America and Japan.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 13 February 1911, Page 4

America and Japan.

A STARTLING MILITARY

REPORT,

The diplomatic corps is still smiling over a- .recent disclosure of tho crude, easy-going methods of American administration. Congress has been busily working on Appropriation Bills, and the Committee on Military Affairs callodi upon the War Department for a special report upon which to base 'the Budget'for the coming year. This came in the shape of a long statement of the most startling character from Ma-jor-Goneral Leonard Wood, marked "confidential" ; and it had been sent in without taking counsel, about it with tho President of the Cabinet.

But the House has no power to receive "confidential" reports; and in tho routine handling of tho paper it was passed along, with other Executive documents, to the clerk's office, whore swh matters arc open to public inspection. Already, •liowovcr, some points of tho paper had become common gossip—for example, that the Pacific coast was undefended, save by 3000 regulars and 5000 militia, and that Japan could in thirty <ky ; s land 200,000 men, seize and fortify'the passes through the Roc-kies, and get a foothokl from which it would take years of time and billions of money to dislodge them.

Even if true, these Facts are better kept .secret. But, of course, the sole purpose of the report—tlio department advisers of the Secretary being privy to the scheme—was to scare Congress into making new and more liberal grants of men and money. And, luckily, one of the Treasury watchdogs, Mr Tawnoy, hearing of all this, wished to the White House, and within 20 minutes the report was recalled. Having been scolded by tho President, the Secretary in turn roundly reprimanded his own secretaries; and possibly they, too. in turn, berated General "Wood for having gone beyond reasonable limite.

The answer to the Wood report is •tliat- eron should a landing be made on the Pacific coast, America could surely destroy tho raildoad lines to ■the passes, and hold the latter until the fleet could cut the line of supplies across the Pacific and: thus enclose tho enemy in a. trap. An. invading army of less than 200,000 would .have to work hard to resist direct attack, for, more than ten years ago, after a. conference at Washington of the railroad presidents and the army chiefs, plans were drawn up to'ensure the massing of 140,000 troops in 30 days, upon any given point of the Canadian border, and, better than that could bo done to-day, even on fcho Pacific coast. Rut the cost of transporting a, great invading army and its supplies several thousand "miles away from its base is prohibitive. One curious fact about the American army is that shifting it about tho country during the last 11 years has cost more than double the' pay of the meiv—l6 dollars a month per man; the soldiers sretting 125,799,234 dollars and the railroads 260,180,271 dollars.

Possibly the railroads have had friends in the army who did what they could to give them a chance to earn dividends; but the necessary cost of moving large bodies of meii over a thinly-settled territory is very great. Counting in pensions as a dcfeivo expenditure., out of every 100_ dollars raised by Federal taxation 72 dollars is now'paid out for purposes of wars past or wars to come, the other 28 dollars heing left for the courts and all civil officers, the salaries and junketings of Congressmen, the improvement and maintenance of waterways and harbors, and all the other" needs of ■peaceful routine.