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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (March 1, 1917)
TfiiHFr,'$" yww'w iflffi The Commoner aiARCH, 1917 23 CONGRESSMAN SHAUjENBERO. ' BITS SPEECH (Continued from Pago 11) feat and then rise again, as Mr, Bry an has repeatedly done. He has been defeated three times for ,tho highest office in the world, the Pres idency of the United States; and al though thrice defeated for a prize more valued than any that ever crowned a king, his name will live in the history of his country and in the hearts of his countrymen when those who berate and slander him here are forgotten forever. (Ap plause.) That is all I have to say about that. Now, I want to call the atten tion of the house to the bill which is pending here. Mr. Fields. Mr. Chairman, may I interrupt the gentleman right here? Mr. Shallenberger. Yes. Mr, Fields. Right in connection with what the gentleman says about the defeat of Mr. Bryan, may I add a word that Mr. Bryan uttered on the morning of his first political defeat? Mr. Shallenberger. Yes. Mr. Fields. That those who fight for the right, may be defeated, but they are never conquered. They may suffer reverses, but they never suffer failure. (Applause.) appropriate a billion of dollars more for national defense than did the congress that preceded it. I believe that wo might Just as well faco the fact that in the future war expendi tures will total something like a bil lion of dollars a year. The expendi tures for the army and the navy will therefore absorb all the revenues de rived by the government from taxa tion, and the nation will have to fi nance itself in the future by the issue of bonds, never to be paid, but the Interest upon them will remain a constant charge upon the revenues of the government. This has been the inevitable result In every country which has adopted a policy of com plete military and naval prepared ness in time of peace. If we aro to match ourselves against the strong est military nations of the world, we must pay the price. The great pow ers of Europe can claim at least as efficient and economical management as ourselves, and none of them has escaped a constant increase in their national debts. The bill that we are considering is the only one of the great military and naval supply bills to be reported at this session carrying a less sum than was appropriated for the same purposes at the last session. But, Mr. Shallenberger. The first-line troops must not only be trained, but organized into fighting units, and this is the deliberate judgment of the highest authority we have in this country. Having now the statement of the general staff as to what they say our military policy must be, I, as a mem- 'ber of that committee, felt it no more than right that for the information of this house and the country the general, staff should give to us an es timate of what that policy was going to cost this government, so I sub mitted seven written questions, to the chief of the general staff asking for definite information as to what this was going to cost. We know that the system we haye now Is going to cost a lot of money. We have ap propriated more in the last 12 years than Germany spent before she be came engaged in the war in Europe. Mr. Kahn. The gentleman will admit, however, that that is due to the comparatively large salaries that we pay to the' soldiers as compared-with what Germany pays. Mr. Howard. To the officers. Mr. Shallenberger. The pay amounts to only about one-sixth of the cost of the army. Mr. Chairman, this congress will nevertheless, it Is In effect an In crease over the previous bill as it was reported by the military com mittee at the first session of this congress. The bill reported by the military committee at the previous session carried almost one hundred millions of dollars less than the present bill when it was first brought into the house. As it finally became a law it carried two hundred and sixty-seven millions. If the awful calamity of war should result from the present in ternational crisis, all - previous ap propriations for national defense will but constitute a drop in the bucket of the flood of wealth that will be poured out of the national treasury But we should not de ceive ourselves into thinking that the army and navy will not in "the future demand larger and larger ap propriations for their support in time of peace. In my opinion the mil itary and naval establishments will hereafter absorb all the revenues rub people will consent to pay. The ad ditional increments for the regular army and the national guard, as al ready provided for in the national defense act of June 3, 1916, neces sarily demand increased appropria tions for arms, . munitions, ma terial, and materiel, and thcso ap propriations will contlnuo to grow nice Jonah's gourd. Tho appropria tions by this congress for national defonso on land alone will exceed by $i00,000,000 tho amount appropri ated for tho same purposes In tho Sixty-third congress. When the regular nrmy reaches tho maximum strength provided for under the so-called Hay bill and the national guard is Increased to 420, 000 men, as Is contemplated under that law, the cost of maintaining those units, added to tho expense that will bo required Ifor our forti fications and coast clefenscs, will total a sum of $500,000,000 a year. And yet any student of modern mil itary development knows that if wo aro to maintain a system that will in any degree equal those of tho great governments of Europe, which have gone into tho war game, with tho idea of developing the full fight ing strength of the nation, our mili tary policy will have to bo entirely changed. This is not a statement of my own opinion, but on page 773 of tho hear ings before tho military affairs com mittee, upon this very bill, General Scott, our chief of staff of