Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-11-15
NEEDS OF THE ARMY.
Important Recommendations Of Gen.
Schofield in His Annual Report.

Important Recommendations Of Gen.
SchOfield I'm His Annual Report.
CAUSES OF AND REMEDIES FOR pEsERrIoSs-RE-
ORGANIZATION AND AN INCREASE OF THE ARMY
| RECOMMENDED PROMOTION ACCORDING TO
SENIORITY OF CoaMIssIoN-coAsT DEFENsEs.
The annual report of Major Gen. Schofeld,
commanding the army, to the Secretary of
War was made public today. He pays special
attention to the desertion question. He says:
1.-The causes of discomfort which lead to de-
sertion from the army are numerous. They
have been sought for diligently for years and
| many of them have been removed; some of
them are probably beyond the reach of any
remedy. One Of these is the naturally discon-
tented disposition of the men who are led
by that feeling alone to seek change from
| the monotony of bread winning. in any civil
pursuit, by entering the supposed less arduous
| service of the United States. When such men
md that soldiers, no less than civilians, must
work. their feeling of discomfort returns and
| they resort to the only means by which they
can make another change. These men rarely
| desert when engaged in an active campaign
however great the hardships and priva-
ton or severe the discipline may be.
1t Is the ordinary labor and rou-
tine of military duties which inspire
them with discomfort. These causes Of. deser,
be kept constantly in active military campaign
nor can they be exempted from the monotony
| OF routine duties and labor. The government
cannot employ hired laborers to do the work
| which the troops have time to do for them
| selves. 1t wOuld seem that
SOME KIND OF PROBATIONARY SYSTEM
might be devised by which the unfit element
among recruits could be eliminated without
resort to the crime of desertion. 1t does not
seem necessary that men be required. in time
| of peace, to bind themselves absolutely to serve
five years. sufficient remedy may, per-
haps; be found in the case of all
| trial. that they have mistaken their
! calling, by a more liberal exercise Of the power
/ to discharge soldiers upon their own applica-
ton than has ever heretofore prevailed. Great
| care IN the recruiting service to prevent the
enlistment OF men of bad character and habits
may be found practicable. Measures having
this IN view have already been instituted. Also
GREATER CARE IN THE TREATMENT OF RECRUITS
by officers and non-commissioned officers. The
records Of desertion from different organiza-
tions leave no room for doubt of the fact that
the character of the commanding officer has
much to do with the extent of this evil. In
| some few instances it appears that captains are
| in the habit Of leaving the care and discipline
| OF their men to the first sergeant and other
| non-cOmmlssioned officers without that constant
supervision and control which the captain
should exercise. In all such cases the cap
| tain should be promptly removed from the
command which he SO seriously neglects.
After all possible has been done to remove
| reasonable excuses for dese-tiOn it still re-
| mains true that the means now provided for
| the arrest and punishment of deserters are
| wholly inadequate. Only one in five Is ever
captured. This is not sufficient to deter men
from committing crime. The remedy is to au-
thoriZe civil officers to arrest deserters and IN
crease the reward so as to compensate them for
| their service. There is no need to increase the
penalty for desertion. but to make some pen
atty ut least probable, which it is not now"
| INCREASE AND REORGANIZATION OF THE ARMY.
Gen. Schofield recommends that the present
five regiments OF artillery be organized into
seven regiments, the organization to remain
the same, except that there shall be but one LIST
lieutenant to a battery.
| He also recommends that the enlisted strength
| of the army be increased to 80, 900, which would
supply the force necessary for the proposed
| organization of the artillery and the infantry,
| as well as giving more margin for recruits under
| instruction. He wants the infantry regiment
| to consist of three battalons aggregating IL
| companies. in the cavalry.
| PROMOTIONS.
He suggests that hereafter promotions from
the grade OF second lieutenants to that of
colonel, in the cases Of all officers who are not
| according to seniority of commission in the arm
of the service to which the officer belongs. and
not, as now in part, by regiments. He further
/ suggests that hereafter officers be Commissioned
| i'll the arm OF the service to which they belong,
| and not in particular regiments, SO that they
\ may be assigned to regiments and transferred
| from one to another by the President the
interests of the service may require.
He recommends that the pay of non-com-
| miSsioned officers OF infantry, cavalry and
| artiley be made the same that now estab-
| lished for like grades III the engineers.
COAST DEFENsEs.
| Referring to the work of the board Of ord
nance and fertilization he says: "The plans Of
the engineer department will provide all the
land defenses necessary for the security of the
great maritime ports Of the country. In very
cases these land defenses will need to be sup
! plemented by floating batteries powerful
/ harbor-defense vessels, because the necessary
| foundations for guns do not exist on solid
| ground. Submarine mines and movable tor
pedCes will also play an important, though
| secondary, part i'll the general plans for de-
| Tense"
Provision should be made for the necessary
| garrisons at the principal seaports. A table is
| given showing the necessities OF this work. The
war garrisons of our seacoast defenses would be
about $4,000 artillery men and l ,305 guns of
| modern construction.
| 1t is now practicable to station n small part
| of the infantry of the country at some Of the
most important strategetic points in the eastern
states, says the general, and he recommends
| the establishment of one regiment at Platts-
burgh. NY, and asks for an appropriation for
| barracks.