The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1898-11-17
Cause Of Many Evils in Volunteer
Service.
INVESTIGATING COMMISSION
The American Idea-A Sentim ent
mony of Army Officers.

WASHINGTON.-In reviewing the
testimony Of the old army officers be-
fore the War Investigating Commits
sion, it is evident that the thought
they had most prominently in mind
was one to which they hardly dared
TO give expression. And still, in one
way and another, this idea would re-
promptly be apologized for or with
drawn. In plain English, if the vet
eran commanders of the regular army
had dared to express their mind, il
would be in about these words: The
volunteer, generally speaking. is not
good for much" OF course. the utter
anSe OF such a sentiment would be
high treason. Confidence in the
prOwess of volunteer soldiery is dis
tinctIy American idea. Our great wars
have been fought by volunteers, and it
has been the glory of our republic that
men would rush from the walks of
civil life to arms when the occasion
demanded, and as quietly lay them
aside when the war was over. and re-
turn to the ordinary occupations of
life. AS distinguished from the bur-
densOme standing armies of Europe,
the American militia is certainly
wonderful advance. But when the old
West Pointers speak freely they say
that these considerations have led the
American people to a decided over
estimation of the utility of the volun-
teer SOldiery.
In the first place. the army officers
testified that it was next to impossible
to get the volunteers to obey in letter
and in spirit the sanitary regulations
prescribed. The regulars are trained
to obedience. They do not stop to
question whether the judgment of their
superiors in matters of bacteriOlogy
or chemistry is good or not; they
simply obey orders. The volunteer, or
at least a sufficient PERCENTAGE of the
citizen-soldiery to affect the total,
takes sanitary directions much as lac
does the prescription of his doctor in
civil life. The physician tells him to
take a pill once an hour during the
next day, and he goes to his home,
takes a pill the first hour, forgets
it the second, and concludes by the
third that he needs no more medica-
| ton. Can the physician complain. the
young American reasons, so long as
he gets his pay? This same spirit
many of the boys take into military
| life, and a volunteer army is really
made up of boys. Each man is his
own sanitarium. Unless he considers
| the hygienic precautions set forth by
| his superior officers as wise and neces-
| sary, he is likely to disregard them.
| Of this tendency many curious illus
| trations were furnished at the hear
| ingS, and il goes without saying that
| the violation of rules by three or four
men out. of a hundred might involve
| the whole company to which they be-
| long in disaster. For instance. Gen.
| Graham told how difficult il was to
get the soldiers at Camp Alger TO drink
| the good water, which happened TO be
a little warmer, instead of that from
| streams known to be polluted On
| one OCCASION medical officer and a
| companion were riding by, when they
| saw a private filling his canteen from
| brook in which the clothing of the
| soldiers was regularly washed not
| more than 500 feet above, though with
| this fact the soldier was as familiar
as the officers. They stopped and made
| the man empty his canteen. After they
| had reached a little hill some q stance
away the attention of the medical Off
Ger was called by his companion to
| the fact that the man was filling UP
his canteen again from the polluted
| stream.
In the matter of food risks quite as
| great were run. To make a breakfast
off pint of pistachio ice cream, a can
of saTdines. and mixed pickles, the
| first named delicacy purchased at a
| neighboring booth and the other two
coming in a box from home, would not
be recommended by medical experts
| and yet it was testified before the com.
| mission that such breakfasts has MOI
| been unknown. 1t was related thai
during the celebrated march 10 Manas.
sas, from which so much sickness:
seemed to result, the Virginia sun was
beating down at midday upon the
| troops. when one of the men was seer
by a witness to reach his hand into
his pocket and draw out some marsh
mallows- In the opinion of the witness
if the young man had taken sand
wich made of bareback and bacon. h
would have stood the rigors of thl
march.
one OF the uiSt Things lHSJ the ne
gular learns is to like the army ration
while about the first thing the volun
teer does is TO write home that hi
food is not being served in Asto
House style, and as a result a box O
delicacies soon follows. The officer
IN command cannot be so hard-heartet
as to exclude these membranes iron
home. any more than they can shu
off entirely outside purchases at booth
or at the neighbOring towns. An EN-
phatic protest would come from tn
country at any such procedure. In fact
il was many times asserted before tn
! commissioners that it was impOssi
BILE to enforce regular army disciplin.
upon volunteers without a gradual pro
cess of breaking in. Any other cOurS
would provoke great dissatisfaction
The genius of the American peopl