the best information obtainable we
will need there for the immediate future from 45,000 to 60,000 men.
I am sure the number may be reduced as the insurgents shall come to
acknowledge the authority of the United States, of which there are
assuring indications.

It must be apparent that we will require an army of about 60,000, and
that during present conditions in Cuba and the Philippines the President
should have authority to increase the force to the present number of
100,000. Included in this number authority should be given to raise
native troops in the Philippines up to 15,000, which the Taft Commission
believe will be more effective in detecting and suppressing guerrillas,
assassins, and ladrones than our own soldiers.

The full discussion of this subject by the Secretary of War in his
annual report is called to your earnest attention.

I renew the recommendation made in my last annual message that the
Congress provide a special medal of honor for the volunteers, regulars,
sailors, and marines on duty in the Philippines who voluntarily remained
in the service after their terms of enlistment had expired.

I favor the recommendation of the Secretary of War for the detail
of officers from the line of the Army when vacancies occur in the
Adjutant-General's Department, Inspector-General's Department,
Quartermaster's Department, Subsistence Department, Pay Department,
Ordnance Department, and Signal Corps.

The Army cannot be too highly commended for its faithful and effective
service in active military operations in the field and the difficult
work of civil administration.

The continued and rapid growth of the postal service is a sure index
of the great and increasing business activity of the country. Its most
striking new development is the extension of rural free delivery. This
has come almost wholly within the last year. At the beginning of the
fiscal year 1899-1900 the number of routes in operation was only 391,
and most of these had been running less than twelve months. On the
15th of November, 1900, the number had increased to 2,614, reaching
into forty-four States and Territories, and serving a population of
1,801,524. The number of applications now pending and awaiting action
nearly equals all those granted up to the present time, and by the
close of the current fiscal year about 4,000 routes will have been
established, providing for the daily delivery of mails at the scattered
homes of about three and a