Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-02-14
KIPLING ON MORMONS.
The Caustic Critic and the Followers
of Joseph Smith.
A BEAUTIFUL LITTLE ARM Y
A Dissertation on the United States Protecting
Forces and Their Possibilities of Extension
On the Road to Salt Lake-The City Of the
Saints ~ Seen by Kipling.
Written for The Evening Star.

Written for The Evening Star. iCopSrknteo-
1T HAS JUST OCCURRED TO ME WITH
Il great force that delightful as these letter.
NAV be to myself-on the same principle that
made the commercial traveller frolc lonely
among his samples-their length and breadth
and depth may be Just the least little bit in the
world wearisome to you over there. VIII
compress myself vigorously, though should
very much like to deliver dissertation on the
American army and the possibilities OF Its ex'
tension. You see it is such q beautiful little
army and the dear people don't quite under
stand what 10 do with it. The theory is that II
is an Institutional nucleus, round which the
militia Of the country will rally and from which
they viii get stiffsning in time OF danger.
Yet other people consider that the army should
be built like pair of lazy tongs--on the prin-
ciple of elasticity and extension-so that In time
of need ii may fill up its skeleton battalions and
empty saddle troops. This is real wisdom, be-
tuted Is made up OF:
twenty-five regiments infantry, ten com
panies each
Ten regiments cavalry, twelve companies
each.
Five regiments artillery, twelve companie.
each.
Now there il q notion in the air to reorganize
the service on these lines:
Eighteen regiments of infantry at four bat
talions, four companies each; third battalion,
skeleton; fourth on paper
Eight regiments cavalry at four battalions,
four troops each; third battalion, skeleton;
Five regiments artillery at four battalions,
four companies each; third battalion, skeletons
fourth on paper.
Observe the beauty Of this business. The
third battalion will have its officers but no men;
the fourth will probably have rendezvous and
some equipment 1t is not contemplated to
give it anything more definite at present As
Stunning the regiments to be made up to full
complement We get an army OF $4,000 men,
which, after the need passes away, must be cut
down 50 per cent. to the huge delight Of the
officers And the military needs of the states
be three: (a) Frontier warfare, an employ
ment well within the grip of the present army
Of p. 900 and in the nature Of things growing
less arduous year by year; o. internal riots
and connections, which rise up like dust
devil. whirl furiously and die out long before
the authorities at Washington could begin to
fill up even the third skeleton battalions, much
less hunt about for material for the fourth; (c)
civil war. in which. as the case in the affair of
the north and south, the regular army would
be swamped in the mass Of militia and armed
volunteers that would turn the land into a hell
Yet the authorities persist in regarding an ex-
ternal war q thing to be seriously consid-
cred, and the power that would disembark
troops ON American soil would be capable of
heaying a shovelful of mud into the Atlantic in
the hope of filling it up. Consequently the au-
thorities are fascinated with the idea of the
sliding scale or concertina army. This is an
hereditary instinct, for you know that when we
English have got together two companies, one
machine gun, a sick bullock, forty generals and
u mass of w.o. forms we say we possess ian
army corps capable of indefinite extension
BEAUTIFUL LITTLE ARMY.
The American army is a beautiful little army.
Some dag, when all the Indians are happily
dead or drunk, it ought to make the finest
scientific and survey corps that the world has
ever seen; it does excellent work now but
there il this defect in its nature: 1t is Offered
rs you know. from West Point, but the mischief
Of il is that West Point seems TO be created for
the purpose of spreading a general knowledge
of military matters among the people. boy
goes up to that institution. gets his pass and
returns to civil life, 50 they tell me, with dan
gerous knowledge that he is a sucking Won
Moltke and may apply his Learning when occasion
offers Given trouble. that man will be a nui-
saace, because he ID a hideously versatile Amer
lean to begin with. as cock sure of himself as n
man can be and with all the racial disregard for
hum N life to back him through any demi-semi-
professional generalship. In a country where,
as the records of the daily papers show, men
engaged in q conflict with police or jails are all
too ready to adopt a military formation and get
heavily shot In a sort of cheap, half instructed
warfare instead of being decently scared by the
appearance Of the military, this sort of arrange
ment does not seem wise. The bond between the
states is Of an amazing tenuity. So long as they
do not absolutely march into the District Of
Columbia, sit on the Washington statues and
invent flag of their own they can legislate
lynch, hunt negroes through swamps. divorce
railroad and rampage as much ever they
choose. They do not need knowledge of their
own military strength to back their genial law
lessness. That regular army, which is a dear
little army, should be kept to itself. blooded on
detachment duty, turned into the paths Of
science and now and again assembled at feasts
of Free Masons and 50 forth. It's too tiny to
be political power. The immortal wreck of
the Grand Army OF the Republic is a political
power Of the largest and most unblushng de-
scription- 1t ought not to help to lay the
foundation of an amateur military power that
. blind and irresponsible.
Be thankful that the balance of the lecture is
suppressed and with il the account of a
'-shiveree'' which / attended in Livingstone
City. The story of the editor and the sub
editor (and the latter was a pet cougar or
mountain hon), who used, they said, skillfully
to subedit disputants in the Office Of the Liy-
ingssons daily paper.
on THE ROAD.
Omitting . thousand matters of first import
ance let me pick up the thread of things in a
narrow gorge line that took me down to Salt
Lake. The run between Delhi and Abmedabad
on . May day would have been bliss compared
~ this torture. There was nothing but glare
and desert and alksh dust There was no
smoking accommodation. I sat in the lava
tory with the conductor and a gold prospector
who told stories about Indian atrocities in the
voice Of q dreaming child; oath following oath
o. smoothly as clotted cream laps the mouth
of the jug. i don't think he knew he was say
ing anything sulphurous, but nine or ten of
those oaths were new TO me, and one even made
the conductor raise his eyebrows.
And when q man alone mostly, leadin' his
horse across the hills, he gets to talk aloud to
himself as il was, said the weather-worn re-
taller OF tortures- A vision rose before me of
this man trsmping the hammock city trail un-
der the stars, swearing and always swearing
Bundles Of rags that were pointed out as red
Indians boarded the train from time to time
Their race privileges allow them free transit on
the platforms Of the cars They mustn't come
inside, Of course, and equally. Of course, the
train never thinks Of pulling up for them.
saw . squaw take Us dying and leaving US in
the same manner when We were spinning round
curve. Like the Punjabi, the red Indian gets
out by preference on the trsckless plain and
walks stolidly to the horizon He never says
where he u going.
SALT LAKE CITY.
en- seriously concerned for the sake Of Mr.
Phil Robinson's soul You will remember that
he wrote q book called Saints and Sinners " in
which he proved very prettily that the Mormon
was almost altogether estimable person.
Ever since my arrival at Salt Lake have been
wondering what made him write that book. On