Omaha daily bee., 1899-11-02
BUSY YEAR IN MILITARY LIFE
Adiutant General 0orbin Submits an Inter
esting Annual Report,
fAvoRs GIVING VOLUNTEERS A MEDAL
Recommends TINT Extra Pay nc AL
lowed omccrs below the Grade of
Brign,lier General While scrv-
ing In New Possessions.

ing in New Possessions.
WASHINGTON, Nov. 1.-The annual re-
port of the adjutant general of the army,
Brigadier General Corbin, to the secretary
of war was made public today. Aside from
the strictly technical recital OF all the de-
| tails Of busy year In military life the re-
port gives much interesting information OF
a general character and submits numerous
recommendations for the betterment of the
service.
General Corbin sums up the military
forces row in the service of the United
States as: Regular army, 64,5S6; volun-
teers 34,574: total, 99,160. The regular es-
tabllshment consists OF ten regiments Of
cavalry, seven of artillery and twenty-five
of infantry. The volunteer establishment
| consists of one regiment of cavalry, twenty
four of infantry and Porto Rico battalion.
The distribution of these troops up to
October / was as follows In the United
States, 34,229 Porto Rico 1888; Cuba, H.
1877, Philippines, 32,315; enroute to the
Philippines, 1909; Alaska, 499; Hawaiian
| islands, 466
General Corbin adds the following to the
summary: at is understood that by De-
cember next all the infantry regiments
Of the United States volunteers shown above
as in the United States will have sailed
| for the Philippine islands These, with the
| troops now there will give n total strength
Of 2,117 officers and 63,60S enlisted men, an
aggregate of 65,725.
| The service Of many OF the troops after
their enlistments had expired causes Gen.
eral Corbin to say in his report:
The patriotism of the regulars and vol
unteers who enlisted only for the war with
Spain by willingly and actively serving
after the expiration of their terms of service
calls for evidence of appreciation on the
| part Of the department. To this end it Is
| respectfully recommended that each officer
| of the several volunteer organizations and
! each enlisted man who continued in service
in the Philippine islands after March 2,
1898, until honorably discharged be awarded
suitably inscribed medal"
| General Corbin pays a tribute to the Of
| ficers of the new colored regiments drawn
| from the non commissioned officers of the
colored regiments of the regular army CT
| of those who saw service in the war with
| Spain and says it is believed the best
| equipped men of our colored citizens have
| been commissioned. -r'
| During the year there have been So, IFS
enlstments and re-enlstments, of which
| 53,024 were native born and 9,151 foreign
born. In point CT color. 56,154 were white,
| 5000 colored and twenty Indians.
Extra Pay for officers.
| The following recommendation is made
| for extra pay for officers serving in our
new POSSESSIONS: 1.-THE pay of all officers
below the grade CT brigadier general should
be increased at least 331s per cent while
! on duty in Cuba or our new possessions,
1 Most Of these gentlemen have families that
| they are unable to have with them and are
| therefore compelled to maintain two es-
| adjustments. Also, that provision be made
that all officers below the grade of major
| general who retire by reason of age or
wounds received in action shall do so on the
/ next grade above the rank held by them in
4 the regular army on the date of their re-
! tirement." .i,s -..,.y ,.,o q,
! The report dwells on the oSurtesies shown
| cur troops by the British government Of
| fcials while stopping at Gibraltar and else
where enroute to the Philippines and says
| this international courtesy will long live in
the memories of both parties to the spon-
taneous exchange.
Recommendation is made that military
officers serving abroad at military attaches
| be given increased rank and pay. AS the
increase in the army calls for an additional
| number of military academy cadets to fill
vacancies, it Is recommended that the pres
ident be authorized to appoint ten annually
| and that two be appointed at large from
each state.
Satisfaction is expressed that the "army
| canteen' embarrassment has been removed
| from the War department by the action of
congress in establishing certain restrictions.
Recommendation is made that non on-commis-
| stoned officers be given additional pay in
order to attract to these places a worthy
class willing to stay in those grades and
that twenty-five years service as an en-
listed man shall be sufficient to admit to the
retired list of enlisted men.
In resume, General Corbin says: "The
regular army is now practically at a max
imum, as are also the volunteer regiments
The work incident to all these changes
| brought about by the acts aforesaid, involved
the enlistment of 23S, 800 volunteers The in
i crease in the regular army from $4,000 ia
I $1,000 its subsequent reduction and then
again it's increase to $4,000. necessitatine
numerous orders and instructions BEARING
on the same, to say nothing Of the complete
military record of every officer and man ot
this large force threw upon this department q
task the magnitude Of which cannot be under
stood until undertaken. That this work has
been done with accuracy and intelligence is
now history All credit is due to the as
s!stants and the clerical force of the Office )
The report also calls attention to the fact
that not single life has been lost by ac.
cident incident to travel in the course OF
all the TRANSFORMATION to the Philippines
In conclusion. General Corbin points out
an omission in the law in falling to provide
chaplains for the volunteer regiments ant
recommends that chaplans be provided fol
as soon as possible. as the presence of one
with each regiment is deemed very neces.
sary.
MONTHLY PUBLIC DEBT STATEMENT
Shows Decreane for NIanth o1 nntoha,