A DEFENCELESS COUNTRY.

Taranaki Daily News, 11 February 1916, Page 8

A DEFENCELESS COUNTRY.

POSITION OP THE UNITED STATES. The agitation for tlie improvement of the defences of the United States has led to some plain talking of late. Tlie President is preaching the duty of preparedness, because, lie says, he does not know a day ahead what is in store for the country, and if tlie agitators have their facts right he may well be anxious. The account of tlie American defences, according to Mr. Henry■ Eeutcrdahl, is one long story of insufficiency and inefficiency. Mr. Beuterdahl declares that the navy, on which the country is dependent, could not hold off the attack of any likely enemy, and apparently he takes the view of another of t' e ' agitators, that the people of the United Sates are sheltering behind Sir John Jellicoe's Grand Fleet. lie says !that in manoeuvres a mimic invading force has twice put the defending ships out of action and has had the coasts at its mercy. But it is with tlie army that lie is chiefly concerned. "Tlie army cannot defend all its forts," he said; "it has no automobiles to transport its baggage; its shoes are for the parade ground, and will wear out under two months' marching; it has nineteen motor-ambu-lances for its wounded. It supply system cannot stand the strain of war. It is without ammunition trains, armored automobiles, armored railroad trains, heavy mortars for field work, has ammunition for but a couple of days' battle, and less than one hour's supply for coast defence guns, and has not sufficient field artillery. The mobile army in the continental United States is but little larger than twice the New York police force, and its reserve counts some sixteen men. It owns ten aeroplanes, all of which cannot fly. Sketched in the .rough, such is the American army of to-day, the costliest military joke of the age. ... It would be murder to send it into battle." "Warfare to-day," says Mr. Reuterdahl again, "is largely decided by artillery. . But the United States has only 64 complete field guns in existence, with 72 in the making. We have little more than half the number of guns with which the Russians fought the losing battle of Mukden, and this action was almost a peace conference in comparison with tlie recent drives on the French frontier. The French command almost 7000 field guns, and the European armies average more than five guns to each 1000 men." It is proposed to increase the number of American guns to 1292 and 220 have already been authorised. But, says Mr. Reuterdahl, at the present rate it will be six years before the American army is supplied with even the modest provision proposed, and he adds that the entire capacity of the American factories is only 500 guns a year. The army, he continues, has 'ten 6in howiters, and these are the largest guns it possesses. There is not a single heavy howitzer with travelling carriage, and no one has been instructed even to device an emplacement for immediate use in supplementing the fixed defences of harbors and so forth. As for machine guns, the German provision varies from 24 to 48 per regiment. The American provision is four per regiment. About half a million rounds of Sin ammunition are in stock—about enough to provide a respectable army with artillery fire for a couple of days. The capacity of 'the regular American factories—not counting the plants converted to supply European armies—is given as 800,000 rounds of Sin ammunition a year. The tentative proposals put forward by the administration require a reserve of 11,000,000 shells. The story told by Mr. Reuterdahl runs throughout on the same lines. He shows how mililons of dollars are spent on meat so that the army may be well fed, how palatial military posts are built and how a regiment ordered to move is provided with sleeping cars for tlie soldiers and Pullman cars for the officers. If a route march is ordered, occupying four days, fresh bread and meat is provided eacli day, wherever the regiment may be. The case is mentioned of a regiment that was ordered to 'take part in manoeuvres. By using the ordinary railroad cars it could have reached the scene of battle in six hours. It waited three days for the tourist sleepers to be provided. -The main trouble is held "to be that the permanent officials are too strongly entrenched to be progressive, and Congress has been concerned less about the provision of an efficient irmy than about making a brave show with the small force maintained. Congress authorised increases last year, lnvt it will take four years at least to bring them into operation. Recognising the inadequacy of tlie standing army, the administration proposes to raise a volunteer force of 400,000, and to give them two months' training in each of three years. They are then to pass automatically into the national 1 reserve.