The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-11-01
THE WAYS OF D%ESERTERS.
TT,s AS EAsr TO LEAVE ARMY Or
NlyY As TO JOIN 1T.

Ciotbes On Iiis Back, but the Mnn-of-
Wars Man Packs Up nnd Gets Dat
Usually Nobody Wishes Thew 20 2oturn.
WARRINGTON. Oct. 2e.-Dessrtions from the
United States army and navy are gradually
decreasing In number from year to year.. but
the percentages OF deserters from both services
are still higher than the PERCENTAGES for the
land and sea forces OF any Of the European
countries. Tho stntisticians of the War and Navy
departments. In their annual reports. often con-
fess their inability to account for this. The
enlisted men In the United States army and
navy, they say. are better housed, better fed,
better clothed, and better treated than those OF
any other country In the world, and, In view
of all these facts, they frankly W to their
mystihcntion over the large regular annual
tnhulation of figures on assertions which thoy
are obliged to compile. Singularly enough. In
comparing these figures with those Published
by the War oflces Of European countries on tho
sAme subject, these statlsticians have Invariably
failed to devote any consideration to two essen
tial points which they might advantsReously
uao in drawing such comparisons: F1ret, the
fact that the United States is not a military ma
ton in times of poace. SO that the foulness Of
the act OF desertlon. which In some European
countries 10 regarded by the people In general
"a a worse offence than the commission OF .
serious civil crime. is not thoroughly understood
or appreciated by tho young mon who enlist In
American services; and. second. the olemenov
with which deserters are treated In this
country 40 compared with tho heavy
penalties visited upon mon who desert from
the military services Of lands across tho sea.
In neither army nor navy 10 there SO much
zeal displayed nowadays in the capture and
punishment OF deserters as WAS formerlv the
rule. Tho War Department has strongly limited
during recent years that 1t does not care q
particle for the apprehension OF deserters, for
the capture and punishment of men who had
run away from the United States army was. uutil
. comparatively short time ago. burdensome and
expensive in the extreme. This work involved
the maintenance of two large military prisons
for general military convicts. chiefly deserters,
and It eventually became exceedingly costly.
Until five years ago. any policeman. special
officer. or civilian who captured u deserter from
the army got $50 blood money upon turning his
man over to the military authorities. AS a re-
suit of this system, there arose In the immediate
vicinity of largo military posts q class of
men. known in the army vernacular as
hounds" clothed with the rights Of special
ing ,deserters for the sake of the. $50 re-
ward. These men very rarely failed to
gather in their prey, even II they often sue
ceeded in doing 80 only at the price of broken
heads or worse injuries. Those that took VI
tntlT Slnuu uenT pOStS mere uescTtlOns were UNI
usually common. On account of the undesirable
ity OF the soldering. made alot OF money in this
They gained not only the hatred OF
the enlisted men. but of the officers MS well, for
upon every deeerter brought In u general conrt
martial had 10 be- held. and rhe men with the
shoulder straps, who are almost n unit in de-
bptsing general conrt-martial duty. found that
they were compelled to be almost constantly ar
rayed III their full-iress clothes az members of
courts, and were loaded down with work be-
Tor the disposition of u deserter's case by
q general court martial involves a tremendous
n nIN nf Hl.rirnl IN fInr Tho rrih NO n r Rams
OF official paper ly unfortunate Judge Advo-
Gates, jaa nE duty AS counsel for the prisoner by
and other and manifold bedevllments
iuciGcui 10 the service" Moreover, the mil
traz Island, nlled to OVERCOMING with appre-
hrnded deserters, imposed a great burden on the
budget. and required an amount of
Zuard .ng which threatened in time to demand
he Services OF the entire army.
IL WAS with these considerations In mind that
he War Department reduced the blood money
Tor the capture OF deserters to $40. This re-
caused an immediate corresponding re-
in the number Of hounds. and now
there Is none of them. Their occupation was
taken from them. They soon disco, cred that,
atier paying their own and their prisoners ex-
the $40 reward, there WAS no profit in the game
t-fndeed. during a short experimental period,
b1endoned the business. and resumed their for
III wo:k of driving drays aud street cars. 1t
not long after the establishment OF the $40
rnub ed TO put into effect its cherished scheme
Dt ahand on!nR Fort L~eavenworth military pris-
Oh. which was turned over to the civil authori.
Lies for use as u Federal prison. On account of
.be great decrease in the number of apprehended
ics-rters. the military prison Mt Aicatraz Island
became a comparatively easy institut. on to
manage, and general courts martial rapidly de-
IN nun Der.
kas made hardly any effortto capture deserters.
the lrineiple IN the navy IL thnt men who
not worth looking for. 1t is a princi-
that In some Cases is in error. but such cases
the commanding officer Of a war ship for the
of a lrserter. but this reward Is seldom
In home ports. In ports on foreign
In The world, even In China and Japan, the
special officers ashore know VI the reward paid
for deserters. and they are indefatige BILE ia
their efforts TO Law hold Of escaping blnejnckets
aud marines. AS in the army a man may be
absent from his post for ten day. before he Is
and the sea soldier must have ten days leeway
before the capital D ia written. after Their
names on tie ships muster rolls. 1t very often
hargens. however. when Il lnan-of-war Is short
hu ndt,i in a foreign port. Gy reason of transfers
will offer the rev ard of SlU for the return Of
men WHO are mercy overstaying their shore
leave. fydo!ng this the commanding officer ias
no intention OF indicating that h. reGa DIS the
del:nqGenis as particularly desirable men. but lie
REQUIRES binejackets to work the ship and ma
The commanding officer hardly ever falls in
snci' cases 70 get them. In d.sertinG on a for
aware OF Tie, danger of remaining In the
port OF the harbor in which his ship lies,
aud he starts out with the determination
of Immediately striking out M country. for his
only safety from capture lies in the inte-
rior. Almost Invariably. however. he accumu-
lates n load of saki or mescal or some other
barbarous compound OF the country he happens
to. be in. and he doesn't get far before lie Is
taken. To n gendRrme at Barcelona. for In
Atance. $40 In American gold is a considerable
sum, as IL is alSo 10 the poorly paid chaps
who police n majority OF foreign ports, and for
carrying n drunken sailorman or sea
soldier oil To the gang Aay of a nan-of-war In n
enore boat IL II money easily earned. That Is 50
II the victim is drunk enough to be helpless.
it occasionally happens that the
ports whole constabulary has TO be brought
into action to get Il determined fighting man
aboard.
A very large majority ofthe men who are now
serving time for desertion at the army garrison
prisons and at the naval prisons at Boston ana
Mare Island, Cal, voluntarily surrendered
themselves. Deserters get hungry, as do other
persons. and also cold. When they are suffering
from a combination of the two ills, and are
friendless and unable 10 get work. they are ex-
ceedingiy apt to draw com in their
minds between their present wofnl condition
and the comparative comfort aud cheer even of
military Prisons. and thus gradually workthem-
selyes No to the point o surrenderlng; They are
not taken by the hand and greeted enthuHi-
a~sticslly when they do this. Deserters from the
navy generally give themselves up on
"guardos," or receiving ships. They are re-