National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-11-27
HORALE OF THE ARMY.
INSPECTOR-GE GENERAL IARUY'S RECON-
MENnATIONS-

NERAL AIARCY'S RECON-
MENDATIONS.
r. b. Marcy, Inspector eneral of the Army
in his annual report says: 'Since the prohibitory
enactment frequent emergencies have occurred
where it has been absolutely impossible for ofa-
GERS TO hire civilian servants at any price, and
they have been driven to the alternative Of per.
forming servants work themselves and neglect
ing their appropriate duties, or violating the law
by using the voluntary labor of soldiers. IL
would be violation of the law if a commissioned
officer employed and paid an enlisted man, who
with his own consent, in the interests OF military
duty performed servants work for him. The
officer must, therefore, when he cannot procure
the services Of civilian, either feed, groom, and
attend TO his own horse, cook his own meals, wash
his own linen, black his own boots. AMI perform
all the necessary servants work, which would
leave HIM but little time to attend to the wants
Of his men and his other military duties, or he
must take upon himself the consequence OF yIo-
latiDg the law. A repeal Of the law before cited
would doubtless meet the eNigencies OF the ser
wee at this time by placing this subject where Il
formerly was, when 10 evil was known to result
from the working Of tho system"
An extract is made from Colonel Sackett's re-
port, in which he says: ''Our army contains many
deserters. II is not an uncommon thing to find
men in the ranks who have deserted from the
service four or five times. remedy Is much
needed and should be devised to prevent this
wholesale desertion, or at least to prevent SOL
diers who have once deserted the service ever re-
entering il again. The Inspector General says:
Although the rndO of deserIiOn has materially
diminished during the past year, yet the number
continues so great as 10 make this one o. the
most serious and PerplcNing evils we have to en-
counter in our service. Many OF our superior off,
CeT' have used their best endeavOTs to ascertain
the cause which have been in operation to de-
pTiVe the army OF so many men by desertion with
IN the last ten years, but as yet no satisfactory
solution Of the question seems TO have been
reached. Major General Sehofeld. commanding
the Military Division Of the Pacific, after having
caused a searching Investigation to be made upon
the subject among large number Of deserters,
says that the general evidence obtained from
them appeared TO establish three causes for the
majority Of assertions.
"F rst. lnattCnliCn on the part of the officers to
secure them proper and sufficient food.
S"SecOnd. Acts OF officers and nOn-cOmmissloned
officers eYincing prejudice or crI e ty.OWardsthem
Third. The TOO hard labor required OF them.
The evidence addUced from our inspection reports
lustihes the conclusion that one Of the chief
serving in the West, and especially within the
mining districts, may be found in the fact that
labor there is in demand at much higher wages
than soldiers receive from the Government and
the protection given to the deserters by their en-
Ployers generally precludes the possibility of
their apprehension by the military authorities
That cur soldiers are better fed, clothed, and
paid than those Of any other army in the world
and as general rule are kindly treated and
cared for does not admit Of question, but they
do not, any moro than the frontier settlers who
haIbor and protect them, seem to look upon de-
SeTtiOn violation Of their oath Of enlistment
or as a crime of much magnitude. 1 am, there
fore, fully impressed with the conviction that the
remedy suggested in my last report would prove
more Cfiicacious in suppressing the OWL than any
other that has been suggested. 1t Is that deser-
tiOn be constituted by legislative enactment
felony, eOgnzRble by our civil courts Of criminal
Jurisdiction. The Offenders to be arrested by
marshals and deputies like other criminals, but
the jurisdiction TO be concurrent with that of
military courts. This, L am confident, would
have the effect Of educating and impressing the
public mind with proper sense OF the heinous-
ness OF the offence, and prevent eYil-disposed
persons from giving aid and protection to de-
sertETs.n