The New Orleans Democrat. (New Orleans, La.) 1875-1876, 1876-03-10
THE aRMyAHow TO REDUCE 1T.

The enormous appropriations aske(
from Congress for the war and nav,
departments by the secretaries Of thes'
respective branches Of the Government
in the face of the popular clamor for re
trenchment and economy, had already
met with universal condemnation from
the country and the searching criticism
Of the press when the scandalous dis
closures Of the Belknap infamy were
made public. Since then the whole
country has evinced a lively interest In
the affairs of the war department and
depressed desire to know more about
the army, its composition and numbers,
To satisfy this legitimate curiosity, we
give below a short summary showing
the grand total of the army, with the
composition of its various branches
also a comparison, from an economical
stand point, Of our infantry with the
same branch OF the service in the French
army:
The grand total of the army all told
is 246s officers and $4,000 men drawing
pay, rations, etc, or one officer to epery
ten enlisted men. Out Of these 246S com
missioned officers, 1889 belong to the
field and line, 800 are on the retired list,
and $50, exclusive of general officers, are
on detached service of some kind or
other that could well be performed by a
detail Of regimental officers. This
grand total, as given above. is divided
| into the following branches Of the SER
vice. Ten regiments Of cavalry, ayerag-
ing $50 enlisted men, and from 43 to "A
officers.
Five regiments Of artillery, averaging
$50 enlisted men and Sc officers.
Twenty-Five regiments of infantry,
averaging 4S3 men and IS officers. With
the above there is also an engineer corps,
consisting of 100 commissioned officers,
as follows 1 brigadier general, colonies,
IL lieutenant colonies, "a majors, 30
captains and SO lieutenants, together
with 200 enlisted men. .E
An ordnance corps, consisting or |
brigadier general, 8 colonies. lieuten-
ant colonies, 20 captains, and 16 lieu
tenants Sd in all-with 400 enlisted
men. I .5.
A medical corps, consisting of brig
adler general, two colonies, two ieuten-
ant colonies, SO majors, 90 captains and
60 Merchandising in all-with 70 enlist
ed men. rHt
To command, pay, clothe and provis-
ion this already top-heavy force there
are required one general, one lieutenant
general, three major generals and ten
brigadiers, besides q host Of officers in
the bureaus as aids, etc., all occupying
positions that could easily be filled by
officers taken from the overcrowded
staff Of regiments, as will be seen by
simple comparison of one of our
branches of the service with the CORE
spending branch Of the French service.
A French regiment of infantry is com
posed Of 5000 men, divided in three ba-
tallions, each of a thousand men, each
battalion itself composed Of eight com
panies of 1876 men. To command this
force, equal to over six of our regiments,
the French have but one colonel and
one'lieutenant colonel and four majors,
against six Of each grade, drawing the
highest regimental pay, in our army:
twenty-seven captains, twenty-fo first
lieutenants and twenty-four second lieu-
tenants, total of eighty-one officers
to command 5000 men in the French
army, against thirty-five officers
to command . 1873 in our army;
one officer to every thirty seven men i'm
France, against one to thirteen in our
service. But the chief difference lies in
the higher grades. field officers drawing
the largest pay. Our infantry numbers
II, 0S5 rank and file. In the French SER
vice this would compose four regiments,
by twenty eight field Off |
GERS. In our service it takes to com
mand the same number Of men, and we
have to pay, 1875 field officers. This |
comparison shows how enormously top
heavy Is our whole military system, and |
where reform should strike. AS far as
it can be ascertained, we think that any
OF the rank and file of the |
army would meet with but little favor in |
any part Of the country, and Ger
tainly with decided opposition from
the frontier States. But there seems to
be but one opinion as to the necessity of |
the Overgrown list Of officers.
To accomplish this reduction is, how
ever, quite another affair, as every
officer is backed by some social influence
Or other, and the tug of y,ar would
occur when the general policy of reduc-
ion came down to specific practice in
designating what positions should be
abolished and what individuals should
be retired from the service.
The best and also the easiest plan
would be to make of civil service reform
! reality and appoint to the numberless
offices of the Government in it's various
retired army officers instead
If politicians and political bummers, as
low done. The change would be a
7ast improvement and would certainly
meet with universal approval The Gov
,rnment would have in it's employ
rained and faithful men on whom it
could depend, and the country would
% doubly the gamer by the reform
he gamer in having as its servants
ried and competent men, and again in
ealizing an immense saving on it's war
without having to resort