Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1893-07-22
"r said forever, and meant It. The

country. lou pTooduiy w hoI TcutiIu
what q 'one company post is. Well, 1t
means that there are only three Off
GERS there, and they are their own
sole entertainers. Could you imagine
anything more likely to drive men
to suicide or madness, than to COM
pei three men to live together with
out other associates year in and year
out? There is nothing new under the
sun. There are no new stories, no new
anecdotes of personal adventure, no
new deeds of daring done by either of
the three. Our individual histories are
infinitely known by each other, inside
of two months. Then there is nothing
to say but good morning or good
EVENING" for there is nothing to talk
about. lam here in Washington for
three weeks ON detached duty, and you
may well believe that am happy while
this duty lasts. But when think Of
returning to that post understand
something Of the feelings which per-
meate the minds of the unfortunate
fellows who desert. by the way, you
have undoubtedly read of great num-
Der of assertions from the ranks of the
army. And you have heard the cause
of such assertions attributed, of
course, to the cruelty of army officers.
That is not true. The men desert be-
cause they cannot endure the solitary
life which they lead. There is nothing
of highly patriotic character to hold
the men. There is no war, no pros
pect of war, not even IN indication OF
Indian troubles, and the common
soldiers reason and argue to themselves
that it is no disgrace to desert.
'Of course, you know that the COM
mon soldiers in time of peace are not
the best educated men in the land. and
they reason in a small intellectual cir
Gle, reaching conclusions which you
and know TO be wrong. They con-
clude that there is nothing in the army
for them. no prospect of promotion. no
likelihood of actual field service: they
conclude that, if they had known be
forehand what soldering is, they
would not have enlisted: next, they
reach the conclusion that it is no harm
and no disgrace to desert in time OF
peace, and away they go. OF course,
If we ever catch them, which is seldom,
they are severely punished; but / al
ways feel sorry for them, even when
sitting on court-martial and condemn
ing them
"'IIow about the morals of the mem"
"They soon reach the point where
they have no moral sense at all. There
is a great deal of drinking done. both
by officers and men. In fact, you will
rarely see an officer of the army on
frontier post who docs not bear upon
his countenancc the marks of more or
less deep dissipation. 1t is unfortunate,
but it is true. l know that the same
condition prevails aboard ship, where
the officers and common sailors have as
monotonons time as we have ut the
post, save that they occasionally run
into port and get liberty togo ashore.
When men are confined, without So
ciety of interest. they unfortunately
fall into the habit of drinking, and
that usually leads to habitual drinking.
The private soldiers, and the common
sailors. are saved by their poverty.
They cannot afford to drink Us much
us they would like to. But they are
intensely profane. and obscenity in
creases with their terms OF service.
They become a very common, low set
of creatures. kept in place and under
by rigid discipline and the
consciousness of the power of the gov
eminent over them"
These are hard things to say of our
soldiers"
Every true, they are hard things to
say of them; and they must seem espe-
cially harsh to you. coming rs they do
from an officer of the army, concern
ing his own men. But am telling you
the truth as seen from the standpoint
of one on the inside. am not malign-
ing my men, nor traducing the soldiers
of other regiments. but answering your
questions candidly. want to add that
if there was any prospect of war with
any foreign country, these same sol
diers would stand by their eolors and
fight as long as they had any blood OF
breath in them. They are demoralized
by the monotony of camp life. 1t
would cost the general government
some money for transportation, but it
would improve the army, if there were
annual reunions of regiments, or of
battalions. Moreover, after such re-
unions, when the companies are re-
turned to their posts, they should be
changed. Furthermore, and this is
serious matter, the army is sadly handi-
capped and demoralized by favoritisrn
in Washington. There are colonies
here, on detached duty at the war de-
partment, who have not been with
their regiments for long time. I
could name some majors and captains
who have never seen their companies