The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-09-28
srrnrr1nr oRrrrcrsnl.
Ths Remarkable Facility with which the
Lay Mind Resorts to II.

Anl ANAANA
Lay Mind Resorts to IL.
To rHR EprroR OF The sUN-Sir; The
Civilian" who asks to-day II there Is any
complaint OF German military administration.
like that which Ia 90 frequent In English ana
American newspapers regarding their armies.
IL easily answered In the negative The reason
IL chat II could not occur without inviting Inn
mediate and sharp punishment. Such pub
locations ARE impossible in Germany In my
opinion. they should be impossible everyyhere.
Criticism of q military establishment, the
pointing out Of its defects, and reports OF frtc-
ton inits working are desirable, Of course. but
mere patriotism would dictate. II seems to me.
that before such publications are a con-
sciehtious care should be taken to make them
Just and useful. An army Is not q machine to
be used or abused for partisan political pur-
poses. 1t 10 for the common defence. and the
interest OF all the people, OF whatever political
party they may be. is that It shall be made as
efficient as possible. and patriotism requires
that tho sole purpose in finding fault with It
should be its benefit.
In the German Army tho pay Of the ohicersi 10
miserably small. OF the subalterns. more espe-
cially. shamefully small. and 1t is human
nature that there should be growing against
It. Undoubtedly the, General Stan has been
brought TO a high degree Of perfection. butt
do not doubt that enterprlsinR reporters, edit
Gated by American sensational Journalism. II
they were sent TO the German Army man1u-
vres and allowed to divine or imagine and
publish all the complaints In the breasts OF
officers and enlisted men. could gather q
crop Of criticisms and censures which would
startle the Emperor. II. for instance. typhus
and smallpox had ragged in our camps this
summer as they did in the German army
during the war with France. would not
this whole country have been in hystencal
agitation2 II the deaths from disease had
been eighteen in the thousand. as they were
then in the German Army. instead Of six In the
thousand, as they have been actually thus far
in our army In this war. all the Union would
have been Mortified and indignant.
1t has been my fortune to live during the
period l. OF three OF our wars. the Mexican, the
civil war, and the war with Spain. Ofthe flrst
1 have only the memory Of o lad. but / recall
very distinctly the bitter criticism Of IL which
prevailed. especially in New England. The
other wars. very naturally. I have known more
particularly, and in each 1 have been struck by
the complacency with which civilians ~criticise
military matters. and invariably have found
that the sharpost and most confident OF these
critics had not in their possession the facts and
details which o military man would require be-
fore rendering positive judgments. Accord
inRly. military men are not 80 prompt and
sweeping In their cenBure as are their lay
brethren They are moro patient they wait for
authentic facts before passing judgment. and
usually these are obtainable only in the oflcial
reports. They know also something about
the difficulties encountered In every military
operation. .....
Surgeon General S%ternberg. Gen. Ludington.
the Quartermaster- General, and Gen. Eagan.
the Cemmissary- General. nay be proved in
competent, but they each have in their favor
long and meritorious service in their de-
partments. extending through the civil war
and since. and it is hard to believe that
they would have risen step by step to their
present places II they had not understood
their business. 1 have read in newspapers
many accusations Of negligence and deficiency
in these three departments. but I observe that
In many cases q juster presentation Of the
facts destroys their foundation. and I am wait
ing quietly for official reports before jumping
to q conclusion as to the rest.
The large results Of the war indicate. at least
to a military man. that its management must
have been pretty good. but the details upon
which to base specific criticisms have not yet
been brought out officially. When we get them.
lay brother. let us study them calmly and i'm
partially. not to bolster up a fault-lnding
theory. but to discover in them Lessons for the
improvement OF our regular army. in which we
all should be concerned as good Americans.
NEW YORK. Sept. 81. Army.