The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-02-05
THE ARMY LINE AND STAFF.
yhE.R LNTAGoNISM AND NOW THE
ARMY SUFFERS RON 1T

stan department OF the United States Army,
by reason OF additional allowances, moro rapid
promotion and easier and much more salts
factory service. are prizes earnestly competed
TOR By officers OF the line. Why It 10 80. or why
Il should be 80. is unans werablo offhand. but
nevertheless II is true that once in the staff
the o6loer becomes q sort OF being apart and
nayve the army man proper. Having By merit
or through influence secured 30 advantageous
a toothold. under all the rules OF fair play.
IesminGly. he should be satisfied with the GER
tain and swift career before him and give the
struggling officers OF the line the remainder Of
the field.
Has he always done this1 BY no means.
One OF the lncongruities as well aS weaknesses
OF the present etaf system. and incidentally
one OF It's injustices TO the officers Of the line.
was disclosed In this respect In the emergency
of the Spanish war. Tho moment Congress
provided for an increase.of the army by sailing
out the volunteers nearly every stafr officer in
the service began q struggle for promotion to
higher grades In the field. in direct COMPETE
ton with lonR-waitinR meritorious line on
GERS. Fifteen OF these stat officers were pro-
NOTED to the grade OF Major-General and Brig
adier-Gennral OF volunteers between May 4
and July Is, 1893. viz:
AdjutEnt-G Gen eral's Observation-Disclosures
schwan. John O. Gilmore. Arthur Macarthur.
Michael '. Sheridan and John b. Babeock-5.
Inspector-General's Department-Joseph @.
BreckinridRe. Robert p. Hughes. Henry w.
Lawtou. Joseph 7. Sanger-4.
Corps OF Engineers-William Ludlow. Peter
q Hams, @. l.. Gillespie and o. II. Ernst.
Medical Depnrtment-Leonard Wood-1.
Pay Department-Alfred L. Bates-1.
While there 10 no denial of.the moral or legal
right Of these staff men to seek and accept pro-
motion into higher volunteer grades and with
IL the command of troops. for the reason
named these promotions created a feeling akin
to resentment In the line. especially on tho
part OF a large number OF officers OF high rank
who had expectations and were disappointed.
Although II 10 conceded by the line that tho
Government must avail itself Of the advantage
OF the best talent in sight to lead its armies in
time OF war. yet when one-third of the officers
composing the Adjutant-G Generals bureau
and four out Of the seven officers Of the Inspec-
tor. Generals bureau were thus promoted
without trial or specific knowledge OF their
capacity for commani 1. 1t assumed the appear
ance OF mere favoritism. the result rather OF
logging" than merit. IL was very generally
felt by old officers on the frontier and else.
whore that the all-powerful staff. always on
the ground In Washington to push its intere sts
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 Secre-
tary Of Wal to increase the efficiency Of their
bureaus by increasing their numbers. and
Congress promptly proceeded to do 1t. That
was its incongruity.
Subsequently. when several Of the staff bu-
reaus were violently assailed by newspapers
and public men for Administrative shortcom-
ings In supplying the army in Cuba and else
where. the staff chiefs pleaded In e%xtenuation
their lack Of sufficient staff force to carry for
ward their bureau work with energy and eff
cheney. There was also complaint about the
work Of inspection In connection with some
of the great military camps suffering with
fever epidemic. When Gen. Breckenridge.
Inspector-General. U. s. Army. and Major
General Of Us. Volunteers. was recently called
before the War Commission to tell what he
knew about this particular matter and the
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 al
luding to the volunteer INSPECTORS.
In the crisis Of war the withdrawal Of Brock
inridge and three assistant Inspector-Gen-
erals from a corps Of seven all told. for transfer
to other duties for which there were 200
equally competent men. while their own spe-
eific staff duties were thus neglected or passed
to incompetents. demonstrates the Inherent
OF the staff syetem. I; cannot be
depended upon. For the bauble Of a Briga-
dier's stars. for pay. its chief officers will aban-
don their chosen duty. no matter what the
OF course. loyal and subordinate officers
never complain. but these things have been
greatly discussed since last summer. Other
things have been talked about in army cir
Among them Is an unjust discrimina-
tion in the law OF the staff. having a class look,
In favor Of the engineer and ordnance de-
partments. by which a subaltern therein be-
comes a Captain after fourteen years service
there Is a vacancy or not. This dis
In part explains their dispropor-
tionate Number Of officers OF high rank. Thus,
being forced By statute. promotion in these
bureaus is more rapid than In the line. a cause
great and growing discomfort there. some
what aggravated. too. by the fact that in these
corps every officer. from highest to low
est. is a graduate of the Military Academy.
Now. turn 1t over In his mind as he may, the
Lieutenant In tho line cannot understand why
a Lieutenant OF engineers or ordnance. with a
much easier place and more pay. should have
this advantage over him. In the line First
have frequently served nearly
tweLty years, awaiting regular promotion to
the grade OF Captain. These things are seri-
ously felt by the line. and they undoubtedly
the general morale OF the army.
The best talent In the army is not found In
the staff department. Uniformed critics
say the fundamental weakness OF tho sys-
Is undoubtedly the hide bound law reRu-
lnting bureau promotions. In some Euro
pean armies tho most distinguished Generals
are chosen for the great position OF Adjutant-
for instance. as well as for other I'M
staff positions. Ours are machine
made. as it were. When has ono Of our most
distinguished Generals been Adjutant-Gen-
eral of the army? The stan bureaus have pro-
1ected themselves by statute from dis
outside competition: no onlcer.
distinguished. can become Adjutant-
OF the United States Army unless he
be already an onacer In that corps. But. mark
you. If he be young enough not to run out by