OCR Text |
Show SCOTT STARTLES. As a soldier Major Ccncral Srott, chief nf stuff, cannot afford to be moved by tho sentimentality of " han.U-a.'rass-thu-aea" and "our Knglir.h cousins." And yet it is somewhat startling star-tling to find him no frankly outspoken in his reasons for urging an army of 1,500,000 men in this country. He bo-lievea bo-lievea such an army is made necessary by the fact that Great Britain now has an army practically as large as tho armies of the other groat European powers. These other powers General Pcott ignores. The menace, as he sees i it, comes from tho British empire in j alliance with Japan. I Whenever Americans have expressed I themselves dubiously and suspiciously ! about the treaty between England and Japan there have been well-meaning Anglo-Saxons on both sides of the eea ! readv to' lead a chorus whose theme I has been: ' ' War between tho two great English-speaking powers is unthinkable. un-thinkable. " General Pcott knows that a good many "unthinkable" things have happened in tho last two years. The old foundations of the world have been shaken loose. Kono of us can tell what structures arc to remain standing ! and what are to fall. At all events, it is not the business of the chief of staff to consider political, social or sentimental sentimen-tal reasons overmuch. He views the military situation with tho :cold and cynical eye of tho old soldier who has lost nil illusions about sacred treaties, lasting international friendships and 1 permanent peace. i General Scott's demand for a trained military force of l,o00,00Q men has its ' origin in the theory that the United I States could be invaded as soon as its f navy was wiped off tho seas by the j dominant naval power. He seems to take t it for granted that such a disaster is i certain. And yet most Americans who! j see t he tremendous expenditure for ' naval purposes will, in view of what i tho general lias said, ask themselves ; what are all these billions worth if they cannot give us a navy that can hold i tho yeas in case of war? If wo get ; tho drift of tho general's logic, an army of l,o00,000 would not be necessary neces-sary If our navy were able to maintain itsejf " upon the seas. This suggests that the American people can escape from universal military training by making their navy bigger and bigger, regardless of cost. ln t id the Panama canal is an open waterway every day in the year and every hour in the day our navy, in case ; of war, cannot defend both the Atlantic and Pacific, coasts. It is very doubtful whether, should wo be attacked by a European and an Asiatic navnl power simultaneously, our navy would be able to keep the seas even with the canal ' clear. We face the necessity of main 's taining the world's bigcest navy or of providing an army that can resist any possible invasion after the navy is de- ! stroyed or shut up in harbor. Theoretically, General Scott demonstrates demon-strates his case. He points out that Great Britain, having Canada as a base, could easily launch a successful inva- 1 sion of the I'nited States, especially i with the assistance of Japan. Being an island empire, with control of the Atlantic ocean Groat Britain could not be invaded and, therefore, could direct all her military power to the invasion of this country. A soldier can take no other view of the situation. It is not his province to weigh the chances of war between the two English-speaking powers. He must start with the promise that such a collision is apt to take place at anv time. |