St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-03-02
ARMY AR|ST0CRACY
Exhibits Itself in an Inter-
view With Ordnance Cap
tain Pitman.
Social Amenities That Bar
the Enlisted Man From
Promotion.
Official Pecksniffs Who Do
Not Wish to Associate
With Interiors. II
A Talk That Innocently Illus
trates the Priggishness
of the Army.

the ordnance department at Fort Smell
| ing. the other day. ''It isn't hard for a
| civilian to understand that we have In
| the army social as well as an of1clal
life. In the latter officers of equal rank
rank equally, and no matter whether he
be from the ranks or from West Point
an officer is treated with all the defer
enee and respect due him from his
brother officers. Socially, however, IL
is different. | claim. and believe every
other man in the army claims the priv
lege of beng allowed to select his aSso'
| ciates. You people in civil life under
stand fully that in your everyday Dusl'
ness relations you meet men tG
as matter of business, Dul
whom YOU would never for an in
slant think OF inviting to your houses
of introducing to your wives or daugh-
ters. Now. while army life is. of course,
| totally different FROM civil life. there Is
q similarity of the difficulties to be met
with in a social way In the matter OF
promotion from the ranks, the idea has
been carried by recent articles III tile
daiIv press that such promotions were
regal ded with diSfayOr by West Point
| officers and those who have gained pro-
| motion in other ways. This is not the
| case. The only way of gaining the
| shoulder straps nowadays is by gradua-
| tinn from military college, or bv pro-
motion from the ranks. why, the sons
of some of the best-known ofhcers In
| the American army to-day are priVates'
| and two Young sons or well-klioWli
army officer are serving In that capacity
| -, IL t,,f is
| are well educated and intelll-
gent. They entered the ranks
| for the purpose OF gaining
military education. and eventually pro-
| motion will come to them. 1t is said
| that promotions from the ranks ale few
| and far between. That Is true, but
WHY? It is because the majority OF the
| rank and file are
MEN OF MEAGER EDUCATION,
and while they may be excellent prac-
teal soldiers. they find ii totally beyond
their power to pass the stiff examlna-
tons necessary to secure a commission.
| There are a great many men. however,
i'm the army who study hard to nit
themselves for holding commissions.
These men read hard in their spare
time, do whatever duty is assigned them
without murmuring.. and promotlon
comes to them rapidly. When such
men receive their promotion the course
of study they have gone through has
usually fitted them for better things so
ciaIly as well as officially, and
/ don't believe know man
who wouldn't be willing to take the
new fellow by the hand and wish hiai
luck. Where the trouble arises, how
ever, is in the promotion of men WHO
are eligible as good soldiers for promo
! tjOD. but who socially are Doors, and
| in MANY eases totally unfit to be brought
| in contact with refined society. These
men, when they get promoted. are
! treated with every consideration IN
| their official capacity, but no one invites
| them TO his house; and. as matter or
fact, they are cut bv their brother Of
| ficers out of uniform. This, OF course.
| is not nice experience for any man,
vet can't see anything in the rules OF
the service compelling an officer to in
tr0duce one whom he considers social
inferior into his family. That there is
no aversion to a mans promotion
| from the ranks because he has
been private, however, is east
Iy shown. know of numerous in
| stances where sons of gentlemen and
| privates in the army have dlned with
| their captains in plain clothes. The
reason is, that i'm them the officers rec
| OgpjZed social equals ifOfficial interiors,
| and such men have the sense to see
that no presumption on their intimate
social relations will be permitted In the
relations existing between them on
duty as officer and private. Added to
| the difficulties which surround some OF
the men who have risen from the ranks
are. for married men,: others al
most insurm0untable. For instance,
this mans wife has probably been
A POST wAsHERwOMAN.
| She suddenly finds herself trans
ported from the wash tub to very con-
| Portable quarters ms the wife of an Off
| Ger. Now, it is not to be supposed for a
| moment that the wives and daughters
of the other officers are going to devote
| their attention to making things pleas
| ant for her. It's ten 10 one that If she
attempts social life at all she will spend
| a very miserable time for year or two.
| Ii she be ii sensible woman. however,
| and 0bservant. she will in time acquire
a veneer. social polish, which may
carry her safely through reception or
| other gathering. Still, the promoted
man or woman has in most cases very
hard row to noe. This is state of af-
| fails which. SO far as | see, cannot he
| remedied. Ii all officer proves. i'll the
estimation of his fellows, to be unfit for
association with the ladies' of their set.
the only thing for him TO do IS to appear
not to mind 1t. In time, by force
| of contact. he will become better fitted
to shine socially as we'll as Officially,
and will gradually be recognized. Now,
with RECORD to the sweeping criticisms
of the officers who graduate from West
Point. they are unjust. Or course, there
are black sheep in every flock, but
brutality by all officer in his treatment
| of the men under his command would
be condemned by the great majority of
officers. and repetition of an Otfense
of the kind would be extremely danger
| GUS to the offender. These young men
from West Point are in sense green
when they get into regular army life.
Perhaps they have theory down to a
splinter, but actually they have great
deal to learn. This they soon discover,
and usually they subslde until they have
worn off the college brand. when. in
most cases, they turn out good soldiers
and first-rate officers. A good
| MANY OF THE COMPLAINTS
made of the treatment of men by Off
GERS, are from men who have enlisted in
the army as last resort. without an
idea of the discipline TO which they will
have to submit. Ii sergeant finds one
| of these men with his toes turned in
and bump on his shoulders. he is very
apt to tell him in a manner more or less
brusaue to turn out his toes and brace
up" The man may not be used to be-
ing spoken to in a tone of authority,
and he thinks the officer is a
brute. Often he becomes tired
of the monotony of the life and
deserts, or he lets his temper get the
better of him and is insolent. 1t will
plainly be seen that if such behavior is
| tolerated the effect on the discipline of
the regiment will be disastrous. The
man is punished for characterization,
and thus his grievances against those In
| authority roll up. If there is good stuff
| in him he soon finds out that implicit
| obedience is what he must render his
| superior officer, and ne becomes good
| soldier. If there is not the making of a
| soldier in him he gets more aud more
sullen and surly, and IN many cases
! eventually deserts. The discipline that
| must be maintained in an army is Of a