The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1902-04-25
OUR BOYS IN BLUE
UNCLE SANS SOLDIERS BEST PAID
or ANY NATION m WORLD.

There Is a movement on foot 20 give
to the American private soldier an al
lowance OF smoking and chewing to-
bacco, and a bill has been introduced
In the house Of representatives by Pc
ter j. Otey of Virginia which provides
for supplying regularly enlisted men
with this commodity.
Give It 10 them" said an officer of
the army recently. Il have been in
the service for more than 80 years.
and in that time have seen a great
deal Of enlisted men, My duties have
taken me abroad occasionally, and /
have seen the enlisted men in the ar
mics of other nations This inspection
that / have been able to make has
convinced me, If l needed any con-
vincing that the American soldier is
the best that the world produces.
Nothing is too good for him. But, in
the discussion that is bound to follow
the introduction of the bill, l hope
there will be nothing said about our
enlisted men that will make them APP
pear like paupers. They are fine
body sometimes a little rough, but in
no sense men that either need or de-
sire more than is coming to them.
When l say they are the best paid
Of any soldiers in the world / am not
arguing against giving to them a lit
tie more than they are now receiving.
The fact remains, however that we
pay our enlisted men better than any
other country under the sun pays its
soldiers, and there are very few me-
chanical trades where the pay is so
large as that received by an enlisted
man in the United States army.
For the first two years Of service
an enlisted man receives $13 a month;
for the third year, $14; for the fourth
year, SIS, and for the fifth year, SIS
month. If he enlists again after
that he receives SIS a month. The
amount seems small when it is taken
alone, but there are so many other
things that go with the pay that the
aggregate is really large.
Il have been at some pains to find
out few things that will make the
comparisons concerning a soldiers pay
cleaner. A carpenter, for instance,
receives from SO to $3.50 day for
his work. But there are days when
the carpenter does not work, either
because he has not a job or because
the weather is such that it is impossi
BILE for him to work That is lost
time and brings no income. From my
investigations l am prepared to say
that the average pay of a carpenter
is 50 a day all the year round. This
means to him about 1856 a year. Out
of this he must pay for rent, clothing,
carfare and food, and when the end Of
! the year comes he is either a very
/ lucky carpenter or a very saving one
who has anything left. The expenses
of living are enough to completely con-
sumo his earnings.
"Now how about the common sol
der? The government allows to him
the amount / have specified accord
ing to the period of his service. In
addition to the money he receives
there are coats, boots, shoes-well, all
that man needs to clothe himself for
all sorts of weather, from the skin out
and that of the best quality suited tc
the purpose. In the winter he has
better furs to keep his hands and
head warm, better underclothing anC
better outer garments than the average
working man. His food is good, anC
he does not have to worry about the
landlord every month.
IF he is sick, no matter how trifint
his ailment, there is a doctor for him
and no bill to meet after he gets we'll
and no dockage for time that he ma!
not be able to work. His pay goes OF
Just the same whether he is sick O
WELL and he has the best medical at
tention. You know, / am sure, tina
not only mechanics, but other drawin
better pay than mechanics, frequently
allow what they consider small all
ments to work out their course with
out medical treatment because the
] fear doctors bill, and cannot affor
! to lose the time which they shout
; devote to caring for themselves. /
] this way, no doubt, good constitution
+ are undermined and a foundation lai
2 for feeble old age. With the soldie
no such condition obtains.
after a careful computation, tn
result of many years of experience,
say freely that the pay of the newl
enlisted man in the United States arm
when he draws only $13 month
e equal to more than $50 a month undC
different conditions. And want
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