XXXIII

DEFENSE

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Defense an Indispensable Function of Government. nation must provide a defense against public foes. Here is a function of government that is indispensable. Every nation has its enemies, external and internal. A foreign power impelled by avarice or ambition or revenge or envy may wage war upon us, or a lawless element at home may threaten the security of life and property. The principle of self-preservation requires that a nation be prepared to resist the attacks of both these classes of foes, and selfrespect demands that resistance be actually offered when offense is given. The doctrine that we should passively fold our arms and not resist an attack upon our persons or an invasion of our country is contrary to the teachings of experience and to the facts of human nature. Haste the day when war and lawlessness shall cease, but until they shall cease nations must be prepared to meet force with force.

National Defense. The defense of a nation is complete when it can hurl its entire strength against an enemy. In order to secure the strength which comes from unity and harmony the Constitution gives to the federal government the power of raising and supporting armies and navies (56, 57), and of making rules for their control (58). A State may not engage in war with a foreign power, except in case of actual invasion (77). The responsibility of declaring war rests with Congress (55). In giving to Con

gress the power to declare war instead of vesting the power with the President, the framers departed from the usual practice of governments. The declaration of war hitherto had been a prerogative of the executive, but the members of the Convention of 1787 were not disposed to make the executive strong at the expense of the legislature. The instruments of national defense are the army and

navy.

I. The Army. The Department of War and the office of the Secretary of War were created by an act of Congress in 1789. The regular army established by the new government consisted of only a few thousand men-a force just sufficient to keep the Indians in order. The policy of maintaining a small standing army, inaugurated in the beginning of our history, has been continued to the present time.1 In time of war we have put into the field as many as a million of men, but in times of peace our army has always been small, ridiculously small when compared with the standing armies of the great powers of Europe.

The policy of supporting a regular army no larger than is consistent with national safety is undoubtedly sound. The army is always under the control of the executive (92), and if it were overwhelmingly large it might be used -as in the history of nations it often has been used-to crush out popular rights and establish a tyranny. Moreover, a large standing army is maintained at an enormous cost. The army of Russia consists of more than a million of men. These men produce nothing themselves, yet they consume a large portion of that which is produced by others. Congress may provide for a large army or a small one as it sees fit, but this provision cannot last longer than two years (56). In placing this limitation upon Congress the Constitution makes it impossible for a large

Under the Act of 1901 the regular army of the United States is to consist of not less than 57,000 nor more than 100,000 soldiers. The regular army of France is more than 500,000; of Germany nearly 600,000; of Austria-Hungary nearly 400,000; of Italy nearly 300,000; of Great Britain, 250,000.

standing army to be imposed permanently upon the people without their consent.

In an emergency, when the regular army is too small for the needs of the hour, the federal government may call the militig to its assistance. The militia consists of practically all the able-bodied men in the United States between the ages of eighteen and forty-five. The full strength of the militia is quite twelve million men, but only a small part of it (about one hundred thousand men) is organized and ready for fighting. For the purposes named in the Constitution (59) the President calls the militia into service, specifying the number of militiamen each State is to furnish. If a State should neglect to furnish its quota, the required number of men may be enrolled under the authority of the President. When in the service of the United States the militia is subject to the rules and discipline of the regular army (60), although the officers of the militia are appointed by State authority.

When troops additional to the regular army are needed, and when the purposes for which they are needed are not such as would under the Constitution justify the calling out of the militia, the President calls for volunteers, requesting from each State a number apportioned to its population. During the Civil War more than half a million men responded to the President's call for volunteers, and during the war with Spain (1898) two hundred thousand men were enrolled as volunteers. When the militia is not available, and volunteers cannot be obtained, there must be a draft; the names of those fit for military service are secured, and from these the required number is drawn, usually by lot.

The President is officially Commander-in-chief of the regular army and of the militia when it is in the service of the United States (92). A President has never personally directed the movements of armies in the field. The real management of a war falls upon the Secretary of War, the head of the War Department. This officer has super

vision of the army in times of war as well as in times of peace. He acts through the chief of a staff of trained generals who have direct control of the troops. A most important duty of the Secretary of War is to care for the material welfare of the army. In this he is assisted by the quartermaster-general, who attends to the clothing and the transportation of troops; by the commissary-general, who supplies the food; by the chief of ordnance, who supplies the arms; by the surgeon-general, who provides medicine. and assistance for the sick and wounded; by the adjutantgeneral, who conducts the correspondence of the War Department.

It is estimated that ten per cent. of the population and wealth of the United States is situated on the sea-coast, exposed to destruction by hostile naval forces. The defense of this life and property is the duty of the War Department. The great seaports are defended by land batteries, consisting usually of powerful guns which rise from a pit, discharge their shells, and disappear to be reloaded. The waters in the neighborhood of a seaport may be sown with torpedoes which may be exploded by an electric spark produced by an operator on shore. The difficulty of defending a seaport is very great, for a modern battle-ship can shell a city if it is allowed to approach within ten miles of it. Nevertheless we have along our coast guns that can hurl projectiles the distance of twenty miles.

II. The Navy. The affairs of the navy were managed by the War Department until 1798, when Congress established the Department of the Navy, and created the office of Secretary of the Navy. The President is commanderin-chief of the navy, as he is of the army, but he delegates his authority to the Secretary of the Navy. Of course the actual fighting is done by trained seamen.

Although the people of the United States do not distrust a powerful navy as they do a large standing army, nevertheless it is only in recent years that systematic efforts have been put forth to build up a strong navy. About

twenty-five years ago Congress began the policy of increasing the efficiency of the navy by adding to the number of fighting vessels and providing for a thorough training of the men. The war with Spain showed that the efforts of our statesmen to improve the navy have not been in vain. We have a navy upon which we may rely. Our ships have endurance and speed, and our guns fire quick and straight. In its fighting strength our navy ranks third among the navies of the world.

State Defense. For the defense of life and property within its borders the State relies upon its citizen soldiers, its militia. The right of the State to support a militia is guaranteed by the Constitution (134). In a few States the organized militia consists of several hundred men; in most States it consists of several thousand men. In times of war, as we have seen, the militia is under the control of the President, but in times of peace it is subject to the orders of the governor. When the laws of the State are resisted and the local authorities are unable to suppress the lawlessness, the governor sends the militia to the assistance of the local forces. If the militia is unable to suppress the law-breakers, the State legislature, or the governor, may make application for aid to the President (121), who, if the case seems to warrant it, will send troops of the regular army to the scene of disorder. If the lawlessness interferes with the operation of the federal government, as with the carrying of its mails, or if it obstructs interstate commerce, the President may send federal troops and suppress the lawbreakers without waiting for an application from the State authorities.

Local Defense. Besides the militia there are two other upholders of law and order within the State. These are the sheriff and his posse, and the local police force. The posse (posse comitatus, the county force) consists of all the able-bodied men in a county (or city). These the