New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1854-02-14
THE RANK AND FILE.

to dav. recommends IN earnest terms tne increase VI
the Day OF tie rank aud file OF the army ~ tne ol"er
relorms According to him, at takes Aoolt al taer
wages to buy pipe clay aud rotien-'tohe "!th WAicn
. 10 furbish their accoutrcments aud tne mercury oi
. flair ambition Is concealed in the bulb We agree
oe co,, with our correspondent that the pay OF our
.ols;ers /, Door We think that every man in this
oo,,ntrv ,,bo works should five hundred dollars
,osr eas+ and if our native industry lad been uni
cr,r pr,eeted from tie start against Eng ISL central
,.,;on and ayaricious intermediate agencies sl1 the
,onulaton duly concentrated and provided with local
avis and industries We believe that such SUN would
v tbi. time have fallen to the LOT Of every laborng
man amoreu US The pay ofthe army is mean, but what
makes il go The reason is plain. The common sol
der is looked upon machine. lie has no discre-
tiopary power No labOrng man makes so little eIer-
ese Of bis brains. As soon as he hiss mastered the
manual exercise his business is to DO It mechanically
Hence in France men can be had for y cents day,
fudirg Themselves food. or what is the same thing
with food aEd two cents pocket money Out OF this Mr.
Abbotts great NspOleOns are manufactured SO our
soldiers are princes in comparison with the French
French captain gets less than an American aborer
Of eighteen years Of age says Cheyaer IN bis Notes
OH America.
The American army, for its size, is the most eGper-
sve in the world. 1t is question whether we should
increase the expense Of keeping tup by increasing the
nav of the soldier The money there is paid for
the AMY the longer il is fastened the country II
men are meGnly paid in the army, it must be remem'
bered that they enter it of their accord Ii they
find The service srstOcratic it forms subjects of ndi
vidua or collective hardship but at the same time
prevents the service from becoming popular. We
dread popular army. We should prefer to have it
subject 10 its present abuse, which ypiy the essential
despotism OF military life seeing it perfect and
greedily looked to by men who ought to be digging
canals, building machines, or blowing land. We con-
slider the American army and the American navy mere
transitory Institutions: their small size but points
to the time when they will be smaller preparatory to
their abolition We should fear to make the service
more attractive or to lessen its despOtc features: let
it be warning TO citizens to DO something better than
put themselves under military orders and lose their
liberty for the time being in martinetship.
We speak thus after having refreshed knowledge
On this subject by reading recent report of Gen
Shields made TO the Senate The military attach nents
of that Senator made him quote the best military, that
is to say the worst democratic authority, on the sub
ject. He gives us NapOeOns mazims" Every
"means says that Captain, should be taken to attach
the soldier to his coors This is best accomplished
"by showing consideration and respect 70 the soldier
d" His pay should kewie increase with the length of
service 1t is the hight Of injustice to pay veteran
no more than a recruit"
Begging Mr. Shields's pardon such phrases as these
are sheer humbug. 1t tie hight Of injustice Tor
Napoleon to seize the mechanics and laborer in France
(som in oh 70 tba
When they got there il made very little odds whether
their begeaIy pay from two cents day to four
1t could not rise higher under the system of Napoleon
And indeed they were nearly TO a man killei of
Of 1900 eco killed from 1892 1915 nearly twOthirdS
were massacred under NapoeOn-the veteran pay was
10 nnetynine ont of hundred mockery We
call the wars in Spain and Russia to attest this fact
So do not let us lave the charlat nsn OF Napoeons
maxius about eagles and cOlOrs these the means
of binding masses TO enable tyrants to make use Of
8" the tools, tie broken tools by which they pave
their way to power and six feet OF EARTH the end OF
all ambition If the French soldier could get such pay
as the American he would be frenzied with joy: so
positively as regards our army il is illogical and false
for Mr. Shields to quote Napoleon and his beggartroops
his Tarsrs living in tie heart of Eurpe-as he could
not and did not pay them.
Ii the American Army is not popular service-so
much the better III is the reverse of democratic
so much the better. II will to an end all the
sooner snd with its termination we shall fnd, as we
have with many other things, that when the private
citizen undertakes 10 defend himself, he can do 1t
better and more cheaply than the Government. We
used to believe that money exchanges would be next
to impossible without the Bank of the United States
The Bank ceased and exchanges distant points were
never so cheap aud good they now are in private
hands So will it be found with other thiDgs-warlke
as well as peaceful detals-when the people take
charge of matters delegated to men with big fool
ish titles of barbarous origin.
rrrI,ryCs uOr-Crrr sxo som