Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-04-19
MEETS HIS APPROVAL
BILL PROVIDING FOR A DIsTIN-
GUIsHED SERVICE LIST.
Letter of Assistant Secretary Oliver to
the Senate Committee on
Military Affairs.

Department has written a letter to the Sen
ate military affairs committee. expressing
his approval of Senate bill No. $3.50, reg
ulating promotions in the army and pro-
v:dIng also for the establishment of "a
distinguished service list. "A careful
consideration of the provisions of this BILL
| says Assistant Secretary Oliver "convinces
me that it would secure most valuable re-
| suits in the settlement of the much-vexed
| question of promotion in the army. BY Its
| enactment it would secure promotion by
| seniority to the rank of colonel practically
| based on merit as the examination therein
| proposed for every officer below that grade
would be such as to eliminate inferior ma
| terial and give a list of colonies who would
| be the survival of the fittest. Under the
present law examinations are required
above the rank of captain. 1t would alSp
secure to colonels promoted the certainty
! OF being made brigadierS by selection. pro-
| vided they have record that would entitle
them to such honor. This would provide
| the army with the legal number of general
| officers from those who have earned their
! rank by faithful and efficient service in all
grades. and would practically limit promo
| ton by seniority to such men, While many
| OF these general officers would have reached
| ages ranging possibly from fifty-four to
| fifty-eight, it should be borne in mind that
a certain number of officers of high rank
! are required of ripe Judgment conservative
| in their ideas and with thorough experience
| with troops, even if their term of service
| is drawing to a close.
Proposed Amendment
| at is suggested that on page two, in line
| four of the bill. there be inserted after che
| word from the words Officers holding reg
| ular commissions in so that this provision
| will read. commencing on line two, promo
| lions to the grade of brigadier general shall
| be made by selection from officers holding
regular commissions in the next lower
grade in the army at large This amend
ment, or one Of similar tenor, is believed to
| be necessary to prevent officers holding DIS
tinguiShed service commissions with The
grade of colonel from being included among
the colonies entitled to such promotion.
otherwise the purpose of this proposed ,aw
would be negatived.
Il also find upon careful comparison
of the bill with the act of October l, 1e3o.
which ii purports to amend, that the first
clause of section three of that enactment
should be embodied therein in order to re-
tain the existing examination of officers be-
low the grade of major.
Secretary Roots View.
1.-THE provision Of the bill authorizing the
establishment If distinguished service list
is an amplifcation of plan specially urged
by the Secretary of War. the Honorable
Elihu Root, in his letter to the Speaker Of
the House of Representatives under date
follows:
a.. The proposed legislation has my
earnest approval Secretary of War, and
I very much hope it will receive the favor
able consideration of Congress.
The very moderate provisions for the
reward of distinguished service contained
in the proposed bill will remedy a very
great defect in our system, under which
hitherto there has been no power to reward
any service, however gallant, and meritori-
our, rendered by a junior officer. except by
making him a general. The present candi-
tons frequently present to the President
the alternative Of withholding from officers
the rewards to which they are entitled, or
giving them greater reward than is ap-
propriate to their service and rank. One
very serious evil resulting from the Inability
of the President to properly reward dis
tinguished service is the lack of incentive
to such service, which ought to be furnished
by suitable rewards. The proposed measure
will not cause any substantial change or
interference with the organization of the
army, and the additional expense involved
will be but slight compared with the benefit
which will be derived
Advantages of the Change.
while the proposed legislation differs
somewhat in degree from that already quot
ed the principle is the same, and while be-
ing reward will also make 1t possible to
place among the higher officers young and
distinguished men having special and pc
cu1dr QuallncatlOnS Tor command without
doing injustice by jumping them over their
seniors, who are entitled to promotion by
seniority, and the enactment of this provi-
sion for a distinguished service list is there
fore recommended. Promotion through the
operation of such a law is carefully safe
guarded by the combined demands OF APP
prevail of a military board, the President
and the Senate, and would result only in
adding a few high-grade commissions with
out increased cost to the government other
than the difference between the pay of the
regular commissions and the distinguished
service commissions. Under existing condi-
tions, recognition of brilliant service by
junior officers can only be accomplished by
promoting them over the heads of many
senior officers having long and valuable
records of service.
"The practice of holding two positions in
the army is not new one, as, for example,
under existing law the chief of the bureau
of insular affairs, War Department, holds
a regular commission as captain of infantry
and is serving colonel, drawing the pay
of the latter grade, and the superintendent
of the Military Academy, while serving as
such, holds the position and draws pay as
a colonel, although regularly commissioned
as a captain of cavalry.
This plan has received my most deib-
crate and careful consideration and the ad-
vantages in it's favor and the benefits which
would result from such law are, in my
mind. quite manifest. l am unable to point
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