REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF WAR. To the PRESIDENT: WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington, D. C., December 1, 1902. I have the honor to submit the following report of operations of this Department for the past year: On November 27, 1901, the date of the last annual report of the Secretary of War, the Army of the United States, according to the latest reports which had been received from the field, consisted of 3,253 officers and 76,084 enlisted men. In addition there were 4,336 men in the hospital corps; 172 volunteer surgeons appointed for duty in the Philippines under the provisions of section 18 of the act of February 2, 1901; 4,973 native scouts under the command of 98 officers in the Philippines, and 25 officers and 815 men of the Porto Rico Provisional Regiment of Infantry. REDUCTION OF THE ENLISTED STRENGTH OF THE ARMY. The continued improvement of conditions in the Philippines made possible a further reduction in the enlisted strength of the Army, which, by order dated May 31, 1902, was fixed as follows: Additional strength for troops stationed at the General Service and Staff Col lege, School of Application, and Legation Guard, Pekin, China....... Enlisted men, staff departments, etc.... Total Army. WAR 1902-VOL 1--1 770 2,783 66,497 1 To meet the requirements of the act of June 28, 1902, for the support of the Military Academy, and of the act of June 30, 1902, making appropriations for the support of the Army, slight modifications of the enlisted strength were made under date of July 1, 1902, making the total enlisted strength of the Army 66,711. On October 15, 1902, the regular establishment consisted, according to the latest reports which had been received, of 3,586 officers and 66,003 enlisted men, a total of 69,589. In addition, there were 3,598 men of the Hospital Corps, but under the provisions of the act of March 1, 1887, not included as part of the enlisted force of the Army. There were also in the service 182 volunteer medical officers, appointed under section 18 of the act of February 2, 1901, all of whom are under orders for honorable discharge on account of their services being no longer required; 4,978 Philippine scouts, enlisted from the natives, under command of 100 officers, and 29 officers and 840 enlisted men of the Porto Rico Provisional Regiment. The distribution of the Army October 15, 1902, was as follows: (In addition there were the officers and men of the Porto Rico Provisional Regiment and of the Philippine Scouts and the volunteer surgeons under orders for discharge, as above stated.) Since the ending of the insurrection and the complete establishment of civil government in the Philippines, it has been possible to make a still further reduction of the Army, and on October 24, 1902, an order was made reducing the enlisted strength to 59,866, the minimum provided by the act of February 2, 1901 (excepting as to the organizations stationed at Fort Leavenworth, Fort Riley, and Pekin), as follows: Infantry Engineer battalions and band Additional strength for troops stationed at the General Service and Staff Total.. 24, 480 1,282 1,245 2,877 59, 866 The necessary instructions, have been given prescribing the method of effecting the reduction required by the order of October 24, 1902, so that it will have been completely accomplished in the most economical way before the end of the current fiscal year, and in the main accomplished during the next thirty days. The effect of carrying out this order will be to bring the American troops stationed in the Philippines down to an enlisted strength of 13,480. Cavalry in United States (including bands, regimental and squadron noncommissioned staff) 8, 540 Infantry in United States (including bands, regimental and battalion noncommissioned staff) 16, 645 Infantry in Pekin 150 Infantry in Alaska (excluding 234, who will have to be left there until after navigation opens next summer)............. 390 The exception of the organizations stationed at Fort Leavenworth and Fort Riley from the reduction to the minimum strength is made for purposes of instruction, so that at the general service and staff college and the school of application for cavalry and light artillery, student officers may become familiar with the handling of troops at full war strength. With the execution of this order the Regular Army will have been reduced to the minimum of enlisted strength which, in the judgment of Congress, a wise policy requires us to maintain as insurance against future attack. The estimates prepared for submission to Congress at the present session call for appropriations on that basis. The only armed forces which will then remain to be maintained on account of the islands ceded by Spain under the Treaty of Paris will be the Porto Rico Provisional Regiment and the Philippine Scouts. PORTO RICO REGIMENT. The act of February 2, 1901, provides that the Porto Rico Regiment shall be continued in service until further directed by Congress. I recommend that the discontinuance of that regiment be now directed, and that at the same time the right of enlistment in the Regular Army be extended to citizens of Porto Rico. There is no longer occasion for maintaining a special and peculiar force in the island, at the expense of the United States, outside of the coast-defense fortifications. Under the prosperous conditions which have followed the very liberal treatment of the island by the United States, the insular government is well able to support a police force adequate to preserve internal peace and order, and there is no more reason for maintaining a special United States force in addition to the Regular Army to protect Porto Rico against external attack than there is to maintain such a force to protect any part of our territory on the Atlantic coast. The people of Porto Rico should, however, have an opportunity to share in the general defense of the Government to which they owe allegiance and of the institutions which they enjoy. PHILIPPINE SCOUTS. The Philippine Scouts should be continued. They enable us to reduce the force of American troops in the Philippines more rapidly than we could without them, and their knowledge of the country, language and the ways of the people, make them especially valuable in hunting down ladrones, which for a good while to come will be an urgent business. The relations between this body of scouts, maintained at the expense of the United States, and the insular constabulary, maintained at the expense of the Philippine government, will have to be worked out hereafter when we have had longer experience of the working of the two forces under peaceful conditions, and know better what revenues can be relied upon by the insular government under like conditions. Both forces are now useful agents in maintaining order. Whether that shall be ultimately accomplished through one force or the other, or both, can hardly as yet be profitably discussed. VOLUNTEER SURGEONS. The reduction of the Army has been accompanied by an order for the discharge of all the volunteer surgeons authorized by the act of February 2, 1901, and a large reduction of the Hospital Corps. The prevalence of cholera in the Philippines, however, has made it necessary to retain a number of contract surgeons and Hospital Corps men, with whose services we can dispense ultimately. ENLISTMENTS. During the fiscal year ended June 30, 1902, there were 124,542 applications for enlistment in the Army, not including the Hospital Corps and Philippine Scouts. Of these, 37,461, or about 30 per cent, were accepted and 87,081, or about 70 per cent, were rejected. Of the number accepted, 32,249 were natives of the United States, 4,726 were of foreign birth, and 486 were born in Porto Rico; 34,677 were white, 2,284 colored, 14 Indians, and 486 Porto Ricans (color not. specified). The reenlistments numbered 11,435 and the new enlistments 26,026. Excluding reenlistments, the percentage of native born among the newly enlisted men was 89.5. Of the applicants rejected, 1,622 were rejected as aliens and 3,828 as illiterates. MORTALITY AND HEALTH. The health of the Army has shown a continued improvement. The deaths from all causes during the calendar year 1901 amounted to 13.94 per thousand of mean strength as against 22.74 per thousand of mean strength during the calendar year 1900. This large reduction of death rate was in a great measure due to improved conditions in the Philippines, where the rate was reduced to 17.96 per thousand in the year 1901 as against 29.42 per thousand in the year 1900. The death rate from all causes during the year 1901 in the United States was 6.90 per thousand; in Porto Rico, 7.81; in Cuba, 5.29, and in the Pacific islands and China, 17.96. The rates of admission to sick report for disease and injury and the rate of discharge for disability during the calendar year 1901 agree with the reduced mortality rate in being considerably less than the corresponding rates for the year 1900. A further improvement of health in the Philippines may be anticipated from the cessation of guerrilla warfare with the exposure incident to it, and from the concentration of the troops remaining |
