Arizona weekly citizen., 1882-06-18
Our Nice Little Army.
\. '. G-aphic.


 The Army Appropriation bill, which 1 passed the House of Representatives on 9th of April and Is now before the Senate, fills seventeen folio pages and IS an interesting document. It apprO- pirates in all 36,j63,OOO. or this sum Sl2,2U0,OOO is for the pay of l general, l , heutenaut-geEeral,3 3 maior-generals, 16 igadier-generals, 39 aides-de-camp in | addition to their pay in the hne), 66 col onels, Sj lieutenant-colonels, 2f4 majors, 3l5 mounted captains, 3O6 captains mot mOunted) 3i chaplaIns, 2l storekeepers, 70 adJutauts, 40 regimental qUartermas- ters, an adJutant, and quartermaster of the Engineer Battalion tin addition to their line payL. 2J2 first heutenants (mounted) 36l first heutenants lnOt mountedl, l5O second heutenants (mounted), 30j second heutenants (not mounted, lS0 acting assistant commlssaries of subsistence, pay to retired officers, and to enlisted men of all grades not exceeding 25,0O0 men; 500 enlisted men of the Signal Corps; mileage; hire of l2j contract surgeons and 2OO hospital nurses; # paymasters' clerks at the rate of Sl 300 each: II vet ' ~ -~ ters, and other little trifes. Now, by all this 1t will be seen that 1t Is no joke to keep up an army; and 1t will also be seen tbat to take care of 25.OOO enlisted men no less than 2,103 officers of all grades are required, which Is at the rate Ofless than ten men to an officer. We are not complaining about 1t, but are sim ply stating the fact. Captious critics
 
 thirty-fOur chaplains: and others might ask why man who IS fit to be a pay master at all, and whose whole duty consists in paying off on an average about 800 officers and men once a month, should need clerk at the cost of Sl, ,JU0 a year to do his work for hIm. It may indeed be questioned whether the service would suffer at all if the office of Paymaster were abolished l and the duty of paying the army trans | ferred to the colOnels of the regiments, 1 or tO the regimental guartermasters. For the Subsistence Department of the | army S2,300,0O0 Is appropriated, and this | IS to feed the 2j,OOO enlisted men, the | laundresses, 1865 civil employees, the | contract surgeons, the hospital matrons, i nIuety-three cOnvlcts and 300 Indian | lAl1DuGIe. 1V db AAAAn W III tOs j96 rations, which are to cost 20 cents | each, besides sundry extra items for | "hot coffee and cooked ratiOns for troops | travelling on cars" aud so on.
 For the Quartermaster's Department, which provides fuel, light, forage, horses, stationery and so on, S3,500.0 Is neces- sary. For incidental expenses, which are very numerous, ranging from postage to horseshoes and from the hire of spies and interpreters to the apprehen- sion of deserters, Sl,000.O00 is given. For transportation of all kinds the large sum of S4,100,0O0 is required. For the hlre of quarters and repairs SSSO, OOO; for clothing and camp equipage, Sl, 10000; for medicine, &c., S200,0O0; for the Army Medical Museum, Sj,OOl, and for the manufacture of arms at national S400,000 is among the other items in this interesting bllL No one grudges the army anything 1t ought Co have, and probably there Is little, if any thing, provided for in thIs bill that 1t ought not to have.