The times., 1899-11-12

A French writer in a recent publication
asserted that military life Is a foreI uunsr
Of degeneracy. and that its TN effects upou
the young men Of a country are clearly APP
parent He attempts. with fae-s and fg-
uTes, TO prove that life in barracks saps
the strength and leads 20 the moral end
physical decay Of the soldiers and that.
after service, they are broken iu health,
become public charges on the commu- IT'S.
and for other reasons are unified Sor he
active duties Of life.
A prominent attache Of the Adiutant
Generals Office. in discussing the French
writer's pessimisJie view Of the matter.
said:
The Freuchman. being a Frenchman.
naturally knows more about con6i ions in
the French military service than about
those in some other countries HIS article
coming on the heels of the DTeyfus scandal.
will naturally cause a large portion Of his
readers to give his conclusions a sus-
picious suin before embracing them as ap-
plieable TO conditions outside OF France. or
GL lrAol III -Al@ NNAl-NA - Win ~ nose hNHfr
men they are more OF less FAINT lar
If we look back as far as the Heyo-
lutiOHary War, we viii see that ally
every eligible man ia the country Eas q
military man. and upon those who sue
cessfully came cut Of that struggle rested
the future Of the land. II army life was
degenerating in its effects az tEat tine. the
results accomplished by those great tiers
would justify our bringing up our sons INTO
a great nation Of 'degenerates Of that kind.
Taking the Civil War as another illus
tration; after that strife was settled, and
the soldiers, having spent from one 10 four
years in hard army service. returned 10
their homes, in the North and West. they
were elected by their own people to iii the
highest positions of trust and usefulness in
their communities. In the South there was
never the slightest question that
the men who fought were men
OF the highest ability. The army
man in both sections has. TO a re-
markaDle degree. been entrusted with the
public and private affairs OF the country.
At the present time a large proportion OF
the prominent men OF the Western States
are Army men, and the same is true, but
to a greater degree in the Southern States.
The West has grown up largely from chs
impetus given 10 settlements by discharged
in the soldiers of the Civil War.
AT the present time, the American SOL
der is model OF excellence. Foreigners
who saw the American forces at Santiago
have pronounced them the finest body Of
troops IN the world. This Army was made
up OF the young men Of the country. aud
such encomiums do not Indicate that de-
generacy is gnawing at the vitals Of The
organization.
From the statements Of men who have
been in the American Army service and
know whereof they speak. the morals OF
the average enlisted man today are better
than the morals of the average community
from which he comes. This would show
that degeneTacy in men, contrary 10 the
FIenchman's view. is ameliOrated by army
life. There are thousands Of lazy and
generally worthless men who 60 into the
army and straightway become men who
win never again return 10 the conditions
they left before entering the service.
Instead of degrading young men, in
nearly every instance army life raises them
in their own esteem, which is the first
step to command the respect Of others
That such a wholesome influence exists
in the American ranks no one with the
slightest military knowledge VIII deny.
Cleanliness is said to be next 20 COdli-
ness. and one of the first principles of
army life is cleanliness "A recruit hrst
orders are to have his hair cut and take
a bath. Principles of cleanliness atone. I
believe. viii save any man from moral de-
generacy. There is not one young nan
out of a thousand who comes out OF the
army and regrets the lessons that he
learned while in il. He returns 10 civil
life better prepared 70 meet the e1isen-
cies of toll hardship, failure, and success
than before he entered the ranks.
Young men in the Army are not con
signed to routine that precludes their hav-
ing Intellectual pursuits. Az officer is de-
tailed to supervise the instruction Cf any
one who may wish TO receive IT, and thou
sands Of young men take up systematic
study in the Army in ell branches from
stenOgraphy and typewriting to matnemat-
les. The officers who have received their
education at West Point are among the
most efficient instructors i'm the country,
and. in our military schools where Army
officers are detailed as cCmmandants OF ca
dets for military instruction, other
branches, such as the higher mathematics
and engineering subjects. are taken up By
them. Their efficiency as teachers is recog-
nized throughout the land The young men
in the Army have such men for instructors,
and with such opportunities. the natural
tendency is clearly in favor OF advance
ment-
"A soldier in the American Army is
taught patriotism, obedience, fairness,
cleanliness. sObriety. respect for superiOrs.
honor for a brave man, forgiveness for the
vanqulshed. and strict attention to duty
No system that has at its foundation such
principles can be said to cause a degenera-
tion Of the moral ard physical fibre of the
men who participate in its support.