Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-03-20
THE CAUSES OF DEsERTION.
What Chances There Are for Promo
ton From the Ranks.

To the Editor OF THE EVENING STAR:
In The STAR Of Tuesday evening appeared a
communication on the desertion question,
signed 81. Me-" which is so full of misin-
formation and ignorance as to call for some
notice.
III. E." says: I'm France or Germany,
where the soldier is respected, every man car
ries the marshars baton in his haversack."
This is measurably true, / believe, in the
French army, but in Germany a promotion
from the ranks in one sense of the term is prac-
tically unknown. There is in the German army
class known az "one-year volunteers who
are educated men and many Of them Of high
social position, who voluntarily enter the army
and are permitted to serve one year instead Of
three, that time being deemed sufficient by rea-
son OF their superior intelligence. Many off,
GERS OF the German army come from this class,
passing the requisite examination-no slight
matter. by the way-but they are in no sense Of
the word promotions from the ranks
H.M.E. says that the present bad state Of
things will continue las long as the influence
OF West Point and Annapolis prevents the
private soldier from aspiring to command and
the sailor from hoping to crawl through the
haWse hole into the cabin" Let us see how
far in our army West Point influence crushes
the aspiring private. If your correspondent
will take the Army Register" for 1889 he
(colonels, lieutenant colonies and majors) Of
infantry there are but twenty graduates Of
West Point; of the two hundred and fifty cap
tains OF infantry fourteen only are West
Pointers. ffty-one have risen from the ranks
and one hundred and eighty-fve are civilian
appointments or came in from the volunteers
during or after the war. Among the five hun
dred and fifty iieutenants the West Pointers are
in the majority, but here we find ifty-nine
men who have
RISEN FROM THE RANKS,
pretty good showing for peace times, Let
H.ME. turn to the list Of cavalry regiments
and he will find among the fifty field officers
eleven West Pointers and twelve promotions
from the ranks, and that Of the one hundred
and twenty captains there are forty-fve West
Pointers, eleven from the ranks and sixty from
civilian appointments and ex-volunteers. The
heutenants of cavalry are, for the most part
military academy men, but here we find seven
names Of ex-enlisted men. In this list / include
as from the ranks only those who have risen
from among the enlisted men Of the regular
army; were those who rose from the volunteer
file counted the number of such promotions
would be enormously increased. think this
list pretty fairly disposes of II. NJ E. statement
that the enlisted man has no chance to aspire
to command, and also of his slur at West Point
influence, when the proportion Of West Point
ers in the service is observed.
THE CAUSES OF pEsERrIoN
are to be found deeper down-in the unmilitary,
unwarlike character of the American people,
in their hatred Of all discipline and restraint,
in the small apparent need of an army owing
to the absence of powerful neighboring nations,
and in the great opportunities for advance
ment which this country offers to even the un-
skilled and Ill-instructed.
There is too much ignorant and vicious mis-
representation and abuse of the army among u.s.
would add that am not and have never been
in the army, probably differing in this from H.
under discussion. FDH