The National tribune., 1902-12-18

left of the prisoner, and the firing party
took position in front of him a dozen PAGES
distant, as he knelt on mis- coffin with
bandaged eyes and pinioned arms.
Twelve men were Of the firing party.
Eleven of the rifles were loaded with bull
lets, and one with blank cartridge. No
one knew which rife lacked its bullet, SO
that every soldier might think it possible
that it was his. A second firing party
was back of the first. Two Surgeons were
close at hand TO see that the dread work
was fully done.
The dirge had died away A stiffness
even more painful than its wailing notes
had succeeded. This was broken by the
low. clear-spoken words Of command:
Ready. Aim, Firer' There was sharp
explosion. The condemned man fell for
ward from his coffin. The Surgeons were
quickly at his side Five bullets had
pierced his chest. Yet the pulse still beat,
and there was low moaning respiration.
Soldier hands were not steady in mining
at comrades heart. The second firing
party came forward. The orders were re-
peated. Eight more bullets entered his
chesI and head. The desertcr was dead!
The entire brigade was marched in col
umn by the open grave and the dead de-
serter. The band struck up lively air,
as always in going from a soldiers grave
and the command returned to camp again.
None who witnessed that sight could ever
forget il. But it came too late in the wal
| for its best impressions on all. Desertions
had already begun, and the spirit that led
to them could not at once be checked.
| Already desertiOn TO the rear had been
found so easy, and SO free from danger,
that the number of deserters was swelled
to tens of thousands. And now there be-
gan to show itself an outcome of this state
| of things, more fearful than the original
precursor of disaster.
Tho splendid patriotism which had been
manifested in the early enlistments of the
war. and which was still supreme among
soldiers at the front and in the homes
from which they came, was overshadowed
in that sphere of money-making and of
business-pushing which was result of the
National prosecution of the war, with its
inflated currency and its steadily -increas-
ing demands for army and navy equip
ment and supplies. When calls for added
volunteers were made by the Government.
young mel who otherwise would have
been ready to respond with personal SER
vice were now so busy with their money
making and their efforts to provide for
the material wants of the Government,
that they felt they could not go them
selves, but they would gladly pay to Sc
cure some one to go for them. Large
bounties were offered to substitute re-
cruits, to count on the quota required by
the new call: and the gift Of money, rather
than of service. came to be looked at for
the hour as the true measure of patriotism.
This condition of affairs resulted in the
bringing into being of class of men
known as substitute brokers'" who made
it their business to secure men, "by hook
IN CT nc cnl fnfa for
assignment to the credit OF such States as
offered the largest bouuties TO men count
ing on their quota. The broker, natural
iy, made the best terms he could with the
substitutes whom he engaged, taking as
large a share of the bounty as he could
secure by fair means, and sometimes by
| foul.
BOUNTY JUMPERS.
1t being known by these brokers that
desertion from the army was compara-
lively easy and safe, they saw that a man
could enlist as a substitute, desert, and
enlist again, and so on indefinitely, count
ing each time on the quota of the State
paying the bounty, and shielding another
able bodied citizen of that State from the
dreaded draft. This possibility quickcned
their business. Men who We're engaged
by them in this branch of activity were
called bounty jumpers" and they came
to be recognized as among the enterpris.
ing and efficient patriots" of the business
communities of the North. The story is
told, on good authority, of an Irisli-Amcr-
ican mother who, under the influence OF
native American methods, told q friend
with peculiar satisfaction, of the well-do
ing of her son Michael. who had not been
in all respects hopeful son before.
ITS place under the Government he's
been afthcr gittin'," she said. "And IL
gives him vary good pay"
What sort of u place is it?" asked her
friend.
"Well, I'm not quite shure as to that
But | behave they call it .lapeing the boun
ty.'
The dimensions of this evil system grew
lat fearful rate. 1t tended to the
decentralization Of the business community
and to the discouragement Of the army.
speak of what came under my own OBJ.
seryation. when ! say thnt substitutes en-.
listed and deserted three, FIVE and seven
times over: that in single regiments one
fourth, and again one-haif, and yet again