Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1898-06-03
IT'S AN ARMY SCANDAL.
inexperienced Dudes Appointed. Tin
Safety and Care Of the Noble
Volunteers at Stake.

Volunteers at Stake.
Up to April "a, 1898, it was one OF
the fayerite arguments for Democracy
that genius is not hereditary; that
statesm en- do not transmit their quail
ties to postarity. It has passed into q
prouerb that great men seldom have
great SONS. The apparent exceptions
neither prove nor disprove the rule.
The highest types are not persistent
Men, families, nations culminate and
then decay.
So our boast has been that we have
abolished the artificial distinction OF
birth and rank and made merit rather
than pedigree the criterion Of prefer
ment
An honorable ancestry is never more
than good symptom. Renowned pa
ternity is not discreditable, but in q
republic it only establishes q favorable
presumption.
In selections for places of honor,
trust, profit and responsibility, the
search hitherto has been not for con-
sanguinity, bnt for capacity. We have
revolutionized the civil service by pro-
viding that NO ambitious citizen shall
open dead letter or paste stamps on
beer keg without having first obtained
certificate Of character and qualitica-
tions that would equip the principal OF
rural seminary. We have neither
asked if the candidate was born with a
silver spoon in his mouth, nor If he
wore an evening coat after six o'clock,
ate with his fork, dined in courses, or
had rich and celebrated forbears.
We must have been wrong, for in the
last month we have seen the health,
we'll being, comfort and fighting capa-
city Of 100000 men; their food, cloth
ing, shoes, tents, medicine, arms,
ammunition, equipage and pay, in
volving the expenditure Of hundreds Of
millions of dollars and the protection
Of the government against corrupt and
incompetent contractors, intrusted to
youthful and inexperienced civilians
for no apparent reason except the
shameless importantly Of influential
kinsfolk and greedy politicians with a
pull.
Grants son and his grandson, Logan's
son, Blaine's son. Harrison's SOD,
Gray's son, Forakers son, McMillan's
son, Murphy's son, Mitchelps son,
Brice's two sons, Hulls son, Lees son,
strong's son, Sewalls son, Astor's son.
Allison's nephew, and scores Of less
conspicuous heroes illustrate the de-
velopment of political atayism or inter-
mittent heredity, which is one of the
most extraordinary features Of the past
thirty years
II is said that when the picturesque
Assem- blage, not surpassed since Fal-
Ataffs conscripts marched tn rough
Coventry, came up for confirmation the
other day in the Senate, Pettigrew.
who apparently got no pork, ventured
to ask if the Military Committe were
satisfied that the captains and majors
and colonels were qualified for their
important duties and responsibilities.
: The bluff old veteran. dawley, testify
put the question by, and said he knew
that every one was recommended by
some Senator or member Of Congress-,
Whereupon Hale, with polished sneer,
interpolated that they would gain ex-
perience in the field, remark whose
apparent cynicism is diminished by the
fact that Hales son had already been
provided for in the diplomatic service,
as Secretary of Legation at Rome.
These examples will stimulate the
patriotic young farmers of the West,
who are urged to enlist as privates for
sixteen dollars month, to migrate to
the seaboard as rapidly as possible, be-
come the sons of great men and mem
hers of Mammon clubs as the pathway
to distinction. They will inspire the
veterans of the service whose lives have
been spent in loyal discharge of duty
amid the harships and privations of the
frnntier. with renewed devotion to the
aae, as they see the just rewards Of
fidelity bestowed upon the incompetent
and the undeserving.
1. Timothy, v. viii! 'But if any pro-
not for his own, and especially for
ia Of his own house, he hath denied
The faith and is worse than infde]." In
fidelity has not been prevalent since
Ap'n = - JOHN ]. INGALLS,.
Bucklen's Arnica salve.
Tho Rest Salve in the world for Cuts,
Bruises, Sores, Ulcers, Salt Rheum,
Fever sores, letter, Chapped Hands,
Chilblains. Corns and all Skin Erup-