Omaha daily bee., 1883-05-30

talning money on duplicate pay &C.
counts, (%second oFenss) and was nsn-
fenced to b. dismissed from the
service, Ia consideration Of his ex-
cellent military record, the sentence
was mitigated to suspension from his
rank and from one. half his pay proper
for one year and a reprimand In the
general orders. In the general order
promulgating tho sentence of Ulges
the secretary Of war observed:
THE duplicating of his payaccounts
by an officer puts az peril the interests
both of individuals and tho United
States, the making and assigning Of
he second of the aocounts involving
prima facie a fraud, u falsehood and
an act of dishonor. Ono transaction
of this kind commonly leads to others,
each step fading tho offender more
deeply implicated In disgrace and
wrong, and more incapable of enamel.
patlng himself. He becomes also the
victim of the city Of professional
money lenders, a claes from whose hold
III officer rarely exiricates himself
without a very considerable loss OF his
Npecuniary substance and Of his self.re.
'epect. C.emency in such a oane can
not be expected by any officer after
this warning"
The charge against llgos raj the vi.
~o!ation of the thirteenth article of
war, which reads al follows:
Every officer who signs a false GER
tufiJAte relating to tho sbsence or pay
of an officer or soldier shall be dis.
missed from the service" Any officer
who signs u duplicate pay account 10,
of course, guilty of signing q false
certificate. Great sorrow 10 expressed
by a majority of the army officers In
Washington, on account Of further
disclosures which neem to be impend-
Ing, and many of them say that pub
l,ity appears to be the only oure for
the evil.
"All this trouble m from the
poker.playing habits of q few old Off
GERS, whose example has produced q
terribly demoralizlng effect, not only
In Washington, but throughout the
entire army" said a prominent staff
officer to-day. "When 1t Is known
that poker playing for high stakes Is q
regular practice among officers of high
rank right here, withln The very
shadow of the wor department, off
GERS of lower rank at frontier posts,
! where there Ia little work to be done,
and few or no Legitimate amusements,
social Or otherwise, easily tall under
the temptations of the card table.
The giving of duplicate pay accounts
Is not the only wrong that follows.
Take a young lieutenant, who is de-
tailed az acting assistant c)mmlssary
or qusrtermaster at a military post,
aud who acquires the habit of gamb.
ling. He has In his possession q
few hundred, or several thousand
dollars of public money. He loses
his own money at the poker table
the next thing he does IL to use public
money in the same way, In the vain
hope of retrieving his losses; disgrace
and dishonor follow. In the army,
too, tho influence of example by supe.
rior officers upon their juniors Ia all
potent. You might bring into thii
room a hundred of the best young
officers In the service, men of pure
morals, sober and temperate, young
men whe never played a game Of
cards for money; l venture to say that
not a dozen of them would not gladly
experimentation from me to drink OF
play poker with me, or do almost any,
thing else I might ask"
"The army seems to have struck q
bad lead lately" said another stat
off Ger despondently. He continued
81 am sorry for the exposures which
appear to be inevitable, but l am afraie
they are necessary. This vice o
gambling has become so prevalent ant
deeply rooted aud 1t controls so man!
eff o of high rank H. fluence In tn
army, that heroic measures are neoes
sary to destroy it,"
A minority of officers Ia Washing.
ton are very indignant at the ISLAM
ders upon the army" which the news
papers have '.dared to publish.
These officers, as a rule, are the one
who have personally good reason tt
dread the thorough exposure likely tt
be madeof the practices by which the!
have profted, and which have blastet
the bright prospects of some of tn
mort promising young men in tn
service.