The sun., 1878-12-17
Wanted An Army of 100. 900 Men.

Wanted An Army of 100. 900 Men.
Among recent expressions Of army senti-
mcnt the palm for GOODNESS must be awarded
to a memorial now circulating for sigma
lures at the various posts, with a view % its
presentation to "the Honorable Congress- -
This memorial and petition for relief and
Justice" as the document Is called, pur-
ports to give the points Of opinion upon
army organization upon which the subscribe
ers arc generally agreed" The very first
Of these articles Of belief is that the regular
army. (which Is not standing army" ls
constantly employed in Indispensable du-
tics, and Is not now more than onc-fourth
OF what is required to properly perform the
duties" Hence the mcmoralists inodcstly
petition the Honorable Congress, first 10
establish The regular army at about one hGl-
drcd thousand mem"
This is rather cool. 10 begin with. hut IL IL
only " first Tho next feature Is that this
army of 100 900 men should have "Gt least such
proportion Of officers as would exist under
tho present organization with 100 men TO the
company, and with tho field, stan, and non
commissioned officers, &c., necessary for the
performance Of the duties without so many
special details as at present" A. this would
give every existing onlccr an immediate
jump 10 much higher rank and pay, tho
majors becoming coloncls. the captains
majors, and SO forth. no doubt somo Of these
would approve II highly.
But let us go ON. Besides supplying
mon enough for the fighting force. means
should bc provided for hiring or onlsting
men for tcamsters. mechanics, lahorcrs,
for the various needs of the army" and to
this ia added the request that hereafter
good posts be provided for the troops.
when not on active campaign." Elsewhere
in the memorial (which is an elaborate AZ
fair. we find eleven different kinds Of civilian
occupations mentioned as necessary to the
army; go that IL may be- imagined hove many
more thousand men would be required for
tho needs OF the 10000 Sollior-, and how
many Now posts, az several hundred thou
| sand dollars each, would bc needed To- hold
thcm when not iu active campaign.
NrNt, there should be "school- Of nrac-
tioo' both for cavalry and infantry, and ono
yoar In every five should be- passed by each
regiment in school-pa and rations. Of
| course, 20 20 on ms usual. Then, as To or
| gau.at..H Hore tho memorial maguaui-
mously declares. We will be- satisfied with
the present organization, with 100 mon per
company But, looking along, we find this
concession somewhat modified. For it is
incidentally added:
"1hc rcam,nWl siaf nl.utanf quartz rmascr ami
comm, ,4ry. should O., cstn Tho re.imcnt slouN also
nc pro,i.- vltl clerks ior hcai4u4rcr. and fan band
% twenty a,c mon besides ihe leader aad the CHIEF yi
hcd music allowed. also ior cavalry and artillery,
,worl master AMI veterinary surgeons"
Il is also observed that, If battalion organ
| izotons be adopted Tor infantry. these also
should each layo extra licutcnants for
adiutant and quartemaster; also, sergeant
major quartermae eter-scrgcant, and clerks" g"
Then ms 10 scmi-civiiian services enough
functionaries should bc provided for all
! kinds oi duties"
We can hardly dwell ON all the points Of
this modest memorial. hut it will bee inter
c..ing 90 notc the details Of the orranza-
tion it proposes. These are: Cavalry
regiments LOO officers, 1850 men; artil-
| lcry-l1 rcgmcnte, 6,2 officers. and 1878
ricn; infantry % regiments, 1850 IN aors.
jt0s0 men. Totals, rs regiments, lO2,o25
| officers and men, Ihcp Of course there
would he an additional force Of general
! stan medical officers, and clnplons Of 600
| officers aui 2,iJG men, making grand aggle-
| gate of l0ji5l officers AMI men.
This would be a slight excess over the
round 10000; but, obviously, five or six
thousand more or le5s would bo u slight
matter
! II shouldbo observed, however, that this
plan Of organization is only in the rough"
| There should bc added good supply of
| ii 4