The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1888-06-23
UNCLE SANS ARMY.
Some Light Thrown on a Comparatively
Unknown Subject.

1 Thrown on a Comparatively
| Unknown Subject.
| If there is any ore thing that the av-
! erage American knows next to nothing
about it is the standing army of this
great and glorious Republic of ours.
The other day a recruiting officer sta
toned in Baltimore was here, and had
the pleasure of long conversation
with him, and in talking of army mat
ters naturally drifted into the character
| OF the men who enlist, and the causes
that have led to so many deserters
from the army in the past few years.
Speaking of the nationalities of the
men who enlist, my friend said:
81 find that, as a rule, the foreign
born recruits are better educated men
than the natives. 1t often happens that
German or Austrian, who applies to
me for enlistment, came to this country
in the hope of much better employment
than the military service affords. He
finds when he arrives that the situation
has been painted in hues rather more
rosy than the circumstances warrant.
He Is stranger in strange land. He
is, perhaps, unfamiliar with the lam
guage, and knows nothing of the GUS
toms of the country, and, after spend
ing all the money he may have brought
with him, he finds only the United
States army open to him.
The pay here is better than in Eu-
repe and the service very much shorter;
and, although he may have left his ma
tive country to avoid military service,
he seizes upon it here as means of
support Only this week | enrolled
one man who was familiar with several
languages and who had served with
credit as an officer in the army of
Austria
'Dethese men usually re-enlist when
their first term expires?"
NO, not often. At the end of the
five years they have generally acquired
a thorough knowledge of the English
language, and saved some little money,
and are able to return to their birth
places or to find some other employ
ment. 1t is not often that an educated
foreigner re-enlists after his first term
of enlistment has expired"
"Do the desertions come from this
class of foreign recruits?"
No. On the contrary, they usual
ly are faithful soldiers and retire with
an honorable discharge"
From what class do the desertions
come principally"
Usually they come from a class of
professional deserters, men who enlist
for the purpose of getting out oftrouble
originally and tire of the military
service. When opportunity presents
itself they desert, and after remaining
out a few months again enlist much to
to the detriment of the service"
Have you any method for marking
/ deserter nOw?"
| No, not at the present time. Brand
/ ing was once resorted to, but this
| has been abandoned by order of the
| War Department. 1t was Intellectual,
! because the brand would not be dis
| covered unless the soldier attempted
| to re-enter the service, when an exami-
| nation would at once disclose the
| mark"
"What, in your opinion, would prove
| the most effectual method for prevent
ing desertion?"
I'm report of the Secretary of War
for the present year, one of our Gener-
ais recommends that every man who en-
tiers the United States Service would
be tatooed at some place on his arm
| u. s. In order that there may be no
stigma about this it is suggested that
the tattooing be extended to the officers
as well as to the men. If this was done
l think it would have a good effect,
although there is a good deal of oppo-
sitiOn to the proposal in the army.
Some officers assert that they would
never submit to the so-called degrada-
ton, and they insist that they would
retire from the service before permit
ting the tattoOers to do their work.
But in my opinion, there are very few
officers who who would throw up their
commissions for a thing of this kind,
especially when it would be so general
as to prevent the cry of degradation.
1t would certainly mark every man
who applies for enlistment so well
! that we could tell in moment whether
| he ever served in the army before,
and would absolutely prevent the re-
enlistment of the men who once desert.
If the army could be relieved from the
chronic deserters the number of deser-
tions would materially diminish, and
there would be fewer reports on this
subject to the War Department each
| year. "-I0Led0 BLADE.
How Beauty Fades.