The Saint Paul globe., 1900-04-20
Capital Chat.
Washington Gossip, Political and
Otherwise, for the Readers
OF the Globe.


The legislation now under consideration
for the establishment of a veterinary
corps in the United States army brings
INTO prominence, to the surprise of many,
a most disgraceful condition Of neglect.
both in point of economy, of efficiency,
and of the care of health of our large
army of 100000 men, with over 25,6O0
horses and mules for the cavalry, artil-
lery and quartermasters' transportation.
To the average mind, before looking
into the subject, the functions of the
army veterinarian are just what they
have been and are, in fact, today in the
| United States army, 'horse DOCTORS" en-
ployed under about the same conditions
as civilian teanlsters are, to treat the
lameness or the collie or some other dis
ease after 1t has gone far enough to rem
| der the animal unserviceable There i3
not as much method and economy in the
present service as is found a necessity, or
as there Is In the stables of any large
brewery, contractor or stock farm in the
country, most of whom do employ COM
petent veterinarians at salaries higher
tnan the pay Of the lower grades of COM
m1ssioned officers in the army. A petition
forwarded to congress by the American
veterinary Medical association sum
marizes the conditions as follows
The United States has nearly $S 0OG 900
! invested in its army horses and mules
each year, and its soldiers consume an
enormous quantity of animal food annu-
ally; and that
The United States is the only civil zei
government In the world whose army has
not veterinary corps or any proper pro-
vision for the care of the health of It's
animals and for the inspection Of the
| animal food which its soldiers consume:
| and that I
Numerous states have In the last two
decades established veterinary schools,
educating veterinarians to be the scientific
peers or other medical men; and that
Inc work Of the bureau Of animal IN
dustry Of the department of agriculture
ana the several state veterinarians and
OF the various agricultural schools and
experiment stations, has shown that there
are numbers of veterinarians now in this
country who. by education, experience
ana ability, are worthy officials Of the
government"
Under the act of March 2, 1899, for the
Hrst time an examination to show the
| competency of the veterinarians employ
ed IN the cavalry was required for what
| were termed the f1rst-class veterinarians,
| while none is required for the second
class, none is required for those EMPLOY
ed by the quartermaster's department. or
the artillery-for there an irregular class
OF men is employed by the day or month,
| WIN no future, no responsibility no Of
fctal position. They are civilian employees
| with no authority, and educated and COM
petent men will not accept these positions.
examination OF the regulations Of the
| veterinary service in all European coun-
tries and even in the army of Japan,
SHOWS IN each completely organized
| service entailfng duties which are un-
heard of in the United States army.
| !he English army has principal vet
| erlnary surgeon with the rank of q col
| fOTfV-tWn
| surgeons With the rank of lieutenant coli
ohel ana major, 189 first veterinary sur
geens with the rank of first lieutenant
u assistant veterinary surgeons with the
rank of sub-lieutenant
/ The German army has sixteen corps
| veterinarians with uniform corresponding
TO major, 4S brigade veterinarians with
uniform corresponding to captain. recent
| ~ created Ii6 regimental veterinarians
with uniforms corresponding to first lieu
| tenant 215 veterinary surgeons with uni
form corresponding to second lieutenant
| LUG assistant veterinarians ranking as SER
| geant major.
The veterinarians I-V rank as hiphar
| military officials
| In the Italian army there is an inspect
or general of military veterinarian medt-
cine with the rank of colonel, 1 veterin-
| arian with the rank of colonel, and
with the rank of lieutenant, with in
|
| OF the army; with rank Of lieutenant
colonel and 10 with that of major to the
lS army corps as inspectors of public ami
mals; "a with rank Of captain and 46 with
rank OF lieutenant to the "a regiments Of
the cavalry; II with rank of captain and
"a with rank of lieutenant to the u regf-
| ments of the artillery; 12 with rank of
captain and Sc with rank of lieutenant to
| the battalion of the train, 21 with tha
rank OF lieutenant to the engineer corps,
rank of captain to military school. /
rank OF captain, rank of lieutenant to
| cavalry school.
| In the Belgium army there is the chief
| OF service. Chief veterinarians Qieuten-
ant coloneD, II chiefs of service, 2 princi-
pal veterinarians (majors), 10 regimental
! Veter1narins, first class (captains) There
are IL adJunctS to chiefs of service reg
mental veterinarians. second class (cap-
talns-" "en secondly; veterinarians, sec
| ond class Qieutenants): s veterinarians
third class (sub-lieutenants). Every mill
| tary school has a course of instruction on
| h1ppology as complete as can be given to
| a Iayman, so the officers in taking charge
! or an animal understand the conforma-
/ ton of horse, the value Of a forage. the
principles of stable hygiene and the care
| Of an animal. First sergeants and farrI
| ers are given thorough instructions in the
| fundamental principles of the ANATOMY of
| the emergency treatment of ordinary dis
| eases. None Of this exists in the United
states. In Europe every board of officers.
! appointed for the purchase of horses has
| as one member an army veterinarian. an
| expert, trained in the details of false
conformation and in the diagnosis of the
| disease which will escape the observation
| of the cavalry or artillery officer, though
| the latter may by long experience be inf
nitely the superior or better expert in
| selecting the type of animal wanted for
draught or saddle
While the professional veterinary work
in any of its details can be performed
by the employment of a civil veterinarian.
as has been the custom in the quarter
cavalry and artillery posts this method
and the civil veterinarian is not responsi-
bic for the work beyond the moment of
it's performance. Veterinarians educated
in botany and chemistry, are required for
the inspection of oats, hay and other
forage, and experts learned in the science
| of hygiene are employed in the prevention
of disease in stables, corrals and on trans
ports.
In the United States army all this is
left to the accident of what training prac-
tically an officer of the line or in the quar-
termaster department may have acquired.
| In Europe all animal food for the SOL
diers Is inspected on the hoof and then
dressed by the army veterinarians before
it is issued as rations. Our army depends
upon the meat food coming from pack
/