The state herald., 1889-11-22
General sehofleld'. R.gor..


annual report Of General Schoaeld has
been mado public. Itpays special atten.
tion to the deserter question. After speak.
Ing Of the causes leading 10 desertion,
such as tho rowing disposition Of many
men who enlist, and tho irksomeness
Of routine military duties, he says.
"A sufficient remedy may perhaps be
found In the case OF all worthy men who
find, after few months trial, that they
are mistaken In thcir calling, by q more
liberal exercise Of power to discharge
soldiers upon their own application than
has ever heretofore prevailed. Great care
in recruiting to prevent the enlistment Of
men Of bad character and habits may be
found practicable. Measures having these
ends in view have already been instituted.
"Also greater caro- In tho treatment Of
recruits by officers and non commissioned
officers. The records Of dcsertion from
different organizations leave no room for
doubt Of the fact that tho character of the
commanding officer has much to do with
the extent of this evil. In all such cases
tho captain should be promptly removed
from the company which ho seriously neg.
lects.
"After all possible has been done TO re-
move reasonable excuses for dcsertion, at
the same time It is true that the means
now provided for tho arrest and punish
mcnt Of deserters are wholly inadequate.
Only one in Ave is ever captured. This IL
not sufficient to deter men from committing
the crime The remedy is to authorize
civil officers TO arrest desertcrs ard in
crease tho reward 80 ~ TO compensate
them for their servico."
General Schoicld recommends that tho
present five regiment or artillery be organ
lied into seven regiments, the organization
to remain the same except that there be
but one First Lieutenant to battery.
He also recommends that the enlisted
strength Of the army be increased to 10000,
which would supply the force necessary
for the proposed reorganization Of the ar
tillcry and infantry,as well rs giving moro
margin for recruits under nstruction.
He recommends the battalion orraniza-
tion for infantry regiments, suggests
OF Second Lieutenant to Colonel, In cases
OF all officers who are not above the lowest
grade, should be according to seniority Of
commission in the arm OF service to which
the otiiccr belongs, and not as now Ia par
ticular regiments.
He further suggests that hereafter Of
ficcrs be commissioned In the arms of ser
vice to which they belong, and not in par
ticulnr regiments, so that they may bc as.
sign cd to regiments and transferred from
one to another as the interests Of the ser
vice may require.
He recommends that the pay of non com.
missionod officers of infantry, cavalry and
artillery be made the same as that now
established like grades In the engineers.
Referring to the work Of the Board Of
Ordnance and FortiHcatlons, no says:
"Thc plans OF tho En- gineer Department
will provide all the land defcnses neces-
sary for the security Of the great maritime
points Of the country. In n very few cases
these land dcfenscs will need to be supple
mented by floating batteries OF powerful
hsrbor defense vessels, because the ncccs-
sary foundations for guns do not exist ~
solid ground. Submarine mirc. and NOV
able torpcdocs will also p..y IN important,
though secondary, part in tho general
plans for dcfcnsc. Provision should bo
made forE. .C1tccssary garrisons at the
principal .<ofts. Atable Is given show
ing the necessities Of this work. The war
gnrrisons Of our sea coast defenses should
be about 5000 srtil lerymcn and ,ao5 guns
Of modern construction."