The evening times., 1900-02-28
CANNOT buy DISCHARGES
Enlisted Men Must Remain in th e
Military Service.
Secretary Root Said to Have Reached
Decision I'm Regard to PurchHs-
loniaI Army Might He Seriously Inn
paired-The Matter Of Soldiers Pay

Secretary Root is said to have decided
| that for the present no soldiers will be
permitted TO purchase their discharge from
the Army. The matter was brought TO The
Secretary's attention by the applications
of about fifty soldiers who desire to pay
the required sum and return to civil life.
The applicants urged that the law pro-
! vided that the men in time of peace co Id
purchase their release from the Army
service. II had been the custom for some
years before the Spanish war to permit
soldiers TO buy their discharges, and 1t
was commonly believed that the Secretary
of War had no discretion in the matter;
that after peace had been declared with
Spain soldiers could get out OF the Army
by paying the necessary sum.
Mr.. Root, it is said, referred the ques-
tion to the Adjutant Generals Department,
aud il was found that the statute apply
ing to such cases made II optional with
the Secretary whether they should be per-
mitted to buy their release from further
Army service.
The Secretary's decision is said TO have
been the result of conference with some
OF the prominent Army officers, who ad-
vised against permitting the soldiers to buy
their discharges. it being contended that
hundreds of the troops in the Philippines,
Porto Rico Cuba. and even this country
might desire to leave the Army before The
terms of their enlistments expired, thus
impairing the efficiency of the Army.
The discussion whether it was optional
with the Secretary to permit discharges
to be bought brought up a more serious
question. II was argued that If this com
try is at war the soldiers must remain
in the Army, but if condition OF peace
prevails they can buy their releases. Sc
retary Root is said to have ruled that the
nation is at peace. This decision will
probably result in all the enlisted men in
the Army losing the increase of 20 per
cent In their pay. Soon after war was de-
clared, in April, 1898, bill which con-
tanned the following provision was passed
by Congress:
That in time of war the pay proper OF
enlisted men shall be increased 20 per
centum over and above the rates of pay
fixed by law"
This additional sum, in the case of pri-
Yates, amounts to 81, 800 a month the pri-
Yates receiving $3.50 instead of $13
month the increase is also given to non
commissioned but not to commissioned Of
ficers. In spite of the fact that peace has
been declared for over eighteen months,
the enlisted men are still receiving wal
pay, which increases army expenditures by
several million dollars year.
1t is said that the War Department Of
1eials referred the matter to the Treasury
Department and were told that so long as
there was no protest the soldiers could
continue to draw pay on war basis.
Secretary Root appreciates the possibil-
tiles of the situation and realizes the dan
ger that the soldiers pay may be de-
creased. bill was introduced in the
House on February IA which, if passed,
will not only continue the pay of the en-
listed men on a war basis during peace
but will provide for an addition Of 10 per
cent to the pay of officers. One section
of the bill reads as follows:
That hereafter the pay Of all officers
and enlisted men serving beyond the linn
its of the United States and in the Terri