Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1898-08-25

words of an officer who had spent near
ly 40 years among regulars when he
wrote them.
The annual cost per man of the reg
ular army is about $1,000 and tho to.
tai ranges between $50, 900, 900 and
$40, 000 600 This sum, General Kautz
asserted, would support 100 West Point
academies and graduate 5000 to 1000
capable officers each year.
BY turning the regular army into
school for enlisted men the general
thought the country would receive back
q fair return for the money expended
upon it. His plan was to fill the ranks
by recruits drawn from the congression-
al districts pro rata, The candidates
should not be over 81. and the educa-
ton afforded should be ono to tempt
the ambitious boys who have n bent for
military life and yet are unable to bear
tho expense of military education. The
army graduate would return home we'll
equipped for various vacations in civil
life which would be open to him in the
district where he resides. He would at
cd man and military authority. In
this connection the general states that
the actual military training of q man
can be completed in the course of very
few months. Having learned to drill,
he can always drill, and having learned
to shoot he can always shoot Reiterat-
ed practice becomes irksome and me-
chanical
General Kautz placed much stress
upon the benefit to tho soldier, and
through him to the country, of the ed.
ucation to be gained with the army
turned into "a school, Habits of econo-
my and order would be learned and
knowledge of human nature acquired
which can be gained nowhere else in
the same length of time. Besides, while
acquiring the education and serving tho
country as well the soldier could accu.
mulate capital in cash larger than the
average young man earns by the time
he is 20 years of age.
Since General Kautz penned his views
the situation has materially changed in
this country. In the first place it has
TRANSFERRED that war may be sprung
upon us at any moment. Again the
military spirit of young America has
increased thousandfold. Formerly it
has been the rule that when bright
and talented young man presented him
self before recruiting officer he was at
once suspected of some moral faint.
Now the best blood of the country is
ready to enlist, providing the incentive
to enter the service be strong enough.
BY turning the regular army i'll time
of peace into school which would
graduate men for success in civil life
and for military usefulness in time of
need the government would raise the
standard of enlistments far above that
ever known except in wartime. The
reform might 90 further and offer n pre-
MUM for good material. Promotions
from the ranks might be increased so as
to hold in service those with natural
bent for military life. Then tho very
young recruits might be rewarded for
studious attention to their duties by
appointment to West Point or some
other government military academy at
the close of their service. For this class
of cadets the term at West Point could
be shortened one, or perhaps two years,
under certain conditions. For practical
war purposes in this country the officer
who has graduated from the ranks has a
decided superiority over the mere acad-