The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-03-04

numbers given him to-day was offered 10
him. but he hesitated to accept it. exhibit
ing a strong preference for transfer and
promotion in the line 10 the foot OF lieu
tenant commanders. He left the impress
sion with his friends that he aspired To Sc
cure the same proportionate advancement
in that arm of the service as had been Of
fered to him in the STAFF corps. amounting
to $50 numbers. which would have resulted
in his becoming the senior rear admiral Of
the service at the age OF forty.
The Navy Department has put the big
double turreted monitor Puritan out OF
commission at the Norfolk navy yard ard
il is said at the navigation bureau that this
ship must be followed by others speedily,
TO the great detriment of the plans OF the
department. The estimates submitted 10
| Congress based on the minimum require
ments OF the navy provided for twenty
thousand sailors. Congress cut this down to
| fifteen thousand. There are now eighteen
| thousand men in the service so that three
| thousand Of these must be dropped immedi-
| ately; that means according TO the naviga-
| tion officers, that large part of the North
| Atlantic squadron must go out of commits
| sion. The Asiatic squadron cannot be re-
! duced, in view Of Dewey's necessities; there
Pacific station: the European and South
Atlantic stations have been abandoned, and
| there is only left the North Atlantic squad
| ron as material for cut. The loss OF three
| thousand men means the cutting in half of
| this splendid home defense squadron.
A great deal of hard work will be re-
| quired of the War Department in changing
the army establishment as contemplated by
In
| cially will this be the case in the adjutant
generals office. which will supervise the
muster out of the existing volunteer army
and the recruiting and mastering of the
| thirty-five thousand men for the new volun-
| teer branch together with such recruiting
| as will be necessary to bring the regular
establishment up to its required strength.
| The present volunteer regiments will be
| formally mustered out of service, but the
| expectation is that many of the men, after
paying a visit to their homes, will again
| enlist that this branch will have for its
| nucleus much of the element composing II.
Some of the organizations may determine
| to go in bodily, but the understanding is
that each man will be free to exercise his
| own will to remaining-in other words,
| there is TO be nothing savoring of conscrip-
| ton. The newly recruited volunteers will
not have state designations, but Will be
called volunteer regiments of infantry and
| cavalry, respectively, organizations in each
arm of the service being numbered from
one upward. The colonels are to be ap-
pointed by the President. Large numbers
Of soldiers who enlisted In the regular army
at the beginning of the with Spain
took advantage of that provision which per-
mitted their discharge after hostilities had
/ fcr hat
| ably four hundred or five hundred is a fair
average of those who left each regiment.
| Reports received at the adjutant generals
office show, however, that good percentage
| of them have re-enlisted for the full term
| of army service. AT their discharge they
received certain pay, travel and other al
| lowances. and having spent their money and
| had a rest and visit TO their homes. were
| again satisfied to enlist. The department
| is filling the regular army regiments sent
/ to the Philippines with full-service men, this
precaution being taken TO avoid the neces-
| sity of transporting home such as elect to
| take advantage of the law permitting their
discharge at the close of the war.
| A good many defects have already been
revealed by a study of the new army law,
| and their effect is being calculated. 1t is
| said to be questionable whether the bill, does
| not provide for an entire new DEAL the
| complete discharge of the present volunteer
| troops and their replacement by fresh
levies. This, of course, would not prevent
| the re-enlistment of any of the volunteers
now in service, nor would 1t estop the Presi-
dent from reappointing volunteer officers
now in service 1t was said at the War
| Department that up to this moment no final
decision had been arrived at concerning the
| off m ha in he
grades of the volunteer service. There must
be some severe cutting. for of the present
nineteen major generals only five are TO be
retained. General Brooke, being in COM
| mand in Cuba and a major general In the
regular army, would not be affected, and
beyond doubt General Otis, az Manila, will
| retain his rank. 1t Is also to be supposed
| that the remaining major generalships will
| go in large part to men now on the fighting
lines, which, of course would favor the gen.
| eral officers at Manila, but these details
have not yet been arranged
One effect of the new army law will be a
severe crippling of the signal service and
the disorganization Of its forces in the field.
There are six hundred volunteer men in the
signal service and all these will have to
be discharged. Their places could be filled
by the men re-enlisting regulars. but
| about seven-eighthS of them already have
| applied for discharge with the intention Of
leaving the service altogether. Out OF the
total force of eight hundred men in the
| service about 7J0 of them will be entitled
to discharge with any other soldiers on the
| ratification Of the treaty OF peace. This
sudden mastering out OF nearly the entire
force, when accomplished, will be a severe
| embarrassment to the service. but Chief
| Signal Officer Greedy said to-day that the
| department would have to make the best
| of the situation and that every effort would
be made to tide over the emergency.
| The War Department is inclined TO believe
| that under the new army bill the Governors
| OF States are deprived of all power of ap-
pointing volunteer officers the volunteers
under the law are United States volunteers
| and not state volunteers.
| Representative Henry was informed by
the secretary OF to-day that the one
undred-and-sixtieth and One-hundred-and-
sixty-first Indiana regiments will very soon
be mustered out and that no more dis
charges will be granted except In very ex-
| tren.e cases.
| The War Department to-day made some
| important changes in the disposition OF the
regular troops. in part incident 10 the orders
made yesterday for the sending of rein
forcements 10 Manila. One field officer and
four companies OF the Twenty-fourth In