Marshall, after witnessing National Guard manœuvres here yesterday, asked for the immediate training of between 300,000 and 500,000 men.
"Our defence forces are far in advance of those of 1917," he declared, "but we were not in critical danger of invasion then. Today you can judge for yourself."
job has placed me in a position where I cannot gamble with the country's defence," General Matshall asserted.
He said he could not have men coming to training camps "in dribbles." The confusion of arrivals and the necessary unfamiliarity with which the new men would regard the training programmes and army issues would make it difficult toget things under control.
It will be necessary, he continued, to fill out the National Guard units to war strength for the training programme. The lack of equipment is serious, he said,.but, with the new 48-hour week now established in arsenals, production has been increased by 20 per cent.
General Marshall said he was more than satisfied with the problems the National Guard worked out during the manœuvres here—United Press He charged them with generating war hysteria in the United States in order to create a huge, unneeded United States Army. He said they were "deliberately inspiring nationwide propaganda" apparently in an effort go exert pressure on Congress through various constituencies.
Senator Taft said Senator Morris Sheppard, Chairman of the Senate Military. Affairs Committee, admitted that he desired an army totalling only 700,000, men.
"He has them without this bill Senator Taft. declared. "It is measure to create by a selective draft, an army of unlimited size—as that size may be determined later by Congress." He estimated that the expanded forces would cost about
U.S $3,500,000,000.
"We should not exaggerate the character of the "present emergency," Senator Taft declared. "I am convinced that, to meet the threat of the Totalitarian nations, we need not ourselves become Totalitarian, I shudder when I hear such words as total defence'."
He said it would be "utterly impossible" to defend Argentina, Brazil and other South American republics with an army. "The Monroe Doctrine must be enforced with a Navy," he declared, "and if it cannot be enforced bya navy it cannot be enforced at all."
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.