The times., 1898-05-22
Sons of Their Fathers.


There is a certain impropriety in any
sort of appointment characterized by
nepotism. Although there is much in
heredity, it can hardly be supposed that
the average man is born with knowl-
edge in any special line. Therefore,
when. in time Of peace a man receives
an appointment in the Washington
bureau of something or other, or a
postmastership in his place Of resi-
dence or a cOllectorship somewhere
else solely because his father is or was
a great man or useful man. or some
sort OF Little Tin. God of politics,
there is some grumbling, and the peo-
pie working under the appointee know
that they viii have TO do the work.
while he viii get the money and the
credit and have whatever glory there
is. But when such appointments are
made in time of war. the consequences
are as much more serious as the battle
of Gettysburg was more serious than
the fight over a Squashville postoffice
appointment. The officers in charge
Of the commissariat must have their
wits about them, and considerable busi-
ness experience, or the troops in the
field will not be properly fed. The
military engineers must be enginsers
indeed. The surgeons in charge of
field hospitals must be men of exper-
ience, judgment, skill, and thorough
devotion to that work, or the wounded
men under their care viii die a death
of lingering agony.
In view Of these facts some of the
recent appointments made by Presi-
dent Mckinley to important positions
in the Army are a disgrace to the
country. to him, and to the Senate
which confirmed them. Nothing need
be said against the men themselves.
They are doubtless good and honest
men, and desirous of serving their
country. But they have not had the
experience requisite for their duties.
The business of managing soldiers can
not be learned in day. Every blum
der in this class of appointments
means, without direct interposition
of Providence, the death of brave men,
There seems to be an oyerruling power
which in some cases. when the officer
in command does not know his busi-
ness, will raise up some lieutenant, or
some captain, or some private, who
knows what ought to be done, and does
it.
There is a tale told by the inimitable
Mulvaney of a certain battle in which
q little orf'cer boy" was placed in
command of a regiment or rude. rough
men, at a critical time and when the
regiment went into action unexpected
ly one Of the soldiers was detailed by
common consent to take the little
orf'cer boy" to a safe place and sit on
him while the experienced soldiers in
his command did business The regi-
ment did a great deal of business that
day, but it was not the fault of the Of
ficer in command. And Mulvaney re-
marked, in winding UP the tale. that
there was a great deal more done on
the field than ever got into field or
ders. Nothing OF this sort is likely to
happen in the case of the Little Lord
Fauntleroy commanders of certain
troops, but somebody will have to do
the work that they do not know how
to do, OF the consequences will be fear
full And it is not so easy to arrange
matters in this way in war as In peace.
for the reason that discipline is strict.
and the responsible person is apt to
be held to his responsibility The ap-
pointments of men whose sole claim
on greatness lies in their surnames, to
positions Of power and responsibility. is
a thing which is not only disgracefui,
but dangerous in the extreme
People who have studied the Internal
affairs Of the Spanish nation say that one
reason for the decadence of her civiliza-
tion lies in the extreme corruption of her
political methods. The spoils system of
government has had full swing. II mil
lion dollars is appropriated for some pur- |
pose of national defense some of it sticks |
to the palm of every official all the way |
to the objective point. Appointments are |
made on the same principle. The United |
States Navy has. up to the present time. i
never been made a football of politicians |
1t has not been run on the principle of 1
the diplomatic and consular service, and |
this is fortunate, because admirals. ur-
Ike poets, are made not born It took |
forty years to make Dewey and he did |