islands.  All told, over one hundred thousand have been sent there.  Of course, there have been individual instances of wrongdoing among them.  They warred under fearful difficulties of climate and surroundings; and under the strain of the terrible provocations which they continually received from their foes, occasional instances of cruel retaliation occurred.  Every effort has been made to prevent such cruelties, and finally these efforts have been completely successful.  Every effort has also been made to detect and punish the wrongdoers.  After making all allowance for these misdeeds, it remains true that few indeed have been the instances in which war has been waged by a civilized power against semicivilized or barbarous forces where there has been so little wrongdoing by the victors as in the Philippine Islands.  On the other hand, the amount of difficult, important, and beneficent work which has been done is well-nigh incalculable.

Taking the work of the Army and the civil authorities together, it may be questioned whether anywhere else in modern times the world has seen a better example of real constructive statesmanship than our people have given in the Philippine Islands.  High praise should also be given those Filipinos, in the aggregate very numerous, who have accepted the new conditions and joined with our representatives to work with hearty good will for the welfare of the islands.

The Army has been reduced to the minimum allowed by law.  It is very small for the size of the Nation, and most certainly should be kept at the highest point of efficiency.  The senior officers are given scant chance under ordinary conditions to exercise commands commensurate with their rank, under circumstances which would fit them to do their duty in time of actual war.  A system of maneuvering our Army in bodies of some little size has been begun and should be steadily continued.  Without such maneuvers it is folly to expect that in the event of hostilities with any serious foe even a small army corps could be handled to advantage.  Both our officers and enlisted men are such that we can take hearty pride in them.  No better material can be found.  But they must be thoroughly trained, both as individuals and in the mass.  The marksmanship of the men must receive special attention.  In the circumstances of modern warfare the man must act far more on his own individual responsibility than ever before, and the high individual efficiency of the unit is of the utmost importance.  Formerly this unit was the regiment; it is now not the regiment, not even the troop or company; it is the individual soldier.  Every effort must be made to develop every workmanlike and soldierly quality in both the officer and the enlisted man.

I urgently call your attention to the need of passing a bill providing for a general staff and for the reorganization of the supply departments on the lines of the bill proposed by the Secretary of War last year.  When the young officers enter the Army from West Point they probably stand above their compeers in any other military service.  Every effort should be made, by training, by reward of merit, by scrutiny into their careers and capacity, to keep them of the same high relative excellence throughout their careers.