The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1898-08-21
cRoEsUs, IN WAR.
He seems to Have Astonished All
the World.


He Seems to Have Astonished All
the World.
The enlistment of many of the gilded
sons of wealth as private soldiers. the
hospital service of some of the daughters
OF fashion and, the liberal gifts of mil
honaires, has caused no little comment
The Chicago Chronicle is led to speak in
this way: -
III Is an agreeable duty to acknowledge
the patriotism and bravery of those rich
and so-called aristocratic young men who
are to be found in nearly all the regiments
of the volunteer army We do not, of
course, refer to those sons of their fathers
who have obtained staff appointments
through social or political influence. Such
men deserve no credit, and it is to be
noted that they have achieved little honor
during the progress of the war. The very
fact that they sought to enter the army
with rank which they had not earned
shows that they were actuated not by pa
triotism, but by a desire for the cheap
glory which may attach to pair of
shoulder straps secured through favor
itism.
Out tIiSTe are NUMEROUS, ana perhaps
thousands, of society men, young fellows
with rich fathers. club men, leaders of the
german, who enlisted as privates, and who
are privates still unless they have
achieved promotion through their own
merits. These men. whether they fouSht
with Shafter at Santiago, or whether
they were retained in the great volunteer
camps, have done their duty bravely ana
uncomplainingly They have accommo-
Farn hslNr
have slept in mudholes. they have per-
formed the necessary but unpleasant du-
ties inseparable from military life with a
spirit which shows that they did not enlist
for exhibition purposes, but because they
wished to serve their country in Its hour
of need.
1T is true that these young men nave
done and are doing no more Than can De
said of their comrades from the desk. the
workshop, and the farm. All are patrl-
otto alike, and all are deserving of the
nations gratitude, because every man OF
them has shown his willingness TO otter
up his most precious possession-his me-
on the altar of his country. There are
no degrees in patriotism of this KIND.
The millionaire and the miner, the cluo-
man and the cowboy stand upon the
same level when they face death. Span
ish bullets and typhoid fever know no
distinctions of social rank.
But our volunteer millionaire and So
ciety men are entitled TO special NEIL
ton. because prior 10 the war they were.
perhaps, unjustly estimated by their rel
low citizens. They were looked upon as
idle useless members of society, with no
thought beyond the fit of their clothes
and no ambition beyond a tennis cham
pionship. The working population rather
despised them. Some people pitied them.
1.-The war has changed all that-at least
with regard TO the young aristocrats who
have gone into the army. These men
have shown that they can fight, that
they can endure hardship and that they
are good Americans when the necessity
arises And we have no doubt that the
experience has wrought a marked change
In the thoughts and ideas OF the wealthy
young soldiers themselves. They have
been brought in direct contact with their
less fortunate fellow citizens. upon whom
they were perhaps. once inclined TO look
down little They have discovered
that these comrades OF theirs are brave.
hearty fellows little lacking IN formal
poIiteness. perhaps but flesh and blood
and good Americans like themselves.
This knowledge will be of value long
after the war with Spain has passed into
history. For the men who fought side
by side in Cuba and who endured together
the d'scomforts of Camp Alger and Chick
amauga will have hearty respect for one
another when they have put off the blue
uniform and returned TO the vocations of
peace. The volunteer plowboy will know
that mis- aristocratic comrade was some
thing more than dude. and the Million
aire corporal will know that the men OF
his squad were no, mere clodhoppers.
THE enlightenment will be wholesale
both for the volunteers and for the coun-
try. 1t is one of the few compensations
of war that ii tends to strengthen nation
al feeling; to foster mutual respect be-
tween widely separated classes of men
and TO bring all men. rich and poor into
equality on the common ground of patri-
otism.
THE blue-blooded young volunteers
have had their share in bringing about
this contamination and for this. as wel
as for their patriotism. they deserve well
of the nation"