Daily Kennebec journal., 1902-12-27
MARRIAGE IN THE ARMY.
Young Officers Seldom Realize Respon.
sibiIites.


! The spectacle of a venerable senator
! travelling all the way from New Eng
land to Washington during recess to
intercede for change of detail for a
young married army officer who had
been ordered to the Philippines has
directed attention to passage in the
aCjutant-general's latest report which
has excited more comment than any
official utterance hereabout in years.
! This was the paragraph discountenanc-
ing early and improvident marriages
among subalterns in the army. Gen
eral COrbin has been accused on all
tsides of Objccting to marriage as an
institution when the military service is
to be affected by it. AS n matter of
fact he has always expressed himself
as believing that marriage was a good
thing for an officer who realizes in ad-
Vance the responsibilities attaching to
such 4 change of state, and whose own
salary or private means or the dover
of his intended bride is sufficient to
justify it.
What he does object to, and what
other practical men in the higher mill
tarY walks object to as strongly as he
| is the sort of complication typified by
the New England case just mentioned
The circumstances are pathetic. The
young man. with nothing to depend on
for a livelihood except his salary of
lS11661 Il month. married a young wO-
man who is in a very overwrOugat
nervous condition. If he goes to the
opposite end of the earth, he leaves her
without a home roof over her head, as
they feel unable. on their small III
come. to rent dwelling. In this
situation and realizing the distress
which his wife would suffer if any in
!terruptiOn occurred in the receipt of his
monthly stipend, he is almost beside
himself at the thought of going away.
1t has been hard enough for them to
get along on his salary while to-
gether: apart it would cost them more
to live. even if he remained at some
out of the-way post in this country;
and when it is remembered that the
most expensive place of residence un-
der the jurisdiction of the United
States is the Philippine archipelago.
the chances are that the husband will
he able to spare the wife very little in
deed, and may have to run into debt in
order to do that.
1t is estimated that three-quarters of
| the mail received at the War Depart
ment. dealing with the personal affairs
| of officers. has for its burden such cases
rs this. modified by individual condi-
tions. \ pretty large element in the
category of ineXpediCnt matrimony
comes through the glitter of the com
( mencemcnt exercises at West Point.
| For the better part of four years the
! young men there have been kept in al
most monastic saclusion. Their know
| ledge is in some respects as limited as
/ it could very well be. and in the CLAM
| our of the closing hours, with music
! and dancing. moonlight walks and
brilliant costumes, many Of the cadets
| become involved in love affairs without
| the slightest thought of the inevitable
SEQUEL year or TWO later the depart
| ment hears from part of these with
some sorry story. Perhaps the young
| people have drifted apart, not having
| known their own minds when they
! plunged into their hasty union. and
| now. in order to hide their troubles
| from the world. the husband wishes to
| change his stction to some place where
\ there are no .lItIi!Cu 'iutii tCl . ~
that the wife will have an outward eX-
cusc for going back to her parental
home. Or inspection confirms com
p!&int made by a commandment that
such-ard-such 2 young officer IS al
ways shabby and of unsodicrly APP
poarance ana quiet inquiry brings out
the fact that, as both the wife and hus-
band cannot Wear gludy plumage on
small pay. the wife took precedence,
ac became her sex. Or, vastly worse,
the Young officer. rs ignorant of prac-
tical business as he formerly was OF
matriYnony. has been borrowing right
and left from his comrades until he is
distracted in mind and does not know
which way to turn. 1t is at this stag"
that the temptation to duplicate pay
accounts becomes strong; and many q
well-meaninG young fellow, finding II
Impossible 10 keep two persons on onC
allowance. takes his chances on a trick
whic!. he knows would doom him tC
dishoror if found out, but whose effect
he homes TO intercept before 1t reache:
the verge of exposure. 1t is the ole
story of the bank teller who borrows ;
trifIe from the vault with the full ex.
pectation of rayinS it back before th'
, examiner arrives. Here and there
such IN attempt may succeed; at othel
TINES it fails, ana then come scanda
and dishoncr.
, | Old officers familiar with army condi
: tions say chat it would surprise th
t public to know how many Of the grad
yates OF West Point leave the institu