Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1916-02-02

WnollN Stultlfled by the experience CT
this great war.
with The French or German army re-
turn home. they always say: You
nave no idea how hard those fellows
work on the other side"
lhcy must. The nation demands it
of them. They must in order to keep
up with modern requirements. They
cannot escape working. 1t is the GUS
TOM, the requirement. Before his war
the German officer ;sld the French Of
tlcer worked eight hours u day. There
is not more than three hours work a
day for the average infantry officer in
AN American post. Any additional in
dustry is u to his Individual initia-
tive. The amazing thing is that he
can retain N at all. IL is not his
fault, let it be said again, but that of
the system which, in a nation of 10O,-
100000 people. flies in the ace of all
the experience OF Europe; for Europe
does know how to make war. She
may learn industrial efficiency from
us. but We can learn war efficiency
from her. Our officers would be the
most industrious in the world-it is
the American nature-if they had any
thing to be Industrious with.
They get double the pay of
British officers, about three times the
pay of French and German officers. A
boy of 16 q go penniless to West
WIN anu lIOIA lHe Jay he enters IL
does not cost his parents a cent. If
he vent to Harvard or Yale they would
be paying $4,000 or $4,000 dollars for
him before he was equipped for any
profession. Yet there has been no
great rush Of young men to West Point.
The army a not been popular with
our youth.
From the day a young man is gradu-
ated from West Point. he is secure so
far as a livelihood is concerned. He
has only to escape court martial in
order to retire at 63 on sufficient pay
Of his days. The nation gives him a
sinecure. All it requires of him is to
e a quiet life and v express an
opinion at n army post which is
isolated because congressional repre-
sentation in that part of the country
wants It's share of the upkeep of the
army. If Jones is graduated ahead Of
Smith, hen Jones will be the first to
become a captain, major, or brigadier
general. 1t doesn't matter if Jones
goes to seed, If he becomes idle minded
he is nailed 10 IA moving platform
which will bring him to the top in reg
ular order. Fancy applying that sys-
tenn to civil life and expecting eff
cheney! Fancy a young engineer en-
tering one of our corporations and be-
come a general manager without re-
gard to his individual efficiency! But
that is the method of our army.
In the German army if O fail, you
get a note from the kaiser, thanking
you for YOU services and stating that
they are no longer required. In six
months after the beginning of this war,
about 20 French generals lost their
places because they failed. If we went
to war. h same thing must happen.
The Germans do not wait on war for
elimination. They clean away dead
tissue before it commences.
Disheartenins TO American Officer.
In Europe universal service each
year brings it's big draft of new re-
cruits. who must be trained. The au-
thorities require that the plant be kept
running at full capacity and h Of
ficers kept busy. But when a young
American officer goes to a post. he
finds that out Of hos 65 men in the
company of which he is a second lieu
tenant, many are re-enlisted men who
know their drill already. There is
nothing to be gained in drilling them
further. The officers work becomes
necessarily more or less perfunctOry
An American officer rarely has any
chance to take that company out in
maneuvers with thousands Of other
men and learn actual war conditions
which gives the European officer o n
tinual practice and keeps up his am
O1tlOn. Ino American mas TO treat MS
soldiers very gingerly. He has to make
life very comfortable for them. He
must not york them hare Why? Be-
cause they are hired. They are in the
army more or less because existence il
easy. without long hours or hard
work. They get their $3.50 a month
and q good home. II he wants to put
them out On a long march or digging
trenches, he finds he has made the
army unpopular. DesertiOns will fol-
low. Congressional complaints will
pour in on the staff. What is the use:
The directing force of the most eff
cient industrial plant in the United
States would soon lose spirit under
such conditions.
An officer. after having drilled with
65 men, can go to his rooms IL he will
and spend hours, as many do. in the
theoretical study OF maneuvers. He
may go to the school at Fort Leaven-
tactics and the theory Of h immense
detail that o with the command Of
an army. But he has no command tC
practice on. He IL in the position o
q man whO learns how to run an au-
t0mobile through q correspondence
school, and then. having once
run q car. 10 suddenly Gin case OF war)
ordered to take Il around mountain
precipices. or through the crowded
street traffic OF New York, and re.
pair (which - Just what every Eu.
ropeAn officer ID taught. Otherwise
there would have boen chaos In Al.