The times., 1898-06-06
Kings Palace,
8l2-8lA Seventh Street.
Branch Store, us Market Space
Store, us Market Space.

monarehical countries it Is an under
stood thing that princes and such are to
be provided with high military rank, but
all the officers of real Importance would
strike If such political fayoritism were
attempted as now disgraces our service.
All the English royal family hold mill
tary positions, and may draw military
pay. yet when Gen. Kitchener made his
brilliant march into the Soudan he was
left absolutely free to make his own dis
positions for the campaign There were
no ornamental colonels on his staff,
otherwise there would have been no vic
tory at Atba-a.
And now for the staff. What IS a staff?
There appears to be notion at Washing
ton that d staff officer Is selected By the
generals wife. with special reference 10
his capacity for holding a parasol or writ
ing out a French bill of fare That is the
notion of the staff as it prevailed in Eu-
rope fifty years ago. Today We are the
only nation, with the possible exception
or the Chinese, who treat our staff posi-
tlons as means Of gratifying personal and
political friends. We are preparing disas-
ter for ourselves.
To-day the staff should be made up of
not merely soldiers in the ordinary sense,
but soldiers who have become specialists
in certain branches of military knowI-
edge. An army machine today is vastly
more complicated than it ever was be-
fore, and the mere fighting il calls for
knowledge not readily acquired except
ing by years of preparation. In the
German army officers who desire to go
upon the staff are first subject TO ex-
animation for special fitness as ordinary
soldiers. They must be highly recon-
mended as men fit to lead troops in the
field. Then, when they have successfully
passed these tests. they go TO a special
war college. where they take what We
might call postgraduate courses, which
are in the nature of an extension OF the
West Point course. They are taken on
long horseback tours lasting many days
and on these trips they have to act as
though they were inspecting the ground
in advance of an invading army. They
have to make reports upon the march
routes available. upon the points that
an enemy might occupy, upon the ca
pacity of the land TO sustain foraginS
parties, upon the extent TO which artillery
or cavalry would be available, upon the
nature of the streams and what pOntoons
might be necessary.
1t seems easy to make a report of this
kind but it is in fact one of the most diff
ficult things in the world. The power 20
record accurately is very rare, and more
rare still is the knowledge of how to re-
port exactly the important thing.
staff officers in war are sent as rep
resentatives of the commanding officer TO
gather information about the condition
and position of separate units under
him or to impart Information and perhaps
lead troops under fire. They are men on
whom the commanding officer should rely
for superior knowledge in matters OF de-
TAIL and Ii is largely from the reports
of staff officers that the army is set in
motion. When troops break camp an Of
fcer of the staff is there to give them
their direction, to tell them where they
are to halt for a fight. When night comes
on the staff officer is on hand TO lead the
tired men to camp or to quarters. They
find that wood, water and food have been
provided for them beforehand, leaving
nothing for the captains and colonies but
to light fires and do the cooking.
when our troops reached the end OF
their weary railway Journeys at Tampa.
Lakeland and Chattanooga, they found
that nothing had been done for their
comfort. that the staff officers were mere
ly ornamental greenhorns. and that they
had to do the best without any help.
Regiments pitched their tents without
any reference to their neighbors. and in
most cases the coIonels did not get any
as to where they could draw
rations, excepting by making purchases
out of their own scant pay.
Regiments sent to Tampa have been
handled like cattle on the railways. The
officers in command have had nothing 20
say regarding methods of transportation,
and no staff officers have been on hand TO
see that the railway companies fulfilled
their contracts or treated the men with
half the decency accorded TO horses and
cows. In Germany during the two last
great wars I well recall the interminable
trainloads of soldiers moving to the front
amidst every mark of good will along the
line of travel. At every station were pals
Of water If not beer. offered to the thirsty
men and horses. Sandwiches and cigars
were thrust upon them. not here and
there, but at every halting place. The
men were in the best of spirits, for they
were well cared for, and, though the jour
ney frequently lasted many days. the men
had chances to get nap now and then
On the benches.
THE First United States Infantry was
twelve days coming TO Tampa from San |
Francisco. No staff officer accompanied ,
them, and no one knew what the contract |
was between the United States Govern /
ment and the railway which did the /
They were sent at time /
when the Government was shouting for /
IN immediate invasion of Cuba, and when, !
therefore, great speed was desirable.
THE regiment took twelve days to |
even as perishable live stock. They were !
shunted for indefinite periods whenever |
the company saw fit to make way for !
more paying If not more important traf- |
ic No provision was made for the men
cooking their food at regular hours, and /
n those twelve days they were treated /
with a disregard of comfort that would i
nave been impossible in an emigrant ship. {
Nothing that George Kennan had told .
me of the treatment of political exiles in /
Russia exceeds in brutality the treatment !
Of our American soldiers going at the call /
IF their country to set free the patriots /
Of Cuba. This suffering was not made I
necessary by the war. There was no such 1
brutal treatment of soldiers by Germany
n her great war. What L mention here I
S the result merely of ignorance in posi-
ions where ignorance means cruelty.
Another instance is that of a cavalry
regiment ordered from Chattanooga to |
Lakeland. The men and horses were han
lied by the railway people with no refer /
,nce to military exigency. The men were |
separated from their horses, so that when /