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Show Former Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson Gives Unqualified Un-qualified Endorsement to Continental Army Plan. FUNDAMENTAL DUTY i "" - - Favors Compulsory Military Service as True Solution of Defense Problem. Washington, Jan. 21. A letter on "military conditions" by Elihu Root, former secretary of state, and an address ad-dress endorsing the administration's continental army plan by Henry L. Stimson. former secretary of war, were features of the program of the final session today of the National Security League's "congress. A number num-ber of other addresses are also to be delivered. The congress will close tonight with a banouet at which Senator Lodge and former Attorney-General Wicker-sham Wicker-sham were to bo the principal speakers. speak-ers. Washington, Jan. 24. Unqualified endorsement of the administration's continental army plan was given today by Henry L. Stimson. secretary or war In the Taft administration, In an address before the National Security League. Declaring himself in favor of compulsory com-pulsory universal military service as the true solution of the defense problem, prob-lem, Mr. Stimson said he regarded the program now advanced by Secretary Garrison as the sound initial stop. Congress Should Enact Laws. "If congress Is not ready yet to sanction universal training," he said, "the measures which are enacted should be those, which so far as they go, are in accord with this great fundamental fun-damental duty and which, as time passes pas-ses and experience ripens, will lead most naturally to the establishment of such a system. "One of the propositions which is being seriously urged before congress lia from the national treasury and should attempt to develop them into our federal citizen army while they still retain their legal character as a slate force Militia Plan Not Feasible. "Under the federal constitution the national guard or organized militia Is primarily a state force instead of a national reserve and I do not believe that any effective national citizen army cau be created out of a force dominated by 4S separate sovereignties. sovereign-ties. For nearly fifteen years stren-ous stren-ous efforts have been made by the fedoral'government, as well as by tho state officers, to increase the number of the guard yet it has remained nearly near-ly stationary. "It seems to me that these defects can be traced directly to tho fact that the national guard is in fact a state military force which we also require to do duty for tho national government So long as such forces exist tho stites are tempted to slur their pollco duties and to rely wholly upon citizen soldiery for that purpose. pur-pose. Attitude of Laboring Men. "What i even worso there has gradually grad-ually grown up among our laboring classes the feeling that tho only soldiers sol-diers with whom they aro practically acquainted represent a different class of the community and aro maintained for the purpose -of being used against them, instead of regarding the militiaman mili-tiaman as a citizen training to perform per-form his 'duty of defending the country coun-try In case of real war, the labor man 'vas come to regard him as a ropre-Dtntative ropre-Dtntative of capital, being trained as l policeman against labor. "Finally this liability to state police luty has tended to shape the term of enlistment and the training of our militia to the disadvantage of their 'unction as national troops. Instead of being trained through brief but continuous periods of intensive work with the colors and thereafter being left comparatively free as reservists, the militia are held to comparatively long periods with the colors under a system of weekly army drills, a sys--em which is not only the least ef-'ective ef-'ective way of teaching a man to be i soldier, but also tends, from the ength of time during which It ira-loses ira-loses a continual though slight obll-;atlon obll-;atlon upon him, to discourage enlistment. en-listment. Only Partially Trained Sold.iery. "The national guard is. other than tho regular army, our only present force of even partially trained soldiery. soldi-ery. Nothing should be done to discourage dis-courage Its work but, on the contrary even-thing done to encourage and stimulate it Such encouragement should be in the direction of transferring trans-ferring it wholly into the service of the federal government and not of perpetuating per-petuating it In Its present status. Particularly, Par-ticularly, to grant federal pay to the Individual militiaman for his weekly service rendered to the state seems to blur the great lesson which is emerging emerg-ing from the European war. It is to yield again to the theory that we can induce men to serve their country, not as a duty of patriotism, but for pay." Garrison Plan Sound. Mr. Stimson endorsed as "sound and intelligent" Secretary Garrison's plan to bring the regular army up to Its proper basis, but added that, personally, per-sonally, he thought tho regular army now should be made larger still. Referring to the recent Mexican border troubles and the demands of many for a punitive expedition, Mr. Stimson said "It Is conceivable that at almost any time the hands of our government may bo forced by some such emergency, yet at tho present day, with the great bulk of our army massed along the Mexican border, we hayo o'nly 20,000 troops there available avail-able for such an expedition and, under sober calculation, the Mexicans have far more armed men and trained troops available for a punitive expedition expedi-tion Into our territory than we into theirs." Senator Root's letter endorsed Sec- retary Garrison's contention that the Pi.tfl national guard could not be depended mJ for the army Increase. "It Is Idle," wrote Mr. Root, "to MMI talk of developing the national guard flj itself Into an adequate army for na- (hrf tlonal defense and any such attempt wl would inevitably result in the fail- j jj ure of the whole movement and the jM waste of all the enemy and effort KA devoted to it. The national guard is for state purposes. IpS "There are many good things in K Secretary Garrison's plan. The doing jM of them would be progress in ' the iKI right direction. But in the meantime 'w let us take the first steps on any sort Hjjf; of a program that Is directed toward llf a trained national citizen soldiery un- I Mr der the instruction and administration I m of a formal leadership of an adequate. fJ though small regular armj" Mi- |
