service who could be brought Into the reserve in form a basis for the corps. If conrress accedes to the plan, and provides the necessary appropriation. . Not only do war department officials favor the scheme, but It Is said. It Is one tint mtlltla officiate heartily
approve of. It la a plan that will be
freely discussed and probably acted upon at tbe St Louis convention. .
With the plan In operation the war
department would discourage the reenllstment of men, excepting those who were not commissioned officers or were recommended for promotion
as non-commissioned officers fr excel
lent service during their first enlist
ment As a rule, it is said, men. who
enter the army when they are young do so not with an Idea of staying In the army for life, but simply to get an opportunity to see something of the world. Especially ls this true now
when the Philippines, Hawaii, Alaska
and Porto Rico have to be garrisoned,
These men do not Intend to reenllst when they are discharged simply drift away and the war department looses track of them. They enter into com
mercial life or take up a trade. A
small yearly compensation would be
an Incentive, It is said for them to
Join tbe reserve corps when they sev
er their connection with the regular
army.
The reply of the department to the
McLaughlin resolution, it is said, will
not only touch upon remedies that
congress can apply to provide a bet
ter fighting machine, but will startle the people of the nation when the
weakness of our defenses are boldly made known.
. It is the general belief that the reply, excepting' such confidential portions as pertain to the rifle, ammuni
tion and powder supply on hand, etc will be made public
BRYAII IS TO SPEAK
(American News Service.) Springfield. 111., Oct 1. The gates of the Illinois State Fair will be opened tomorrow to permit the visitors to listen to an address by Wiliam Jennings Bryan. Mr. Bryan will speak on a religious topic.
HEW STOPOVER RULE
Chicago, Oct. 1. Railroads covering nearly every section of the coun
try today discontinued the practice of
granting stop-over privileges on limit
ed tickets wherever such stopover
has operated to extend the original
limits of the tickets.
Travel in Undeveloped Algeria f Is An Interesting Experience
New York.' Oct 1. A correspondent
of the Evening Post writes i Along
the province of Alberta, and through
the pack trail between Wolf creek In
the Canadian Rockies to Tete Jaune Cache, in British Columbia, on the Fraser river, lie 281 miles of undeveloped closed country. From Tete Jaune Cache down to Soda creek the broad river to which Simon Fraser
gave his name flows through 470 miles of virgin land. : The outlet to the civilized world and the railroad from Soda creek is the' stage road through the old Caribou mining district over a distance of 167 miles. It is proposed to set down in this article an account of a trip made over this route this summer. Not the least curious and singular feature of the adventures that befell, and the minor incidents of each day's travel is that they were explicated by
other exploration parties Jho went ov
er practically the same ground in 1SC2 and in 1874. . So little , has the country changed, it would be possible to make an account of the whole sum
mer's experiences with tbe paste pot and frhears snfi copies of the journals
of Milton and Cheadle. who made
what they called "The . Northwest
Passage by Land," . in 1862 and '63.
and the Rev. George M. Grant's account of the adventures and incidents
attending Sir Sandford Fleming's ex
pcdltlon through Canada In 1873. Sir Sandford had not been knighted at that time and was engineer-in-chief of
the Canadian Pacific and Intercolonial
railway, then projected and under construction.
Any one who cares may now see, before it Is too late, a reproduction of tbe conditions that obtained In our own west when the first transcontin
ental lines were opening up the coun
try west of the Mississippi river to settlement The route we traversed
and the country to the north of it is
indeed a "last west" on the North
American continent It is without per
manent habitation or settlement of hu
man beings. Five Types of Men.
When you go "into the bush" you
must take enough food, clothing and other necessities to satisfy all of your demands until you come back, for
there is no way of replenishing your
supplies. The widely scattered few white men now in the country are the
best type physically and morally, if
not 4 mentally, of the male human be
ing. Hardy, courageous, competent versed in woodcraft, they are doing
as they always have done, the diffi
cult pioneer work for the men and
women who are to come after them
and make this great expanse of wilderness a place for homes and organized
human society.
Their hospitality Is limitless and genuine. We never found a man, pros
pector or fur trader, who was not will
ing to share his tobacco, flour, beans, bacon or whatever we needed. Or one of them might travel for miles
over a rough and broken ' country to warn us that a river was high or a ford dangerous, or that a certain trail was closed because of windfalls.
Whatever the message la it was ah ways delivered casually, so as not to
make us feel a sense of obligation.
We soon learned that men In that
country do not go out of their way to
visit camps of strangers for social in
tercourse or to exchange small talk.
What they have to say by way of ad
vice or warning, however casually .lt is said, has a meaning and a value.
The two deadly crimes of the country aro curiosity and that propensity we all call "butting in." The people of the trail quickly put beyond the pale
a man guilty of either. That ! why.
when a man has something reauy important to advise or to warn another against, he endeavors ' to - cast ' hie
warning or advice into a. jojrm mat
will make it clear tnat he recognises it is absolutely none of his business and that he is not attempting to force his views or suggestions.
POOR FOR SAVAGES
London. Oct 1. -That civilisation
does not always come as a blessing to the savage la illustrated by the Colonial office report on SoroalilanaT.
The Somalia It is stated, are degen
erating in consequence of the imita
tion of habits and rasnions learnea from the white man. For Instance, the umbrella, ah anomaly alongside a camel caravan, ia coming Into general use, although the Somali traveler, to avoid public ridicule, uufurla It only after leaving the precincts of the town. 1 Blanket are now a necessity, whereas formerly the hard ground the sleeper's robe wrapped round his body were considered adequate comfort and protection against any weather. To Ignite a fire the Ignition of two atlcka sufficed, but in these days the nomad requires kero sine oil and matchea tor the purpose.
hit,,... YJVj UEj
If l'y3
i i ...ji.fi rii . r h ii miuim Ax il v m t . i
E extend a hearty invitation to every one you
r .. ...... rT,, . .x , and your friends -to make the "KNOLLEN-
BERG'S STORE" your headquarters while here during
the week of the FALL FESTIVAL
Make our Rest Room a meeting place for you and your family, ' - . ' " ' ' ' ' ' - .". ; r r; . . "... -. f - . ; ,. We have entered into this FALL FESTIVAL and CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION to make it RICHMOND'S GREATEST EVENT, and to do this we have thrown our doors open to the public, and have asked them to make our store their headquarters.
TOO
Everything is in readiness in the different departmentsThe R eady-to -Wear Pep t, the Silk and Press Goods Dept., the Notion Dept., the Ladies' and Gents' Furnishing Dept., the Curtain and Draperies Dept., in fact every department in the store is filled with new things for Fall. It's a showing of great importance to women who appreciate Fashion, and to see what Dame Fashion has decided on for Fall and Winter. It's a most complete showing in every ' department the selection of stock and exclusive patterns are the very newest and best. A visit to this store wilt bs of inestimable value to your knowledge of proper dress and will afford you great pleasure in the learning.
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