National Republican., 1878-01-09

fact that the eSurYeonGenesal is Obliged to
employ cortmct surgeons is ply
sicians from civn hfe. Scattered as our
military posts are, from the Atlantic to the
Pacific, from the. frontiers of Canada to the
Gulf of Mexico, the fifty-fve officers of the
Pay Department find it very difficult to
pay the troops st the proper time rs re-
quired by law and regulations. The En-
gineer Department being called upon to
fake charge of the various Improvements of
harbors, and rivers, and other civil works,
besides military engineering, find full en-
ployment for all its officers. ...
We observe, however, that our military
reorganizcrs deys.e most Of their attention
to the Adjutant- Generals Department, the
Quartermaster's Department, and the Sub
sistencc Department. Let us look at these
three departments and see how they have
increased since 1861. Let us see If that in
crease has been out Of proportion to the in
crease of the army. In 1861 there were
fourteen officers in the Adjutant-Gc 5
Department now there are seventeen, an
increase Of three. During the same period
the Quartcrmasters Department has been
increased twenty, and the Subsistence De-
partment fourteen-thirty-seyen in all
Now 10 . plain, unmilitary mind this in
crease of sthirty-seyen officers does
not appear SO astounding rs our
Military Committee would have US believe.
We do not believe II will stnager the credit
Of the country, nor do wcbelievc that IT has
been the cause of the hard times. We have
hardly been able to treat this part Of the
onslaught on the army with suitable grav-
ity. The mountain has made such prodig-
Gus throes and brought forth such little
mouse--ak the figures show-that II is diff
cult to maintain ones gravity. But it is the
reorganization which is proposed that de-
mands our serious attention Since the waI
Of 1513, and before that period, the ablest
men in the amy and those connected with
ii havebeen engaged in pertecting its nd
ministrative branches, and its present organ
ization is the result. As a proof OF the ef-
iiciency Of the staff it is only necessary to
refer to what it did during the war. Called
suddenly to arm, equip, feed, clothe and
transport huge armies, it never failed.
No army ever took the field
better prepared and none were ever better
supplied throughout all the campaign than
ours. The same organization of staff corpt
obtained then rs exists now. The expert
ence of the war suggested no changes il
remains for the military minds of the pres.
ent day to discover that everything wa.
wrong and that they can improve it.
| We have not time now to advert TO all tn,
proposed changes, but there is one we con
slider particularly Objectionable, and that i,
merging the quartermaster's and subsis
tence departments into one department, u
be called the supply department. Thes'
two departments have been separate sine,
the revolution, but now our new military
authorities have discovered they should b
united.
We protest against backward step W,
are satisfied to let well enough alone. w,
do not want to see these organizations tam
pered with, even to promote personal inter
ests, or to manufacture political capital
We had suficieney of that during the las
session.
Our legislators went home to their con
stitueuts with wreaths of economy to tn,
tune Of several millions on their brows
and returned at the extra session ant
passed deficiency bills to the same amount
There is one feature in this plan for the reduc
tion of the army that strikes us rathe
singularly, and that is the removal of tn
disabilities of those Confederate officer
who deserted the flag in 1861 which the
had sworn to protect against all comen
1t has been suggested to us that this is
well-laid plan to introduce into the army
controlling Southern influence. Let til
army be reduced now to skeleton. Afte
1Ss0, should the Democrats come int
power, with a solid South, it will be dis
covered that our army is entirely to
small, and that it is necessary to increas
it by ten or fifteen regiments The resul
can plainly be seen.