The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1899-04-21
OF PROSPERITY
TWENTY THOUSAND APPLICA-
CATIONS FOR ONE JOE.
The Fact That II Is Il L:cutenancy in
the Army Does Not Mend Matters
The Shadow OF Monarchy Threatening
This Republic.

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 a position in the army, where a
young man can draw a 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 thar two weeks
for a commission as second lieutenant
in the army is calculated to cause
thoughtful men to ponder we'll its
meaning. Under the army bill passed
in the closing days of congress the
president has the appointment of one
hundred and one second l~ieutenants.
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
a 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
%pellation that could be applied to those
who assembled from the lowest to he
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
llG ARMY Ill lllC VI pCtkSS, ShSSPS
through the regular channel of a mill
tary education at West Point, has not
been considered digniled 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
I ,o.,t =, ,,r,1y hog nl1.-oy VIC 20 rrin6 with
it 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 a mad
rush to secure positions in the army?
Last year it was a righteous war to lib
crate the people Of a ne%ighboring 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 bcSt 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
-z.l;tso,, of ,1nfvorco1 hopoos;o1yoo &C.
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 o needed to either dc
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
t 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
j, crease in the army is only temporary
as under the law the term of all enlist.
ments, except the $1,000 men who con
! stitute the permanent army, will ex-
pire July L. 1901. In the second place
these volunteer officers cannot hope
tosbe advanced in view of the fact
that the government must provide pc.
sitions for the regularly educated Off
GERS from West Point, who are educat.
ed at the expense OF the government
and especially fitted for a military ca.
+ reer, and whose lives are dedicated tc
that line of service. No, 1t canncA BIZ
! the hope Of advancement. No sen,
sible man believes there is the Least
! reason toshope that even one out Of the
, one hundred and mi second lieuten.
ants 70 be appointed by President Nc,
Kinley can reasonably hope to evel
reach . colonelcy through the legiti
Z mate channels Of promotion. Thu
cause. and the only cause, for this MAD
!. rush 10 CONGRATULATIONS In the arm,
! III the salary. The gold standard ant
: falling prices have deprived tndustr,
+ 81 profit railing prices and the Ding
l ley tariR have been 50 productive .
I trusts that the Individual competltol
i hi NJ lines Of business ii crlshed an.
d driven to- the wall, The profits Of In
Z sdustryd az forms. except wher,
I Snpfmous combinations of capitAlNarl
8 able 81 control the output III hsStota
.product ana srbitFarily a prices ~
HATH rms have dfnannsaYpI sSE N