New-York tribune., 1907-12-09
THE SMART BATTALTONS
Methods of Dealing srith the In
popular Officer.

LONDON. November T
The fierce light of publicity beats u,o, ~.
Household Brigade well the throne IN,
officers of the smartest regiments are ponuIar,.
supposed to be the spoiled darlngs OF soc,s.r
and when a Radical administration is in nou.'
they not allowed TO enforce discipline f,r
''non-clubable'' offences without having th.-s
methods and processes closely scrutinizsd a,s
brought to light. Lieutenant Woods OF m. ..
Grenadier Guards. after seven years service wa,
advised by his superior officers to send in a..
papers, and instead OF complying subnissiv.t
demanded court of inquiry. 1t is not uksy
that he would have taken this course ~ ~.
father had not been contentious and fond :.
litigation and possessed of ample means for avn
ploying expensive advocates. Sir John Franz.
offered to settle the matter in an hour hv
personal investigation, but Mr.. Haldane wours
not consent to this summary method Of DEALING
with social prejudices and grievances Thera
was the formal complaint of an officer that =.
was the victim of something like Z. boycott 4,
his battalion, and that there had been an a..
ganized attempt to get rid Of him through ad.
verse reports colored with prejudice. He mad a
right under the army acts to appeal to the sscrs-
tary for War, and the investigation was or.
dered AS Mr.. Rufus Isaacs was employad to
present his case, his senior officers who had
brought pressure 70 bear upon him, were COM
PEELED to protect their regulations by engaging
eminent counsel. All the confidential reports
were produced and everybody concerned in the
case was closely questioned and vigorously cross
examined. Day after day columns have bean
filed in the newspapers with the evidence. and
the court of inquiry. after listening 70 the per-
suasfve arguments Of distinguished barristers, is
now left to report its judgment to the Secretary
for War. II would be trivial Incident II IL
a1oI @rN0f
the Household Brigade. the flower of the British
army.
1t is the case of the son Of an officer Of dis
tfnction taking a serious view Of his profession
anxious to do good work and avoiding the dis
fractions of drawing room, club and athletic
sports. Instead OF joining in the sports and
social life of his fellow officers he remained
aIoof interested in book knowledge and not
mixing with his companions. He did not 20
out on the battalion drag, nor frequent ths
Guards Club, nor patronize field sports, nor
/ leave his card at fashionable houses He was
as temperate as he studious disliked bridge,
never gambIed and was indifferent TO horse
racing From the outset he unpopular
among his fellow officers and was disIiked by
the soldiers under him; yet he had no vices. anu
was merely quiet. industrious and reserved with
no more obvious fault than that OF a disagreeabBs
| manner, which did not improve he excited
GOODNESS suspicion and distrust. Lieutenant
! Woods apparently is type easily recognized in
I universities, professions and sOclety-the well
meaning man of booilish tastes, who has NJ
/ fexibility in adapting himself 70 those around
/ him and gets on everybodys nerves. He per-
| ceived that he was not liked, and made per-
sistent efforts to obtain special service in Japan
/ SoulaIiand and Egypt and TO pronotion to the
/ stan College. He had passed brilliant sxannina-
/ tions; he was full OF ambition; he wanted an
| opportunity for proving that he was good SOL
/ der, and he was unwilling to waste his time as
a CARPET knight in West End drawing rooms and
/ as a 'cIubabIe'' guardSrnan. He had no friends;
/ the men whom he commanded were irritated
/ whenever he gave an order. AS a veteran OF
/ the Indian army succinctly describes him, ne
was the kind OF man to be left behind at the
| depot of supplies whenever active work was eX-
pected at the front.
! ''Ragging'' used 20 be the method adopted IN
I the Guards for dealing with a case like this
/ when something drastic seemed necessary for
reforming the manners OF an uncompaAionaeis
officer and teaching him how 10 comport hi'n-
self as a gentleman IN the Kings uniform Ihs
processes were rough and ordinarily effective
| The victim who did not appreciate 5ood conf
| panIonShIp could be tried by sham court mar
| tial. waylaid by the executiOners' soundy
! horsewhipped, dipped into a trough or otael-
| wise humiliated in the interest Of social haf-
| mony and the prestige OF the household ors-
/ ade. These methods had caused so much crti-
cism and scandal that example had oesh
! made OF one OF the most efficient and popular
commanding officers in consequence OF the SUD
| aItern's irregular court martial and discipline
The precedent had been established for hoioins
| the colonel in command responsible for eoaiso
| and brutal displays Of mesSrOOm dislike sna
| pretudice There were threats that rassias
| would be revived IN this instance, atnousH
| Lieutenant Woods had been in service for seSsH
| wears: and the chief officers knew tnat as H'''
| mercy would be shown TO them. II there NsI0
| fresh outbreak. as had been meted OUT 70 ga
liant Colonel David Kinioch, who hao
forced to retire prematureIy on half paF sn8 y
! recs,ve an annual pensicn zoo less than AZ
other Years service would have earned. atls'
splendid record in the Boer war Ihey "o
frightened and forced to take preventive hl0a.
ures There were confidential reports; tne 'o-
officer was subjected TO close scrutiny US =.
duct during the maneuvres when ne 'ou
company off the line into bog Was s "a
criticised. and he was finally charged WIN -
tarv iucapacity and advised 20 resign his 90
mission h.ys
All these trivial matters Of which n
.riad 20 cave an impartiaI summary. have 0es'
| exhaustivsIy considered In the proceea ,.t
fore the court of inquiry, which has Dee" ~
10 decide whether the adverse reports We ..,-,
titled and unfair measures adopted l0' ~,,s
rid of an unpopular officer RaSsHis' -
the risks of unpleasant publicity sne - -,
| retirement of the colonel in coumano' %" ...n
nrevented. hut the chief officers nNo al
| heavily fined in the high costs OF me .s,ab-
defence. A new precedent has oe'D ,s.rav