The Opelousas patriot. [volume] (Opelousas, Parish of St. Landry, La.) 1855-1863, 1857-02-21
Letter from John rheaix, Esq.

in the Senate. The cause assigned Is lnat
st great aversion is entertained by leading SEN
ators to what they term tae extravasant and
complicated allowances for rations, ETC., to ofll-
,asa Of the higher grades" unjustly dlspropor-
tlonate as they arc to similar allowances OF
those grades below the rank Of major. There
can, of course, be no Question that oil officers
above the rank or major are AT pirsei,t lilost
amply provided for. X colonel receives the
enormou ssalary Of @l9l per month, and a
major $l49 sums almost equivalent to those
paid by our merchants to their principal book
keepers. and nearly half as mdS Us q good
oyersecr receives on a sugar plantation. An
officer of the rank Of nlajer is never married
of course he has no family to support nothing
in fact to do but lay back and enjoy himself
on his $l49 per month, III a stsh OF luxury
and magniicence. Probahs mechanics
in the country actually = year
from their business than On oihts III liz
of major receives in full forshis services, Z
exposed frontier, exiled from c~ivilizatic
daily periling his health and his life il The
service Of his grateful country. 1t cannot be
wondered at, therefore. that the g leading Sen
ators should object most strenuously to these
Injurious fellows receiving twenty dollars per
month in addition to their present allowances.
Twenty dollars q month, indeed Why, the
officer Of the rank Of major might purchase
two barrels Of -four, or a barrel of pork, with
that large gratuity, and ruin his digestion by
overlooking. Twenty dollars. IA month In
five months he could procure an entirely new
suit of clothing, which would be a most need
less luxury, though Heaven knows it would
improve the appearance Of most Of them. But
AZ, n u a M in;,.rsr fin A rt,,- Esnr;e+nr wee lt,,j y,
our surprise that there are but eighty officers
with and above the rank of major, while there
are about nine hundred and .}ofty-s,r below
that rank-eaptains an& subalterns. What is
to become of the captain who desperately
struggles to obtain a scanty and seedy subsist-
ence for himself, his unfortunate wife and, per-
haps, six hungry children, on eighty-tlrec
dollars and fifty cents per month What is
the subalternfto do, who with sixty-eight dol
lars and fifty cents n month, keeps the breath
of life in his body only by living on pork,
beans, aid other choice viands, furnished at
economical prices by the commissary of sub
sistence? There is not at this moment an
officer Of the army below the rank of major,
whose entire pay would be sufficient to deiray
his board bill at a first class hotel 1t is very
evident that something should be done for
these gentlemen. In former times Il subaltern
could perhaps improve his fortune by marrying
a wealthy wife that business is stopped ce-
libacy is now their portion. When Conrad
invented that new army cap and put it on
their heads, rich ladies ceased to marry in the
army, and the button lost its attractions for
ever. A woman may marry an ugly man, she
cannot stand II ridiculous one.
IT is niain that tba officers ri tha oruu IRA
willing, and anxious, indeed, to help themselves.
This may be seen by the fact that almost all
who have resigned during the last two or
three years are men of small capital, who con
cluded to try to get u living in some more
profitable profession. From, this fact | de-
duce that every officer now remaining III tile
service would be thankful to go into some
light and remuneratiye business, provided he
had the capital to start on.
Basing my views on this superstition, it APP
evident that Congress is not going to
help us in any other way, | have a project to
Which | think must be approved by
the army, the Government and the people at
1t is well known that, within the last
few years, gunny bags, -four sacks, and the
articles Of c~lollling, have increased
in price, and that still the supply is BY
no means equal to the demands. / propose.
then. that the Senate calling to pass the present
bill for the increase OF pay shouid make a
appropriation ($l00,oUo would do it, for
furnishing each officer of the army with one
of the newly isvented patent sewing machines,
which would place in his hands at once an
easy, pleasant and profitable method Of in
his means Of subsistence. These
machines should be Of the 'Grover & Bake .
patent, and eolored to correspond to the differ
ent corps d oTaa6e. Thus, we wonld have rcd
machines for the artillery, blue for the infantry.
green for the rifles, and deep or verv
green for all breyet second ~lieutenauls. Drt-
goons and officers troubled with rheumatism,
govt, etc., to be furnished with the box pat-
tern all others. capable Of using their legs,
to receive the freddie machine. Then The
army, like the sower in the parable, would q go
Infth to SOW Io avoid interference in
business, Or overstocking the market with any
particular article, the different corps should
themselves 10 the manufacture of such
garments as their previous occupation would
the most easy and agreeable. From their
employment they might also derive new and
more expressive titles. Thus the artillery ac-
to making breaches could readily
manufacture pantaloons, and might be called
he LIST, I'd, Sd and 4th 1'rowserloons the in
used to the sack of cities and fortified
owns, could make gunny bags, and should be
the LIST, I'd, etc, Gunny Burgers
the cavalry and Dragons, long accus-
omed to resort to every shift for a living.
readily produce shirts, and might be
distinguished as the LIST Red Flannel, the Light
Muslin, or The Linen Bosoms. The engineers,
with the best method Of throwing M
would be tile corset makers tie
geographical engineers, now making drawings,
you'd manufacture drawers; and the ordnance.
g whom making stocks tand barrels also is
would furnish crayats. The staff of
he army, accustomed only to the light and
ancy duty, could turn their attention to get
ing up embroidered skirts aud articles of that
description. 1t must be obvious to every one
this project is capable Of the most brit
liant success.
All the papers say the people highly ap.
the increase Of the army nay, but as
won't do that, II they viii only give
S The machines, the people can show their
ppreciation Of the army by buying our pro-
Bless Inc, how very comfortable we
night be | estimate that a strong first
ientenant ofintantry could produce forty gunnv
ags per diem, which, at twenty cents apiece,
'ould be equal to the pay of the members ofI
congress, before they increased it.
Imagine an order like the following
HEADquARrRns or THE Amy.
Orders No. SO. October 20. 1867.
I M l.. si,,,,N- T-..l1 |