The morning journal-courier., 1908-01-25
THE ARMY AND NAVY.

The American people would appear to have reason for concern on account of the discontent which exists to greater or less degree among the of ficers and enlisted men of the two branches of the military service. If we may rely upon what from time to time finds its way into the newspapers through official reports and reliable gossip the uneasiness, which amounts to feeling of restlessness, if not ap- prehension, is reason for the federal authorities to give the situa- tion their most serious consideration. As in other instances the line of re- form should be, not along novel and experimental policies, but rather along the revival of policies which in the past have added to the honor of being an officer or enlisted man in either branch of the service and made the public proud of it's sailors and soldiers
 The failure of men to recruit and the spreading habit among the enlist authorities no end of worry. It may be said that in times of peace it is al- ways difficult to keep the ranks of the army full and the decks of the war ships manned. The spirit of adventure then has its least chance to be grati- fled The trouble with the present sit uation is that there are certain def- mite influences which are working to, encouraging men not to enlist and tempting men to desert. The abolition of the canteen at army posts, while it gratified an active and aggressive temperance sentiment, so far overlook ed the human equation in army life as to make the men discontented Sol diers are neither real nor plaster saints and they demand in conse- quence certain concessions which un- 7 der other circumstances might with ease be denied them. The withdrawal of the canteen in rs-s Snse to an ap- peal which did not understand army life and the really great power of the the men amounted to a method of con trolling the army in it's idle moments which the enlisted man resents. This may be deplorable fact from the point of view of the temperance union, but it is very human fact from practical standpoint, as officers who never use intoxicants have repeatedly testified. If the canteen could be re- stored, which it probably will not be on the eve of presidential campaign
 if the pay of the men was raised to a
 iore satisfying rate and if, finally, the habit of officers at posts using the en- listed man for menial services was abandoned, there is every reason to believe that the situation would be improved. Like changes of judgment in the navy would increase the number of men ready and anxious to ship.
 Among the officers of the army and be located in a policy which has been in force only few years and which has its roots in political favoritism and official meddling. The career, for ex- ample, of Major General Wood, who ten years ago was a captain in the medical department of the army and who to-day is within a single file of commanding the army, has had its depressing effect upon officers and men alike. number of instances could be given where officers possess ing the confidence of the White House have been able to persuade the Presi- dent to issue orders which have borne harshly upon the conventional rights of other officers, whose records have been of the best and whose terms of ser vice have been long and honorable. Warned, on the one hand. that politi- cal influences put forth by members of congress in behalf of officers ac- credited to their States would be fatal to their prospects of advancement. those same congressman and ambitious officers have seen, on the other hand, officers deserving in no greater degree advanced by another kind of politf- cal influence more strategetically used through White House connections. The spirit of the Brownsville investigation was disheartening in the extreme and followed as it was by the sudden try ing out of officers as horsemen gave the service a shock from which it will not recover in a long time. It all seem ed to threaten kind of army control which fits in better with foreign coun- tries. The Sampson-Schley controversy was most upfortunate thing for the navy. as in a small way the failure of the President to take the admiral of the navy to see the battleahips off for their cruise to the Peeifc showed a lack of tact which VI not lost upon the sailing officers and men. The treat