The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1870-03-26
LATEST FROM WASHINGTON.
Special kilograms 20 the Dispatch.
MASIIINGToS March o. 1910
Senator wilson's Army Bill.


the Senator and adopted by the Senate Com
mittee on Military Affairs. The bill is very
different from the Logan bill as it passed
the House, except so far as the section re-
ferring to the pay of the officers and men
This is left the same. The reduction of the
army 1000 men reduces the expenses about
81 100000 = year, as it is estimated that it
costs 81 BOO, COCOA year to sustain regiment.
Senator Wilson and the President dis
cussed the features Of the bill at length,
and when the Senator left the White House
the President informed him that he ap-
proved the bill. Senator Wilson presented
the bill today.
General Snersnan's Opposition to the
Army BiIi.
In these dispatches last evening mention
was made Of letter from General Sher-
man TO Senator Wilson in opposition to the
army bill and ridiculing the speech of Ge-
neral Logan on that subject. Beside the
points mentioned in last nights dispatch,
the General says it is asking the President
to do m nngracious thing to discharge fonr
Of his old Generals who have served under
him, and fairly earned their commits
sions. TO reduce an officer from one
grade to a lower one has hitherto been done
only as a punishment for misdemeanor.
The Senate has just confirmed as Minister
ia Spain General Sickles, who is ired
and crippled officer. BY this hill he will
he nusted, and ali Of these officers will be
dcharred from increasing their small pen
sions by earning the fees Of civil Offices,
| for which they may be cminently fitted,
| and whose salaries would, it may be,
enable them to support their families.
Whilst the cry goes forth extending
| liberty and the franchise to all races and
n Ill kinds Of men, II is proposed TO deny
them to the very soldiers who sacrificed
their limbs and their bodies to attain the
result. When I recall that in 1865 our
! National Government was paying $500
bounty for soldiers, and SOME of our
States, counties, and towns, swelled
il to $1,000; and when our cnunsrymcn
were shouting aloud the praises of Our
officers and men. little dreamed that
such "a had the misfortune to be MANNED
and crippled would be denied the simple
privilege Of enjoying the salaries of civil
Offices in addition to such limited pen
sions a. the Government could afford.
| Then nothing was too good for the
valiant officer and soldier. Now, how
changed. Many of our captains and many
subaltcrns but a few years ago were
| leading bricades i'll battle or commanding
divisions. Congress, in the reduction of
| 1866, generally allowed them to preserve
their insignia of rank nj their own ex-
| pense; 80 that the strap of ma or-general
| may he seen, as General Logan says, in the
rank OF file-closers. Can this be Il cause
for a sheer OF the floor of Congress Is it
| not rather cause Of national pride that we
have in Our ranks as captains and licutenants
| men who in war have already proved that
| they are qualified for higher command.
| At all events, there Can lie no economy III
this, for the law clearl? provides that an
officer shall in no event receive one cent
additional pay by reason Of the simple pri-
vilege Of wearing the shouldcrstrap Of his
! former grade, that only tells his fellow
soldiers that lie had once commanded Il
brigade, or maybe u division, in battle.
found on arrival here my headquarters in
hired building used by my predecessor.
| did not occupy it at all, hut moved. with
all my staff, into three rooms of the War
Department building. Personally occupy
the same dwelling which General Grant
did before me, which some kind friends in
New York and Boston bought and present
cd To me, and have spent every cent, and
more too, OF the pay allowed me by the
law in keeping il up. / have endeavored 10
entertain my friends, come from what quar-
ter they might, and have given some din
nerg and some receptions. | hope to do so
aga n at my own expense, not ut the peo
pies. If my pay is reduced | may not be
| able to do il to the same extent hereafter,
| but never will | receive the courtesies or
hospitali:ies Of others unless | can rtcipro.
| cate them. 1nvidious comparisons have
been made between my salary and that Of
the Chief Justice ard Cabinet Ministers.
All ] can say is that it is, and has been, q
| shame that a country with forty millions
Of people should stint their Chief Justice
and Cabinet Minister'S as this Government
nov does. The President himself assured
me before | came to Washington that |
could not live On my salary here II
| had to pay thu rent of house,
aud in his annual message lie called
attention to the inadequate pay Of the
Justices Of the Supreme Court and,
nfercrtially, of the Cabinet Ministers. II
it lay III his power believe this disparity
| would not exist an hour, and that he would
| not level down but raise up. The dema-
gogues might, of course: cry aloud, " TX
,ravagancc," but the people would say
Amen" The people OF this county,
| when appealed to, are not mean. They
| want real economy and honest response
bility, and they are allied to justice.
| | claim that | have earned my past
and present pay; that during the war,
when | commanded more men than the
Duke of Wellington had in Spain, my pay
as brigader and major-general was less
than his private secretaries, and was SO
small that, though lived on soldiers ra-
tions, it was not more than enough to main
tain my family in Ohio. | did not COM
plain of it then, nor do | now, but |
do believe my present pay is not
wholly for present work, but ID in
great part for past services. will say the
same for Sheridan and Meade, for Thomas
and for all our present general officers, and
| it is nobodys business whether they are
| married or single, or what use they make
| of their salaries. This is consideration
too contemplate for dissension. What
money will pay Meade for Gettys-
burg? What Sheridan for Winchester
and Five Forks What Thomas for
Chckamauga, Chattanooga, or Nashville
| What American would tear these pages
from our national history for the few dol
lars saved from their pay during their
short lives I honestly believe that the
rank of General and Lieutenant-General
should remain az incentives to honorable
| cxertion in oil times to come, and that to