The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-02-17

! were disappointed. Although it is con
Iceded by the line that the government
must avail itself of the advantage of rh'
best talent. in sight to lead its armies II
4 time of war, yet when one-thrd of the
7 officers composing the adjutant gen
, erals bureau and four out of sever
officers of in the inspector generals bu-
! reau were thus promoted without tria
or! specific knowledge of their capacity
for command, it assumed the appear
ance of mere favoritism, the result
rather Of logging than merit 1t was
very generally felt by old officers on the
frontier and elsewhere that the all-pow-
erful staff, always on the ground in
Washington to push its interests and
watch progress, had taken an undue ad-
vantage of them.
That is the injustice Of it, About The
time these wholesale promotions out of
the staff bureaus were made, or soon
after, at all events. several of the staff
chiefs complained that they were short
handed of competent officers to meet
the requirements growing out of the
war; and asked congress through the
secretary. of war to increase the eff
cheney of their bureaus by increasing
their numbers. and congress promptly
proceeded to do it. That was it's in
| congruity.
Subsequently. when several of the
|
newspapers and public men for admin
lstrative shortcomings in supplying the
| army inaCuba and elsewhere, the staff
| chlets pleaded in eXtenuatio their lack
| OF sufficient staff force to carry forward
| their bureau work with energy and eff
| cheney There was also complaint about
| the work of inspection in connect ion
with some of the great military camps
| suffering with fever epidemic. When
| General ckinri5oe pSpoctor ea,,,,I
| United States army, and major general
| OF United States volunteers, was re-
| Gently called before the war commits
sion to tell what he knew about this
particular matter and the progress of
the war in general, he naively left the
| inference that he thought there had
been laxity or neglect in the inspection
department of the service, but 1t may
be he was only abiding to the volun-
| teer inspecto rs
In the crisis of war the withdrawal of
! spector generals from a corps IF seven
| all told, for transfer to other duties
Tor which there were 200 equally COM
petent men. while their own specific
stan duties We're thus neglected or
passed to Incompetence demonstrates
the inherent weakness of the staff sys-
tenn 1t cannot be depended upon. For
the bauble of brigadier's stars. for
pay, It's chief officers will abandon their
chosen duty, no matter what the cmer-
sency.
or course loyal and subordinate Off
GERS never complain, but these things
nave neen greatly discussed since last
summer. Other things have been talked
ABOUT in army circles" Among
them IS an unjust discrimination in he
law OF the staff, having "a class look.
IN favor of the engineer and ordnance
departments. by which a subaltern
therein becomes a captain after ii
years service, whether there is a va
eancy or not This discrimination in
part explains their disproportionate
number of officers of high rank Thus.
pelnS forced by statute, promotion In
these bureausis more rapid tkanain the
me, cause of great and growing dis
content there, somewhat aggravated
too' by the fact that in these two corps
every officer, from highest to lowest. is
q sraduate. Of the hi itarN aeaad denny
NOW, turn 1t over in his mind as he
may, the lieutenant in the line cannot
understand why a lieutenant of engi-
neers or ordinance, with a much easier
place and more pay, should have this
advantage over him. In the line first
lleutenants have frequently served
nearly ~ years, awaiting regular pro-
1nolioh 10 the grade of captain. These
thlhgs are seriously felt by the line, and
tney undoubtedly hurt the general
morale of the army =
Inc pest talent in the army is not
FOUND IN the staff department, Well
INFORMED critics say the Fundamental
weakness of the system is undoubtedly
me hlde-bound law regulating bureau
pr IN some European armies
the most distinguished generals are
CHOSEN Tor the great position of adiu-
that general, for instance, as we'll as
Tor other important staff positions. Ours
are machine made, as it were. When
mas one of our most distinguished gen
erals been adjutant general of the
army?
The staff bureaus have protn7tad
themselves by statute from .:distin-
sulsned' outside competition; no officer
however distinguished, can become 40
Jutant general of the United States ar
my unless he be already an cificar in
that corps. But, mark you, if he be-
young enough not to run out by COM
pu.sory retirement belize mis- opr,rtun
lty come, the merest stick nho is :or
tunate enough to get his foot on the
lowest rung of the bureau ladder is hv
lapse OF time almost certain to become
It's head eventually, no matter what his
qualifications or deserts
subordinate the staff to the interest
and welfare of the line" a suggestion
made the other day in the Sun by
iSN'S' oiiitSl III NE" YORK, meets
with the vigorous approval of all mill
tary authorities who are independent of
stan influence. The most pronounced
views expressed in any quarter regard
ing the conceded necessity of com
plete reorganization of the staff de-
partment comes from the army itself
1t is agreed with retired Officer that
the staff organization is the weak
point of Gus system" Since the recent
developments it is not unusual to hear
army men seriously viewing the staff
as something entirely apart from the
military establishment, an isolated con-
dltlon, whatever its reality or cause,
which they assume had much to do
with the troubles in Cuba and since.
The staff itself pursues a policy which
sesregates it from the army, or appears
to.
As now constituted, nine out of 10
officers of the line look upon the whole
star department as disjointed. dis
cordant element which stands in the
way OF the real army. Any proposal
IN congress of late years to advance
the efficiency of the latter is instantly
loaded down with Special orders prov;5