Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 38, Number 28, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 December 1905 — 59,814 MEN IN ARMY. [ARTICLE]

59,814 MEN IN ARMY.

Secretary of War Taft Submits His Annual Report. The annual report of the Secretary of War, William H. Taft, shows that the actual strength of the regulhr army on Oct. 15, 1905, was 3,750 officers and 56,064 enlisted men, distributed as follows: Enlisted Officers. mtfii. Total. United States 2,820 42,682 45,502 Philippine Islands .... 739 11,164 11,903 Porto Rico 5 5 10 Hawaiian Islands .... 11 133 144 Alaska 53 992 1,045 Miscellaneous and en route 122 1,088 1,210 Total 3,750 56,064 50,814 The distribution among- the different branches of the service was as follows: Enlisted Officers, men. Total. General'nfficers and staff organizations 841 3.511 4,352 Cavalry 752 12,123 12,875 Artillery corps 651 14,298 14,919 Infantry 1,506 23,078 24,584 Recruits and miscellaneous detachments 3,054 3,054 Total ...3,750 56,064 59,814 This is a total net decrease of the regular army during the year of 369. These figures do not include 3,029 enlisted men of the hospital corps, who, under the act of March 1, 1887, are not to be counted as -part of the enlisted strength of the regular army. There were also in the service 25*’ officers and 552 enlisted men of the Porto Rico regiment and 115 officers and £,059 enlisted Philippine scouts. This is a net increase of 7 in the Porto Rico regiment and of 1,096 in the Philippine scouts. Secretary Taft urges an increase in the seacoast artillery by 5,000 men, with the necessary complement of officers. He says the expenses will be $3,000,000 per annum. He does not, however, recommend a reduction in cavalry force. He says: “I am firmly convinced of the wisdom of providing more men for the coast artillery. Our seacoast fortifications, constructed at such heavy expense, ought not to be left as they are now, without the number of men to properly handle and operate the heavy guns, with their complicated mechanism and extensive accessories, and to give them the degree of care that is necessary in order to maintain these elaborate defensive works in Tire proper- corrdirlon of preservation and efficiency.” Secretary Taft reviews the progress made in the construction of seacoast fortifications. Up to the present time there have been emplaced 101 twelve-inch guns, 119 ten-inch, 94 eight-inch, 367 twelve-inch mortars, and 231 rapid fire guns. Eighty per cent of the work of fortification planned by the Endicott board in 1886 has been completed: • The* system of government telegraph and cable lines in Alaska, begun in 1900 and finished in October, 1904, consists of a system of land lines in northwestern Alaska, extending from Nome to Valdez, and a cable system connecting all the important points in southeastern Alaska with the telegraph system of the United States. During the year 134,630 mesnges were handled, the receipts from commercial messages amounting to $104,139.01; $26,123.57 pertained to the transmission of messages over commercial lines —namely, the Canadian government system, the White Pass and Yukon railway company, the Postal Telegraph Cable Company, and the Western Union Telegraph Company. The remainder, $78,015.44, was received for Alaskan telegrams handled by the signal corps alone. The Secretary urges the construction of a submarine telegraph cable to connect the Panama canal zone with the United States. He says such a line, from Tampa, via Guantanamo to Panama, would cost $1,000,000. If extended to Porto Rico the line would cost $360,000 more. Secretary Taft reviews the work on the Panama canal at length, the substance of this part of his report already having been made public. The Secretary nsks Congress to appropriate for the expense of the army and the War Department for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1906, $70,170,719.