The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-03-18
SPANISH WAR SOLDIERS.
VETERANS" Who Have No Special
Claims on the Civil Service.
Boston Herald.

Boston Herald.
The plea made by the so-called "veter-
ans of the Spanish war, to be exempted
from the ordinary requirements of the civil
service when seeking appointment to pub
lie office. is based, it seems to us, upon
curious misconception both of citizenship
and deserts. We say so-called veterans,
for the reason that the dictionary definition
of the word, when used as an adjective, is
"Old in practice, as in war;" or, when used
as noun, IAN old soldier" Those in this
State who took part in the war with Spain
could hardly be said to qualify under either
of these limitations. The duration of that
struggle was exceedingly brief, so far as
active operations were concerned, and the
great majority Of those who went from this
State never came within sight Of the
enemy. This was not, therefore. a class of
service where exposure Of life in the
trenches and on the battlefield calls for
peculiar recognition on the part of the State
or the Nation. Those who actually suffered
loss of health from sickness even while
living in an encampment thousand miles
or more removed from the enemy may be
entitled to a pension, because they were at
the time in the service of the government;
but there was nothing in the duties thus
performed by these volunteers to call forth
any extraordinary display of enthusiasm.
This seems to be in some degree recognized
by those who have made the appeal to have
enlistment in the army or navy during the
Spanish war count exemption from the
requirements of civil-Service examina-
ton, and hence they base their plea on the
ground that, even If they were not called
upon to take an active part in the cam
paign, they were willing to do so, and that
patriotic willingness should count as the
equivalent Of services actually rendered.
But such view Of the case Is highly dis
crediting to the great mass of the Amer
lean people. There was no trouble found
in securing volunteers when our war with
Spain broke out; the difficulty was to keep
the number of the States quota down with
in the limits set by government 1t would
have been possible four years ago to en-
list in Massachusetts six or eight times the
number Of men who were actually taken,
| list, but were unable to do so, be looked
| upon as less worthy of exemption from
| civil-service examinations than those who
were so fortunate as to get place in one
| of our regiments, when no more was eX-
acted from them than encampment work
| 1t has been oficially stated that, out OF
| those who applied in Boston to enlist in the
navy during the Spanish war only 14la per
| cent. were accepted If we are not mis-
| taken, the enlistments during that time al
| the Charlestown navy yard footed up to
| something 1000, which would imply
| that there were about 5000 applicants a,
that recruiting post who were eager to &c
to the war, but who were not given an op-
portunity. If patriotic willingness to serve
| ones country is to be the test for exemp-
| ton from civil-service examinations. ther
| clearly these 5000 rejected applicants have
| just as good right to claim exemption as
| any other class of our citizens.