The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-01-04

abundant supplies of monkey money as
Colombian silver is collOquially called,
which soldiers of the republic nightly bring
with them TO the gambling houses. The
government officials are powerless TO stop
this dissipation among the officers and men
of the army. for after shutdown these SOL
dierS are free.
To relieve the republic of the odium of a
gambling soldiery, the government has just
caused TO be posted in all of the gambling
houses conspicuous notices ordering the OPP
orators of the game TO decline TO permit
soldiers in uniform to play. Before these
notices were posted colonies and generals
crowded about the tables, arrayed in their
fatigue uniforms. their swords and side
arms Gathering as they moved about, max
Ing the spectacle anything but a testimonial
to the morale of the army.
In this army there is TO be found the same
callOusness and hard-heartedneSs discover
able upon every hand I'm this country. Local
cabmen will drive their mites of ponies
until they fall exhausted in the streets;
dogs are beaten TO death upon the slightest
prOvocatiOn. and all other cruelties are
practiced ad hbitum. for among the masses
OF this people there are no humanitarian
sentiments.
The same thing pervades the army. This
establishment is without either a commits
sary or a medical corps. Tn soldiers must
feed themselves OUT of their pay, and IL in
times OF active campaigning a soldier Is
without means of subsistence he must take
the consequences. He can grub among the
roots for yuccas or yams; but should he
fail to find these he may starve. If on the
march he drops from exhaustion he may
lie down and die, for no other soldier will
stop for a moment to give him assistance
or relief.
Nor is it of record that a medical staff
ever went into the field with this army. A
wounded man must succor himself, unless
he is so fortunate as to be shot by one of
his officers or comrades, who very patriot
ically take this means of relieving the cause
of an incumbrance The dead are never
buried, unless it is tossing the body into
some stream. later to have it thrown up on
the bank, where are awaiting myriads of
turkey buzzards, eager TO deVour the car
casS.
INCIDENT OF A CAMPAIGN.
One incident related by ]. 5. Highbid,
roadmaster Of the Panama Railroad, and
fully authenticated by DR.. Randall, the
railroad company's physician, will serve to
illustrate the common war practices of this
army.
One day during the last revolution Mr..
Highbid was travelling from Panama to
Colon. The railroad was then in charge or
United States marines, and all fighting
along the line was stopped on signal to per-
NIT the passage of trains. Between Gull
ebra and Panama Mr.. Highbid saw a
wounded Conservative lying waist-deep in
a small stream by the side of the railroad
track. He had been shot through botn
legs, just below the hips, and was power
less from loss of blood. About his feet
and legs young algiators were playing,
AAAN III NhN-1A 1A4C ~ NLA1 49, 0N@C 49,
sentative soldiers were constantly passing
and repassing.
Two days later. when returning from
Colon to Panama, Mr.. Highbid saw this
man lying in identically the same place
and position. During those two day he
had not moved, nor had one of his fellow
soldiers SOpptd TO succor him in so little
as by giving him a drink of water. The
man rolled his eyes plaintively as Mr..
Highbid's train passed, and that sterling
American, not entirely devoid of humani-
tartan instincts, had the train stop and
back TO the place where the man was lying.
With his own hands, Highbid helped pun
the man from the stream and transfer him
TO the baggage car. Upon the arrival of
the train at Panama, Highbid had the
stricken sOldier-victim of grossest cruelty
transferred to a hospital; but relief and
attention came too late, and the fellow died
that evening.
This is not an isolated case; rather it is
the common story, for the soldier on the
isthmuS who goes into the field must take
his life in his hands in more ways than
one. He may escape the bullets of the
enemy, but he can hardly hope to escape
the cruelties and inhumanities of the mill
tary methods which permit war. to be made
without commissary departments or medi-
cal corps: The man who. from hunger or
fever. falls in his tracks is absolutely with
out hope of attention or relief.
The army. whenever 1t goes into the field,
must expect TO sleep at night on the dank
and swampy ground, with no tentage for
Its protection save that afforded by the ex-
ceSsive vegetation, and no blankets except
the close-enfolding miasmatic night mist,
which drills into the system the germs of
yellow. perniciOus. dengue and enteric fe-
vers, and beri-beri. Under such circum-
stances as these, IL is not to be wondered
at that one hears here well-substantiated
stories of times when an army of LOO men
or Whereabouts had gone into the field for
a few weeks campaigning against revOlu-
tiOnists. and not more than 200 or 300 of the
original number ever returned to their
homes.
III no place on the isthmus except in the
barracks in this city is there anything in
the entire army's organization that bears a
really martial air. The barracks in this
city are clean and well kept, and the ra-
tons. which the men furnish for them
selves by messes. are wholesome. In Colon
the small BODY or troops stationed In that
province is quartered in a barn-like struc-
ture, formerly used by the Panama Rail-
road as a passenger station, and in the
other cities and towns in the republic the
conditions surrounding them are neither
sanitary nor military. 1t is, withal, a most
uncommendable organization; but, for
tunately for Panama. this military estab-
lshment is slated for practical extinction.
TO DISBAND THE ARMY.
The other day an alleged plot to assas-
sinate General Huertas was discovered. A
number of officers and men were placed
under arrest at the barracks and quartet in
this city, and whisked away on the first
train for Colon. Then they were trans
ferred TO an outward-bound steamship and
0NR OA NNQs was 0S a VI AOhAo "
no plot to aSsassinate General HuertaS.
The story was made out of whole cloth to
justify the military authorities in Kidding
the country Of some officers and men
whose allegiance 10 the new republic was
open to question. The scheme worked well,
but the sequel to IL is found in the eX-
pressions now current in official and other
sources.
These expressions find their true and full
Interpretation in the Star and Herald, the
! local newspaper which is the official organ
OF the new republic. IN an editorial OF some
length the Star and Herald makes an en-
phatic demand upon the new government for
the disarmament OF the army, its arGumen
being that now the canal treaty has been
ratified and American occupation of the vital
parts OF the isthmus Is assured, 1.-The army
Is entirely Super1uOuS. 1t Will In the future
serve no purpose save that of a disturbance
creating body, for in any future wars Pan
anna may be called upon TO face the actual
lighting will be done by the soldiers and
sailors OF the United States"
This expression, so boldly made, describes
the exact sense OF the government authOri-
ties. They feel that American occupation
of the canal zone will relieve them of all
necessity for the maintenance of an army.
and n plan has already been formulated
TO reduce the strength Of the organization
until IL shall number no more than a re-
spectacle guard. The advantages to be de
rived from this are many. The first urgent
need for an army has passed: nobody here,
except some few rattle-brained Americans,
expect TO see any fighting with Colombia.
and by reducing the size OF the army the
burden upon the federal treasury will be-
materially lightened without in any way
jeopardiZing isthmian interests, for the fl.
ture fighting on this narrow strip will ac.
cording 20 popular expectations, be done by
MERRILL A. LEAGUE.