THE ARMY REMOUNT PROBLEM. 



109 



show that a sufficient price will always provide sufficient horses of 

 good type. 



According to the census bulletin of 1907 giving statistics of cities 

 there were in that year 1,106 patrolmen mounted on horses in the 

 various city police departments. Of this number, 559 were in the 

 cities of New York, Chicago, Philadelphia. St. Louis, and Boston. 

 The total number of mounted policemen in the entire country, there- 

 fore, just about equals the enlisted strength of a regiment of cavalry 

 on a war footing. 



The authorized number of mounts for the Cavalry of the Regular 

 Army on its present peace footing is 11,970, and on a war footing 

 17,100. The mounted police are practically comparable to the 

 Cavalry on a war footing, and, therefore, the Army, on the basis of 

 15 regiments of Cavalry, requires over 15 times as many horses as the 

 entire combined mounted police force of the United States. 



Letters of inquiry sent out to the police departments of the cities 

 named and that of Washington, D. C., elicited the following informa- 

 tion for the year 1911, which, of course, shows some variation from 

 the figures quoted above from the census bulletin : 



Horses used l>y mounted police, six cities, 1911. 



The information for the New York mounted police is particularly 

 enlightening, as that body of men has a well-deserved reputation not 

 only for horsemanship but for the excellent quality of its mounts. 

 The department expects to purchase about 75 saddle horses in 1911 at 

 a cost about twice as much per head as the cavalry remounts are now 

 costing the Government under the remount system. This contract 

 has been held for several years by one firm, which does a very exten- 

 sive business in all kinds of horses and has buyers in various parts of 

 the country where good horses are found. These buyers are familiar 

 with the specifications of the New York police department and have 

 instructions to buy horses when they find them conforming to those 

 specifications. The horses selected come mainly from Indiana and 

 18175 Cir. 18611 2 



