Kansas agitator. [volume] (Garnett, Kan.) 1890-1905, 1899-04-21
Assign OF PROSPERITY
TWENTY THOUSAND APPLICA-
CATIONS FOR ONE JOB.
The Fact That 1t Is Lieutenancy In
the Army Does Not Mend Matters
The Shadow OF Monarchy Threatening
This Republic.

Twenty thousand applications for a
position as second lieutenant in the ar
my, sixty thousand applications for the
various commissions in the volunteer
army at the disposal Of the president!
What does it mean? Does it mean that
the chances for young men in the
business world have disappeared, and
that position in the army, where a
young man can draw salary from the
government, promises more security
for the future than can be found in
civil pursuits, or does it mean that the
martial spirit has beset our people so
that our young men are carried away
with dreams Of glory and renown won
on future fields of carnage? The fact
that twenty thousand applications
have been made to President McKin-
ley in a period of less than two weeks
for commission as second lieutenant
in the army is calculated to cause
thoughtful men to ponder well its
meaning. Under the army bill passed
in the closing days of congress the
president has the appointment OF one
hundred and one second lieutenants.
Immediately upon the passage OF the
bill Congressman and Senators were
deluged with letters from their con-
stituents soliciting their influence to
secure appointments. The presence OF
senators and members of congress at
the white house and war department
during the past two weeks would cause
q stranger in Washington to forget
that congress had adjourned and to
mistake the white house for the capt.
toll. 1t has been the glory and pride
of the United States for more than a
century that all the avenues to wealth
and distinction were open to all, and
that industry and prudence, coupled
with ability, were the unerring pass
ports to success. The term self-made
man" has ever been the proudest ap-
pellation that could be applied to those
who assembled from the lowest to the
highest round of the ladder in the bust
ness and professional walks of life.
Down to the present there has never
been a time when American parents
sought positions for their sons in the
army. In fact, to seek a position In
the army in time Of peace, except
through the regular channel Of mill
tary education at West Point, has not
been considered dignified and hardly
respectable. In the event Of wars
such as have occurred in our history
the bravest and truest Americans have
freely entered into their country's SER
vice as volunteers. AS such, advance
ment in rank has always carried with
1t honor and titles earned by our vol
unteers in campaigns have ever been
borne by them with pride, and they
have been justly regarded as a dis
tinction by the people in general. 1t
has also been a just cause Of pride
among our people that upon the re-
turn of peace the soldier became a
citizen; that officer and private alike
gladly laid aside the insignia of phys
ical force, and the soldier disappeared,
merging into the mass of citizenship.
What is the peculiar condition exist
ing at this time that causes such mad
rush to secure positions in the army I?
Last year it was righteous war to lib
crate the people Of neighboring is
land from the CALLING yoke of an in
human master. The crisis of last year
is fortunately passed, and all Ameri-
cans rejoice in the valor and achieve
ments of our soldiers on land and sea-
The best possible sign of the times was
that as soon as it became evident that
our volunteers were not longer needed
for active service against the enemy
q condition of universal inconsistencies
spread over every camp and our volun-
teers became impatient to return to
their homes when they were no longer
needed for active service at the front.
Soldiers are now needed to either do
garrison duty in Cuba or Porto Rico
or to participate in an unholy and
unauthorized war of conquest in the
far-off islands of the sea. What is
there about either of these that Is at
tractive to the young men, who are
seeking these commissions in the army
or to their parents and friends who are
soliciting the president to appoint
them? 1t cannot be the possibility OF
advancement to higher positions OF
rank because in the first place the in
crease in the army is only temporary,
as under the law the term of all enlist
ments, except the $4,000 men who con-
stitute the permanent army, will ex-
pire July 1, 1901. In the second place
these volunteer officers cannot hope
to be advanced in view of the fact
that the government must provide po-
sitions for the regularly educated Off
GERS from West Point, who are educat-
ed at the expense of the government
and especially fitted for military ca
reer, and whose lives are dedicated to
that line of service. No, it cannot be
the hope of advancement. No SEN
sible man believes there Is the least
reason to hope that even one out of the
one hundred and one second lieuten-