OCR Text |
Show "HMD AVERS REDUCED ARMY . IS DANGEROUS Tells Senate Committee If Fighting Forces Are Cut Below 150,000, Department Depart-ment Could Not Function WASHINGTON. April 14. The reg-ular reg-ular army cannot accomplish the task V "''t for It by law with a personnel of S, less than 10.000. Major General J. O. llfirbord. deputy chief of staff, declared de-clared today beforo the senate appropriations appro-priations committee in connection with its consideration of the pending army appropriation bill. To attempt to carry car-ry out the work laid down by the war department with lens than 150.000 men. he said, would mian that "something inuat give way." "'There is a minimum limit below whlh you cannot go with safety." General Harbord told the committee. "The air service cannot be efficient below be-low 15.000 men; the cavalry and fild artillery cannot safely be diminished. If 150.000 or more men cannot be had. then in my Judgment congress should frankly state a different mission for us and not mislead the country on our na'ional defense." NO COMPARISON. Comparison with the prewar army authorised in. 1PI 6 would be misleading, mislead-ing, the deputy chief of staff assorted, since the army then numbered sixty-five sixty-five regiment of Infantry hum I net thirty-eight at present, twenty -five cavalry cav-alry regiments against fourteen, and twenty-one regiments of field artillery against eighteen, not to mention various vari-ous new units which since have been added, all of which have tended to reduce re-duce the strength of the "fighting elements." ele-ments." "I believe the appropriation as passed j"by the house of representatives Is dan- gerously small and Imperils the na- tlonal defense." General Harhord con- tinned, "particularly striking at the national na-tional guard, the organised reserves, the reserve officers training camps and the civilian military training camps and so reduce the regular establishment that the purpose of 4he act of June 4. 1920. (national, defense art, amended) cannot bo carried out." leneral Harhord outlined the required re-quired functions of the war department. depart-ment. The flrwt nnd primary duty, he said, was to ' train and develop the na- CHIEF MISSION. "This we conside r ar principal nils-i'!" nils-i'!" he explitine.l, "then are now employed In the work 965 officers and l50 ohliers " Among other rcsponsibilitiesi of the war department, he included the maintenance main-tenance of necessary schools for train-Inn; train-Inn; the component parts of the army, the maintenance of "the administrative overhead' for tho rcKular army, national na-tional Kuanl and organized reserves; pri'Vldinff of garrisons for overseas popsesslons and continental coast defense, de-fense, and to "maintain a well trained forc for emergency purpose." The school system, he said, took ?671 officers and 5612 men, the administrative administra-tive organization, 2276 officers and 14,-719 14,-719 men and the coast defenses "with I only thirteen of the twenty-ffve stations manned," required 477 officers and 6592 men. Garrisons for overseas possessions were estimated at 1907 officers and 84.670 enlisted men by fie n era Harhord. Har-hord. who warned against the United States shunning its "unmistakable obligation ob-ligation to keep order and preserve life and property" In those districts. "Should we be again forced Into war." he said, "our overseas garrisons would practically remain as the emergency emer-gency finds them. It is doubtful if we j could reinforce them after war had actually begun, and to do It while relations rela-tions were strained would probably precipitate matters; the first overt act i In the war between Russia and Japan preceded the declaration of war." j |