The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1917-09-03
BUCK PRIVATE IN
uNCLESAMSF FORCE
Gets GOOD PAY
Rate for Enlisted Man High
er Than for European o.
ficers.
BY HENRY M. HYDE

BY HENRY M. HYDE
.. A first class private Of the armies
Of the United States, serving in
France, will draw more pay than a
second lieutenant in any of the armies
of the Euronean nations.
Great Britain pays its second lieu
tenants $466 year, France $452,
Germany 1867, Russia 1874, Austria
Hungary 1866, and Italy $3.50.
And the great republic. sending its
democratic armies overseas, will pay
to the first class private $475 a year.
Startling as is that statement, one
does not grasp its real significance un-
til he considers that the second lieu
tenant, like all commissioned officers,
must pay out Of his own resources for
both his food and clothing, while the
private gets his living and all other
necessaries free Of charge.
Hes A Well Paid Fighter.
1t would be more nearly the truth,
therefore, to say that the first class
private in the armies of the United
States is paid twice as much as the
second lieutenants in the armies Of our
allies and enemies.
Never in the world have soldiers
been so well paid as are the men who
make up the great new armies of the
United States.
Whittier man serve in the regu-
lar army, the national guard, or the
new national armies, he will draw
from the day he is sworn into the
federal service a minimum monthly
pay Of $50. That is the lowest pay
for private soldier in the American
armies.
In the armies Of Great Britain the
private soldier draws about $3.50 a
month; in the armies Of France 1t is
50 a month; in those of Germany a
small fraction over SO a month
These figures are all the minimums,
the so-called basic pay, to which must
be added all the various war allow
ances.
Pay Jumps at Front.
But even in times of peace the pri-
vate soldier in the armies Of the
United States may, at the option of
the captain of his company. be made a
to S33 a month.
When the private of our armies
leaves the training camp and goes
on the battle front, his pay immediate
ly and automatically is increased by
twenty per cent In other words. when
Private John Smith sails for France
he begins to draw pay at the rate of
at least $50 month.
In considering the pay of the soldier.
1t must be remembered that it is prac-
tically clear money. ALI his necessary
toly 81 I>.yx
eminent. He gets his clothing, lodg-
ing, food, medical attendance, insur-
ance-all without cost to himself Also
without expense he is provided with
reading matter, with club house, with
games and apparatus, both for outdoor
sports and for gymnasium work.
Private Perquisites.
Besides what the government pro-
vides,. private organizations and in
dividuals will maintain Y. NJ C. A.
writing and game rooms and amuse-
ment "huts," at both the cantonments
in the United States and back of the
battle lines In France, and there will
be frequent distributions Of tobacco
and other Injuries from home
The families and friends of selected
men. and volunteers as we'll, may be
dSSUTOU lIdl luS priv ate SOlOl6I Oh the
United States will not only be the best
paid, but will have everything possible
done for his health. his comfort, and
his entertainment.
Even before the armies sail for
France thousands OF men who started
as privates in the ranks will win some
degree Of promotion. And with each
step upwards will go a corresponding
increase in pay.
If you son is made a COY ,oral, for
instance, his home pay jumps to $50
month. When he goes abroad. it will
go up to 1920 month That Is more
than the pay of first lieutenant in
either the German or the French
armies.
Public IL Grateful.
Surely, when one considers the sums
which the United States pays the pri-
Yates and noncommissioned soldiers in
its armies, it cannot be said that re-
publics are ungrateful.
But the mere matter Of what is paid
to the soldiers serving abroad does not
begin to cover what the United States
is planning to do for the men who are
defending democracy, and for the fam
lilies and dependents who are left be-
hind them.
So far as money can do It, the pri-
vate soldier who is called to the colors
in the United States may dismiss from