The Houma courier. (Houma, La.) 1878-1939, 1897-12-18
10 wEAR UNIFORMS.
The Passing Of Our Public Men from
Citizens to Soldiers.


Citizens t. Soldiers.
The recent ruling of the attor.
n~ey-general regarding the weafing
of the uniform as well as the
title of the highest grade which
they reached in the volunteer service
opens up vast possibilities for a large
number of our public men. Our rep
resentatives at foreign courts have in
times past had to satisfy themselves
with the plain garb of the citizen while
many of the representatives of other
nations at the same court have dazzled
the world with the brilliance of their
uniforms. But now for many of our
representatives abroad these days are
past and they can shine with the dipIo-
matte representatives of other nations.
Many of our representatives abroad
were general officers in our late war,
and these will now be permitted to APP
pear upon occasions of ceremony in all
the gold lace their rank entities them
to.
/ belive that u public men who are
entitled to wear a military or naval
uniform should be encouraged to do so.
Foreigners have been in the habit of
CHASING we Americans as q nation of
farmers and shopkeepers, and the APP
pearance of American military uni.
forms in foreign courts will do much
to correct this impression. There is
only point that might cause
trouble, and to prevent this we will
have to. rely upon the good sense of our
public Enen. 1t might be unpleasant
for an American minister who was not
entitled to the privilege of wearing q
uniform to have as a secretary of lega-
ton a man who had seen service in the
American army or navy, and so entitled
to appear in the uniform. of his rank.
AS l said, to remedy this we shall have
to depend upon the good sense of such
a secretary should he be put in this
position to pass over his inclinations
to blossom forth in all the bfilliance
of a uniformtand so outshine his SUI
periors in the service which he repre-
sents. A man holding an under posi-
ton who would insist on doing such a
thing, no matter what his previous serv-
ice had been, should be a good subject.
for dismissal.
/ can think of no more pleasing sight
than to see on the occasion of some
great public occasion our dignifed SEN
ators and cabinet officers attired in the
uniforms to which they are entitled.
Such a scene would be a wholesome les,
son to some of the representatives OF
foreign nations in Washington. It
would also be a lesson in patriotism to
our own people.
The first person to avail himself OF
the privilege thus bestowed will be
Brig. Gen. Woodford, who will wear thu
uniform of his rank when officially pre-
sented to the queen regent of Spain.
| can think of no place where the wear
ing of an American uniform would be
appropriate than at the Spanish
court, and trust that Gen. Woodford
may find many occasions of ceremony
awaiting him at his new post. The
new secretary of the United States lega-
ton at Madrid is Maj. Sickles, OF the
New York national guard, and he will
also avail himself of the opportunity
offered and wear the uniform Of his
rank on this occasion, although the
opinion of the encouragement does
not affect the officers of the national
guard.-Washington Correspondence,
Military Gazette, Chicago.