Omaha daily bee., 1906-04-25
ARMY eOssIr IN wAsHrNeroN.
Current Events Cleaned from the
Army and NAVY Register.


Current Events Cleaned from the
Army and NAVY Register.
The army signal officers have decided 20
make practical test Of some twenty
Eve miles OF new field wire. resembling
that adopted for the service after COM
plete experiments. The new wire is COM
posed OF ten steel wires instead OF nine
teen and has a larger copper wire than
the present article. This combination
gives II a superiority as conductor fo-
telephone purposes, although It does not
add to its strength. IN which quality 1t
is inferior to the present field wire. The
new sample is considered suitable for use
in connection with the FIRE control system
Of field artillery and may be adopted ulti-
mately for that purpose.
General orders Of the War department
prescribe the poncho as part of the
field kit Of the soldier. and the ques-
ton arose this week as TO whether II is
to be used as a part of the equipment
without cost to the enlisted man. The
general stan recommended that no
change in the existing practice be made;
that the poncho be furnished at cost, but
not be made part of the clothing allow
ance. This recommendation has the ap-
prevail OF the chief Of stan.
Much interest naturally attaches to the
army elimination bill which is now under
consideration by the senate military COM
mittee. The proposition is recommended
to favorable congressional action, as the
most effective means of preventing stag
nation in the commissioned personnel. 1t
is quite evident that something must be
done to protect the army from the stop
page of promotion, a calamity which con-
fronts the service and from which there
is no escape short of some radical mea-
sure of relief such as that embodied in
the so-called Crozier bill. 1t does not
appear that the objections, which were
promptly and emphatically raised against
promotion by selection, will be expressed
against elimination or the selection of
those who are to go out. The project, OF
course. makes no change in relative POSI-
ton aside from those, eliminated and does
not offer violence to the integrity OF
seniority, accomplished by promotion by
selection. Elimination gains its advocates
and supporters by the prospect of the
protection it offers against stagnation,
and it is on this ground, largely, that it
may obtain legislative enactment.
The army officer who was questioned re-
garding his personal indebtedness and who
refused to furnish a list of his creditors
and the amount involved will be required
to obey the order to furnish such informa-
ton or be subject to court-martial proceed
ings The case has an Importance as in
volving the right of the military authori-
ties to inquire into the personal affairs of
army officers. 1t is held in the War de-
partment that while officers military
superiors have generally no concern with
such matters this can be true only so long
as the private life of the soldier remains
such as to cast no shadow on the good
name Of the service 1t is held that when
a man accepts a commission in the mill
tary service he surrenders certain OF his
personal rights as a citizen and accepts
standard Of conduct for himself which is
recognized by statute and determined by
the use and customs OF the service. In the
opinion on this question rendered by the
Judge advocate general of the army and
approved by the War department it is
stated:
Under this standard a man must so
regulate his private life as to bring no
reproach or scandal on his profession. II
he departs from this standard It becomes
the necessary investigation. and orders in
pursuance thereof. whether affecting pri-
vate life or not. are entirsly lawful. Where
an officer involves himself in debt to a de-
gree which leads the clamors of his cred
itors for payment to become public, the
good name of the officer is imperiled and
through him the good name of the service.
II is well established that such a condition
of affairs threatens a scandal, and II be-
comes the duty of the superiors OF the
debtor to investigate the complaints and
call upon the officer for information. Tn
der these conditions, an order requiring an
officer TO submit to superior authorities
schedule of his indebtedness would be an
entirely proper one" Refusal to furnish
information called for will be at the peril
of the officer disobeying such an order.
Every now and then the newspapers con-
tain interesting statistics which would be
valuable If true. They are usually based
on the assumption that the number Of de-
sertions from the army during the war OF
the rebellion had reached prodgious pro-
portions and that "about II per cent of