The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-09-24

Not Regarded with General Favor
by Military Men.


The announcement from Atlanta yester-
day that the Governor had approved the
recommendation of the advisory board for
the creation of a military retiring board
the object OF the new board being to weed
out incompetent officers, created some talk
among the local military. The military
men were surprised to know that anything
OF the kind was considered necessary.
Whiie Il is admitted that there Is some
incompetent material among the officers
OF volunteer companies. this is regarded
as one of the evils of the volunteer system
which IL is impossible to avoid Those Of
ncers who discussed the matter were of
the opinion that more trouble is likely to
ne caused by the effort to get rid of on
GERS considered Incompetent than will be
compensated for in good results The
amount Of ill-feeling which is certain to
result wherever an officer IL dismissed
Tor incompetency is likely to prove dlsas-
Tous 10 the company with which the Off
Ger was associated.
The principle is all right in theory,
SAID well-known officer. but il win
never work in practice with the volun-
teers Every officer has his following In
ms company, 1t would be impossible for
MN TO OBTAIN his position without il. and
any attempt to dismiss an officer for in
competency would mean serious trouble
ana, perhaps, the disruption of the com
pahy. There Is no intention as I under
STAND Il, to order a re-examinat ton of all
the officers of the state troops The. idea
is understand, that when a superior Off
GER regards any of his subordinates as in
competent that he shall bring his case to
the attention of the board in order that
IL may pass upon his mer-
us. This would bring about a
pretty state OF affairs. No officer will care
TO incur the ill-win of another officer bv
bringing him before the board. Whether
OF MOI an officer should pass an examina-
uon the fact Of his having been brought
nelore the board to be tried for incompe-
'ehcy would reflect discredit upon him and
would cause bitter feeling on the mart Of
ms friends. There may be cases Of gross
lhcompetency where an undesirable officer
cannot ne gotten rid Of otherwise, but ex-
Cvpt IN such extreme cases il Is not likely
mat the board viii be resorted to.
PRACTICALLY the same thing was tried In
'he case or the on-commissioned officers"
SAID ano' her officer n discussing the oues-
ton. Formerly the non-commissioned Of
ncers ranked In regular order. first ser
eeaht' second sergeant. first corporal. sec.
ohu corporal and SO on. 1t was frequently
the case that non-commissioned officers
were incompetent and 1t sometimes han
pehed mat the first sergeant was the most
Incompetent OF The lot With view 10 en-
abAng company commanders TO re-
heVe themselves of incompetent non-coms
" was decided that rank Ia these grades
should be done away with. and that the
company commanders should reappoint
the non-commiss,oned officers every three
months, shifting them about at will. in
order TO get the most competent men in
the most responsible positions. The theo-
ry was all right. but IL never worked. In
competent men were allowed TO remain
because the company commanders did not
care to incur their III will or create trou-
BILE in their companies by displacing them
and promoting others over their heads.
1t will be pretty much the same thing in
the matter of officers. No regimental or
company commander will care to run the
risk of breaking up a company by hauling
an officer before the board for incompe-
tency."
It is no small matter to prepare for
military examination and there are prob
ably many experienced officers who have
grown rusty on technical points who
would find it difficult TO pass the examina-
tons for their grades IL called upon to do
so without warning. What the effect Of
the creation of the new board viii be re-
mains to be seen