Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1902-12-18
UNCLE SANS ARMY.

washington d1Spatch.) Early mar
r1ages of officers in the army are op-
posed by Major General Henry G.
Corbin, adjutant general, in his an
nual report, just made public. The
marriage of young officers is declared
detriment to the service, in that it
divides the attention of the men and
detracts from their value in the work
laid out for them.
The reestablishing of the post can
teen is advocated by the adjutant gen.
eral. On these subjects the report
says:
'The early marriage of the younger
officers of the army, many of whom
are entirely dependent upon their pay
and allowances for support, is greatly
to be dep1ored and should be discour-
aged. A young officer should have
but one allegiance and that should be
to the service. Those without private
means must necessarily divide their
pay between the demands of their Of
fee and family. A considerable num-
Der are required for service in the
Philippines, where living is expensive
and the accomplishment of this tour
of duty results in actual hardship to
officers with families.
"The restoration Of the exchange as
it existed prior to the passage Of the
act Of Feb. 2, 1901, prohibiting the
sale Of beer, is desired and urged by
the great majority of officers and men
and by none more than those of pre-
nounced temperance views. Numerous
reports confirm the views long held
by this office that the old exchange
contributed to sobriety, health, and
contentment of the men. The in
crease of assertions and of trials for
inf IF Sc NV
best informed attributed to the aboli-
ton of the former privileges of the ex-
change"
The report states that the army is
to be reduced by Dec 1 to 10000
men, of which 2,S77 belong to the
staff departments.
The report shows that during the
fiscal years there were 80 officers
killed in action or died of wounds and
disease and 68 were retired. OF the
enlisted men 1927 were killed or died
OF wounds and disease, 35,806 were dis
charged on the expiration of service,
5.498 were discharged for disability or
dismissed by order Of courtmartial,
1867 deserted, two were missing, and
203 retired.
General Corbin, in calling attention
to his former recommendation that
the rank and pay Of military attaches
abroad should be increased, suggests
that retired officers of high rank might
be selected for this service.
In reviewing the reports of officers
who participated in the army and
navy maneuvers last September, Gen
eral Corbfn says that much valuable
information was acquired. He says:
1.-THE maneuvers proved that the
rank and file OF our army can be de-
pended upon in every emergency; that
apparently impossible tasks can be &C
complished under the spur of neces-
sity, and that there is an immeasura-
BILE gulf between practice and theory.
The lessons learned by both officers
and men were of more practical value
than years OF ordinary garrison rou-
tine and instruction"
The adjutant general has obtained
the number and kind of arms in the
hands OF the national guard in the sew
eral states and finds less than 1000
United States magazine rifles In their
possession OF the multitude of other
types he says:
'sThis heterogeneous collection of
obsolete arms is serious detriment
to the efficiency Of the entire national
guard. which, in organization, drill,
instruction, etc, assimilates closely
to the regular army, and should be
armed with the same arms as the lat
ter. If called into service under this
deplorable condition, much trouble
and vexatious delays are involved In
providing the different kinds of am
munition required and in urgent or un-
foresee contingencies may lead to dis
astrous results"