The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1884-10-30
DISCIPLINE IN THE ARMY.


men and 10 convicts, making total of $3.50.
The number of trials by general courts martial
has been increasing from year to year for the
last five years, and the chances for improve
mcnt in this respect are not regarded as favor
able
The reforms that the Judge Advocate General
recommends are that the term of enlistment
should be reduced TO three years, with strong
inducements for pay upon re-enlistment.
Troops should be paid every month instead of
every two months, as now, and half their pay
retained until the end of the enlistment, with
the interest paid as now upon deposits. A
greater effort should be made to capture desert
ers, and when captured the term of their I'M
prisonment should not be less than the unful
filled period of their enlistment. The nom
commissioned officers should receive better pay
than they do at present, and soldiers should be
relieved from the drudgery of common labor as
far possible, roads being made, barracks
built and other things done by ordinary labor
ers employed specially for that purpose.
We do not think that the Judge Advocate
Generals recommendations go to the root of
the matter yet. The change to make our
Regular Army what it ought to be for the army
of this great people must be still more radical
than anything that he has suggested. The
truth must be told that the dominating spirit
that controls the organization of our Army is
far behind that of any other civilized people,
For example, in any European army it is
easier for enlisted men to become commissioned
officers than it is in ours. In spite of our pro-
fessions of democracy and equality, the gap
between the men in the ranks and the men
who carry swords is really greater in America
than it is in the aristocratic countries of
Europe.
The way our Army should be reformed is
this: We have %, 900 men in the Army. There
at least $4,000 young men in the United
States who are ambitious of a military career
and who would enter the Army if they saw as
much chance of rising in it as they do by
entering merchandising, or the professions, or
trades or any Of the other vocatons of life.
The pay of the private soldier, it is true is
more than the pay of a young clerk or an ap-
prentice, but the absolute impossiblity of
rising beyond a Sergeant deters any young
man of spirit and capacity from enlsting and
takes away all incentive to remain by the flag
after he has enlisted. Even if he does get into
the Army he sees himself not keeping pace in
promotion with his comrades who are in other
walks of life
The plan adopted by the German Army and
found 10 work admirably, should be made the
basis for the management of ours. 1t is this:
Out of the MEN gathered into the German Army
there are certain number of the best and
brightest and most capable selected every year
for Corporals. From these Corporas are Sc
iected the Sergeants, who receive relatively
higher pay than the Sergeants in our Army do,
and who are really the commanders of the
Army, as they enforce discipline, drill the men,
and do all of the detail of really managing
the Army. From these Sergeants every year
are selected, by competitive examination and
otherwise, a certain number of the brightest
and most capable, who are sent to the military
schools for instruction in the theory of war.
From these are drawn the commissioned otfi-
GERS of the artillery and engineers. The aris-
tocracy of the country still retains the privi-
lege OF offering the cavalry.
young men. and say to them, ain time a GER
tain number Of you shall be promoted to Cor
porals, and out of those certain number shall
be again promoted to Sergeants, and certain
number of the best Of those Sergeants shall be
selected every year TO be sent to West Point
for thorough instruction in all that pertains to
the theory Of war and the art of making it on
a grand scale" In this way it would be as it
is in France. There, it is said, that every
French soldier carries marshars baton in his
knapsack. We would say that every American
soldier carries a Major Generals stars in his
vest pocket. In this way we would have our
Regular Army made up Of %, 900 young men of
profession. 1t would be great military school.
Many of the young men after serving their
term would return to private life and be
corps upon which TO draw for instructors for
our volunteers in a case Of emergency, and SUBJ
stantially every man in the Regular Army
would be fitted TO become an instructor and
officer of volunteers. Should war arise and
we were required to raise, say thousand regi-
ments, we would simply dissolve the Regular
Army and assign its members to volunteer regi-
ments, where they would speedily leaven the
whole mass of green, uninstructed men with the
spirit and discipline they had spent years in
| curing 1t would give proportion of % in each
regiment Of 1000 men, which would be suf1i-
cicnt to speedily infuse into the mass its de-
sired military training and spirit. Then, too,
the Army would be what it should be,--but
| what it is not now-thoroughly representative
| of our people and the spirit of their institu-
lions.
FILLING VACANCIES.
To THE EDITOR: know of no paper that 80
thoroughly represents the ex-soldiers of this
try THE NATIONAL TRIBUNE. Now, wish your
advice on the following: The Junior Vice-Com-