Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-03-17

| Il
/ .tan EA EN(NNN United States flag
| iiHSl wv MN Half the time thu
| VA, HllN flag is neither al
| ~ "" large nor as bright
looking as the hundreds of other stars ane
stripes that fly along the avenue. but IL IL
| the only strictly official standard anoat OF
| the thoroughfare between the Capltoi ahe
the treasury. 1t marks the United States
| recruiting office. AT the door below usually
| stands a trim looking soldier in natty uni
form, the chief duty of whose immaculateiS
gloved hands is to point upward, directing
the military aspirant to the rooms above
where a veteran captain of infantry and
! his corps of assistants conduct the crucial
tests prescribed AS sort of background &c
the picturesque soldier who stands usually
at the street door of all recruiting offices
| hang snowy posters, with well-eXecutec
colored pictures of groups of cavalrymen
artillerymen and infantrymen in full dress
uniform, above which is the orthodox
American eagle in brightest plumage. whose
extended wings blend with the red and blue
lettering head of the poster:
| UNITED STATES ARMY
| RECRUITING SERVICE.
FOR THE uM MnffHP STATES ARMY
ABLE-BODIED MEN
| OF GOOD CHARACTER"
Time was, and not very long ago, when
| almost any able-bodied man could enlist
| in the United States army without for
mality or trouble, and to a large extent
the ranks of the federal military Were
| filed with men who, either through ad-
venture or force of desperate circumstances
| sought living in the army. There were
/ of course, good men enlisted then, as now,
yet as a class the bulk of the older army
would fail to pass the crucial tests of the
| recruiting officer OF today. Time was, with
! in the past dozen years, when, without re-
! gard to nationality, education or anything
| else, save known political disqualified lions
any ignorant or adventurous born citizen or
any foreign non-EngliSh speaking resident
] of the United States, could don the army
! blue and wear it for all it was worth, hut
not SO now. The federal authorities have
! for long time past formed most watch
| full and effacacious methods for improving
the personal welfare of the private soldier.
| that have made the army of the United
| States the equal in efficiency, as well as
the superior. in point of individual COM
| fort and advancement, to any other on
| earth.
Superior Men Sought for.
There are, of course, many officers who
openly avow a preference for the old sys-
tenn and its consequent conditions upon the
Chinese theory, doubtless, that no good
man can become good soldier claiming
tlidl ulSclpllIle, Crlll ana experience can
make the best soldier of the poorest Chris
tian. However that may be, the time has
come when the United States government
offers within the ranks of it's standing
army an honorable and profitable career
to the better class of young men of the
country, and no effort will be spared from
now on to attract into the military service
decent, respectable, and self-advancng
citizens who may resort to the army as a
vocation or as an avenue to other goals.
Not even France, in her proud boast that
to every man in the ranks of the French
army was held out the promise Of a field
marShafs baton, could offer greater in
ducements to the young military aspirant
than does our government today, any one
of whose soldiers may become commander
of the army.
Indeed, one of the best assurances of the
improved conditions of the enlisted men
may be found in the fact that many sons
relatives and friends of army officers are
constantly enlisting as private soldiers, end
every year there are ten or more meri-
torious men Promoted from the ranks and
commissioned officers.
or course, as is well known, after an
officer is commissioned nothing save his
own death or retirement on account OF
age or disability, can prevent his advance
ment in the natural order of promotion
tc the higher grades OF the army, as moth
ing short of personal misbehavior or in
efhclency can prevent any enlisted soldier
from competing for commission. The
old law provided only for the promotion
from the ranks of meritorious non-com-
miSsioned officers" and left the pre-
liminary selection of meritorious candidates
to the preference or favoritism of company
commanders, but that has been revoked
fhe new law of 1892 provides that AL
unmarried soldiers under thirty years of
age. who are citizens of the United States
who are physically sound and who have
served not less than two years in the army
ana who have borne good moral char
no ND ,Iset,~
compete for promotion"
Promotion Open to All.
In other words, any and every respect
able, educated, perseve-ing and weil-be-
haved young man who enIists in the United
States army may, after two years service
compete for an officers commission Per-
sonal favoritism is not involved. The aspir-
ant has only to meet the conditions pre-
scrlbed, and pass sufficiently high to be
one oil the number selected. There are in
the ranks OF the army today sons of gem
erals colonels and other officers, as well
as OF prosperlnS citizens, and The purpose
is, as il should be, to dispel The odlIim which
justly or unJustly attached in former years
TO the so-called common soldier" by max
ing him much a possibility 10 Wear
shoulder straps as any entering cadet at
the West Point Military Academy. In fact.
Ii may not be generally known that the
law has all along provided chat in fIllins
vacancies in the grade of second licutcn-
ants precedence should be :;iven to those
meritorious candidates from The ranks WHO
satisfactorily passed prescribed examina-
tons; the remaining vacancies were then
filled by the commissioning Of graduates OF
West Point, and afterward by the appoint
ment OF civilians. But nowadays the fact
must be recognized that the only sure WAY
to enter the regular army is through West
Point or the ranks of the army itself. Civ
iiians have little show. The, vacancies are
only computed from July / 20 June 20 an
nually. and after the commissioning Of
West Point graduates and meri; orous en-
| listed candidates few if any vacancies re-
main. 1t happens, however, that at pre- s.
ent there are a few such vacancies to which
| civilians could be appointed 5ut Fl esi6ent
| Cleveland is understood to nave declared he
would make no civilian appointments
| The statistics of the recruiting serl ice
| would indicate that young men are begin
| ming to realize the advantages Of enlistment
| in the army, inasmuch several Times of
late enlistments have been s;sspen I'D, md
| last year two and half times more men
| applied for enlistment than there were va
| cances for. Or, to be more eXpiiUit, an at
| the same time show the increa :"d standard
| of the recruiting service, it :lay lie stated
| that last year at the recruiting offices alone
| 19,0S3 applicants for enlistment were re-
| jected out of total number Of 26. as, al
| per cent having been found below the re-
! quirei standard. Recently, when only cigh-
! zoo men were rejected of the LOO that
| applied. and today only about 800 vacancies
| in the army remain.