Shoshone journal. [volume] (Shoshone, Idaho) 1884-1931, 1919-02-07
BOTH INGRATTfUDE AND INcoM.
PETENCE.

Soldiers arrive penniless, with their
pay months in arrears and no pay
awaits item. At best they get a small
advance until the drones at Wash
ington have sought out their records
and unwound the requisite red tape
, Allowances and alIotments of sol
: diers' families are months in arrears.
and women who have freely given
their husbands and sons to the coun-
! try keep the wolf from the door by
selling butter and eggs or by eating"
their furniture.
4 Discharged soldiers are poured into
the mass of the population without
? provision fer their maintenance. until
they find work, or for civilian clothing
or for their employment Other
! committees > ''s'i SUI s-sIs . --.w-
on discharge, a sufn for clothing and a
weekly or monthly allowance until
they are employed. Other countries
I select for demobilization first the men
for whom there is urgent need in in
7! dustry. It is not so with the United
!, States At the precise time when in
4 dustry has slowed down and has tenn
:. porarily reduced its working force
pending adjustment to peace condi-
tions the Army has already poured
! 10000 men into the labor market,
| hut no arrangement has been made
for their speedy employment.
In their own defense officials tel
Of the beautiful system which they
have established for paying soldiers,
paving allotments and sending the sick
and wounded to hospitals on dis
charger but the fact remains that this
system works with any degree Of
smoothness and promptness only ii
ordinary cases, and that the greater
the need, the stronger the claim to
the Nations consideration, the greater
is the certainty that this system viii
fail Ir these respects everything may z
work well with the soldier who never o
leaves his cantonment in this country !
or who never leaves his company in O
France. But if he goes into battle. is 8
wounded and sent to hospital or other ?
wise separated from his unit then his O
troubles begin. In the excitement Of
fighting the Hun he may have =
lost his service record
the Army officers loose that ~
record Then he becomes a dereTict.
and can get no pay until the missing
record has been found or replaced
with a new one. In short, the plans
were made for an Army which stays al
snug in camp not for an Army which
fights. any soldier who is so reckless ~
rs to fight and be wounded runs great m
risk CT cutting himself off the payroll
Last June the Army awoke to the ~
probability that large numbers of n'
American soldiers might he seized n
With that mania for fighting which i'
distinguishes Americans when they 4
get into q uniform with rifle in their Sc
lands, and that some provision must ~
)e made to pay them in case they
should stray into hospital in a dam m
lged condition. Therefore, a pay
ard was prepared which each soldier Id
must carry. But that did not suit tn
ome efficiency expert at Army head
quarters in France, so he prepared a 70
,ayboOk in it's place. That was ready t.
or distribution in November. or
curse the war was over then. and lol
he urgent need of 5he paybook had ~
assed. But no matter; it viii be pu
eadv for the next war. Iii
The President and his Cabinet and
congress have been so busy raising o.
he Army and sending it to France
hat they have had no time to give af
ny thought to sending the Army On
ONE putting civilian clothes on them US
nd putting 1t back at the work from 10
-hich was taken, or at some other tai
-ork. Not wishing TO turn him out cat
the world naked, the Army let's bel
i'm wear his uniform for month or the
ore 1T gives him a ticket to his home
nd the Labor Deartment opens an La
nployment office for him, but that
all POI
Soon after Congress assembled some tor
its members who had heard from the
,me realized that it was not enough act
hey introduced bills to give soldiers for
few months extra pay on discharge wit
Id to let them keep their uniforms, sha
1t nothing has been done with those sor
lis. The. reason is not far to seek. veh
he chairman of committees under wit
e Wilson Administration are not in ma
e habit of reporting bills for action lect
less they have the o. X. of the sale
'esident. and he is in Europe dining eye
tn kings. receiving the adulation of be
cialists and trying to organize the sale
ague of Nations. Therefore Con- the
ess waits. The heads of depart T
,nts might reorganize bureaus, i'm are
ove systems and put men on the job and
10 have the courage to cut red tape
4 dismiss drones. but they are not r
the habit of moving until the Presi-
ut presses the button. Therefore
" wait. II
some censure has been visited on giae
e Oregonian for criticising the the
ssident because he left affairs at have
in this condition and went with
Europe. after this newspaper had the
proved his going. There may have emp
n good reasons for his attending sold
peace conference. provided he had job :
the Government at Washington in able
dition to run smoothly in his alb casu
ce, although it remains to be the
we'd that the plans for peace have Depi
gressed better for Mr.. Wilson's char
sence in Paris. But the President or ei
asiduously gathered all the initi-
e in every department of the Cow y NJ
ment. including Congress. into his zen
hands. He has taught his Cabi- s,ie
members and the leaders of his ,-acat
ty in Congress that they must
,e no new move without his in