tho army of the United States, speaking for the organization of which ho Is the head, stated that after ong study of the situation in the lights of tho ex perience gained from tho war In Europe and I quote his exact lan guage "Tho conclusion of the war col lege division, which Is concurred In by tho remainder of the war depart ment staff, is that our system should now bo able to furnish 1,500,000 trained organized troops at the out break of war and 1,500,000 addi tional In 90 days." The first line of troops must not only be trained but organized as well that is, actually organized In to fighting units. This is the delib erate judgment of tho highest mil itary authority which we have in this country. nmmmw 1 lu 9 .JrfS?. There's a good way to keep growing boys and girls healthy and happy and that is to give them Graue-Nuts for breakfast. This -wonderfully nourishing food has a sweet, nutty flavor that makes it popular with children. One of the few sweet foods that does not harm digestion, but builds them strong and bright. Jit grocers everywhere J , ..limuhmii Trip- J Having the statement nom tho general staff as to what they believe the safety of the nation required for a proper military defense, It seemed to me that the committee on 'mili tary affairs and congress as well ought to be informed as to what the cost of such a military establish ment would be to the nation, should wo conclude to put this plan into actual being. I therefore asked the chief of staff to furnish us a state ment as to tho probable cost of their plan. ' So far this statement has not been furnished the military affairs committee, but I have made some estimates of my own, only partial, of course, but based upon actual tables and data furnished as to the cost of the different units of our present army for arms, munitions, material, and materiel, and so forth. I am sure these figures will be found very conservative and much under the mark as to what our actual mil itary expenses will aggregate in time of peace, if the plan proposed by General Scott is carried out. The questions submitted to the chief of staff, In my endeavor to ascertain tho cost, of putting the proposed plan for a military esabllshment into prac tice, were as follows: "Mr. Shallenberger. I should like to have, first, the cost of artil lery of all calibers and ammunition, Lboth for annual use and a suitable reserve of ammunition for all cal ibers for an army of that size. "Second. The cost of rifles and ammunition for yearly use and the necessary reserve of rifles and am- munition for-rifles for 3,000,000 men. "Third. Quartermaster's supplies, including uniforms and complete' field equipage for an army of 3,000, 000 men and cost of subsistence, transportation, and expense of an nual field maneuvers, and all other accessary expenses of the quarter master's department to maintain an army of 1,500,000 in being. "Fourth. Cost of necessary aero planes, Including resorve materiel and equipment for field service of a sufficient number of aeroplane for ah army of 3,000,000 mon. "Fifth. Cost of equipment and maintonanco of an engineering corps sufficient for an army oK 1,500,000 men, as demonstrated necessary by tho experience of Euro pean nations In tho present war. "Sixth. Cost of pay of officers and enlisted men for an army of 1,500, 000 troops maintained in field condi tion and ready for service, together with a, reserve of 1,500,000 men sufficiently trained to be ready for battle service in 0 days. "Gen. Scott. Yes, sir. "Mr. Shallenberger. I should liko to have thoso costs; that Is all." Tho cost of equipment for an army of 3,000,000 men, which I havo es timated for, Is based upon tho above table. (Tablo top of next page.) The estimates which. I have hero submitted are In line with the ques tions asked of tho general staff. In the first place tho system proposed by General Scott contemplates tho retention of our present military es tablishment, so far as tho regular army Is concerned, after It shall havo been Increased '"ttK.lts maximum strength under the national-defense act. The maintenance of this force il entail a cost of at least $350', 000,000 a year. This is fully and plainly set forth by General Scott on page 791 of tho hearings of the mil itary committee upon this bill. Ills positive statement Is that tho regu lar establishment of tho national defense act will be needed as an ex peditionary force and to garrison and maintain our domestic and foreign fortifications. , On page 349 of the Infantry Jour nal of December last Is given a table In detail of tho cost of arms and equipment for .. field army, the cost of each arm of tho service, and tho engineer corps as well. It Is as ex act as any that I could obtain. On the same page Is given a tablo of percentages of tho officers of the dif ferent field and staff corps of tho army. Taking these percentages as a basis, we find that our army should consist roundly of 48 per cent in fantry, 20 per cent cavalry, 28 per cent field and coast artillery, and about 4 per cent engineers, and so forth. With these tables accepted as a basis, I find the cost of equipment alono for an army of 3,000,000 men would bo $2,676,000,000. If these figures seem excessive, pleas re member that every army expert who has appeared before tho military committee has agreed that all field equipment, Including arms and mu nitions, must be on hand when war starts, or the war may be over be fore they can be obtained. Just as Col. Tllson has stated, an army without necessary fighting material: Is no army at all. The amount stated Is only the cost of equipment for actual needs be fore war begins. There must also be a reserve of all those things es sential for tho maintenance of an army In the field, or the effective ness of that army will be gone In a few days of fighting. Tho Treat !l y '"WtJ4JUii - - vspwT"
