Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1898-09-04

war is very serious matter, tHS per alty for which may be death. when the country is not at war the penalty for desertion varies, according to cir cumstances, from suspension of pay and short detention in the guard house to three or more years imprls- onment in the military prison at Fort Leavenworth, at what would seem to the casual visitor very hard labor in- deed.
 Before the recent hard times set in the reward for the capture and return of a deserter was Stat one time S60 was paid; and the eaptor, usually some vigilant western sheriff, was allowed his expenses for himself and his prisz .oner from the point of the capture to the army post from which the deserter had escaped. At this time the laws re- garding deserters were very strict and they were rigidly enforced.
 When the hard times came, however, so many men entered the army, andiln turn deserted, only to be replaced from the waiting host of the unem- ployed, that the government found IL inconvenient to have the deserters from it's army return to it. The num- Der of deserters in Fort Leayenworth reached almost GOO in 1893. To prevent this increase the government reduced the reward to Sa0. The sheTiffs were still too active and too many recreants were returned1o the posts from which they had deserted. So the government discontinued the payment of the eX- pense money formerly allowed to the man who brought the deserter in. This ruling was practically prohibitive. There was no longer any money in bringing the deserter in, and the trade was abandoned by the men who had at one time found it profitable.
 Since the beginning of the war with Spain the government has been very lax in matters relating to deserters. One man is said to have deserted three times from a regiment stationed at Tampa. He would rot go away, but hung about the camp, boasting of his freedom to the soldiers, until he was arrested and sentenced to six months imprisonment, merely to get rid of
 
 sertions from almost every regiment.
 Frequently what amounted to prac- tical desertion vas the result of igno- rance on the part of the men. \ good many of the volunteers were giyeRper- mission to go home soon after they were mustered in; many of these, not understanding the gravity of this of fense, did not report at camp on the expiration Of their leave of absence. If they returned they were usually let off with a areprimand. A willful absence of ten days constitutes desertion.
 Curiously enough while large num- bers of soldiers in the last three years has been practically permitted to de sert, yet individual soldiers have been severely punished for merely boasting that it was their intention to run away from the army Court-martial has been known to follow such re marks, and term in the military pris- on to follow the court-martial
 About two years ago three privates who were on garrison duty with their regiment in one of the hig western forts were talking together; one said he had still five months to serve be fore his time of enlistment should eX- pire, another had seven months, while the third said he had still two years to serve before he could quit the army. Without thinking, the first, who had two months still to serve, said that if he were in the place of the third speaker he was so tired of the army that he would desert. He was over heard by an officer, who reported his careless speech. He was court-mar- tialed and sentenced to a year at Leav- enworth.
 Very few regular soldiers, no matter how much they may have to complain of, or how restive they have become under the strict discipline, ever desert in the face of actual fighting. Fear seems to be the last and least cause of assertions from the United States army.
 The real motive of half the deser- tions seems to be restlessness on the part of the men. It is not dissatisfac- tios with the army, for strangely
  enlist. Indeed, this is so true that in | times of peace deserters are usually sought for at recruiting stations where sooner or later they are pretty sure to drift.
 Perhaps the most sinister talk that is ever heard in camp is that of the sol. diers who say that no matter what provocation an officer gives them, they never desert before battle. The bat. tie, they say, gives them chance te square old accounts. The pointing oi a gun few inches to the right or tc the left will settle any difference witt a superior officer conclusively and fol all time. How much credence can be placed upcn this statement is a ques ton. It is probably only a very pool sort of brag indulged in by thought