Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-05-18

| ~ GERS who have borne the bur-
~ den of service on the other
side and return them to this
country. The plan includes, if this is
done, the sending of regular officers
who have served faithfully here and
who can be spared to take the posi-
tions made vacant by the change.
/ Only about a third of the regular
| officers ever reached the other side
They bore the burden of the fighting
and have well earned the right to
| their relief. On the other hand. they
had the opportunity. and those who
made good and had the experience are
! of great value in many ways in Army
/ administration. Their observation OF
! events on the field of action and in
the lines behind the lighting area has
been liberal education To them In
! their profession, and the War Depart
| ment is wise in calling them back to
administration and reorganization,
| 1t is safe to say that none OF the
| officers who remained on this side did
so without protest Some of the ablest
| in the Army We're kept In the United
| states to organize commands which
| they We're expecting to lead on the
other side, but were forced to remain
here, either because the armistice
ended their hopes of getting over or
! DSCduSt Training ne" tTpppS WAS tHelT
undoing. After all, their work of
! preparation had been completed they
were ordered back to train more units
In this way officers. including such
men as Maj. Gen. Leonard Wood. the
senior major general of the Army
and man experienced in admins
/ tration; Maj. Gen. Jesse Mel. Carter.
who was in command of the Lafayette
Division assigned to convoy. when
/ he end of the war came, and hun
lrn1 of ~. hn'r. oct bnir oh. :
: is proposed as far as such men can
! be spared, to send them to France,
not for a consolation trip. but that
| they may see where and how the war
| was fought. No sane person really
believes that the end of wars for all
time has come any more than he ac-
cepts the present time as the mil
/ lennium. If there are to be more
wars. competent officers will then. as
! in the present instance, be the most
essential thing that the government
cannot obtain by rush order. The
| officers. therefore, who can be spared
to have the opportunity for study and
! observation will be sent to learn all
that they may be better qualified pro-
fessionally.
X X X X
| An interview given out by Senator
Capper of Kansas on the treatment
: of the Ma
Comment on Views tional Guard
on Old U. S. Army. Of the regu-
! lar officers contains a note that goes
| to the heart of things. Speaking of
| the relations of officers to the enlist
Army as not democratic army.
While most people would make the
admission unwillingly. the fact re-
mains that the pre-war army of the
United States was mercenary army
that is. both officers and men were
| in it for the pay they received from
| the government. There is certainly
nothing. dishonorable in that fact.
But along with it went another factor
that is not so pleasant. The old army
carried traditions almost feudal In
their nature of the relation between
officers and their enlisted men; and
some of them were very fine.
The enlisted man has no better
friend in the Army than the first
class officer. The really competent
officer is the protector of the man.
He shields him from punishments If
it can be done without harming any
one. The excellent officer of some
years experience, and fit to command
| men, seldom resorts to courts martial.
They recognize that the officer who
cannot keep control without resort
| to such measures usually himself de-
serves a court-martial for his own
all that, in the old army. there has
been-and If it be continued on the
old plan the same thing will remain
there-a feeling of superiority on the
one part and on the other a feeling
of submission. not to the officer, but
to the individual.
The senator went too far when he
spoke of Prussiahism in the Ameri-
can Army, if he meant that the Of
ficers abused the men in the Prus-
sian fashion; for they are not of that
sort. But there was the idea of class
distinction which in an army truly
democratic cannot be favored for an
instant. The complaint was not that
the men were not ready to obey
orders to yield obedience when they
understood that it was for the sake
of better discipline; but that they
did not want any one to lord it over
them. The reason for this feeling in
the old Regular Army was not hard
to find. Officers and men were of
different class. The officers, as in
dividuals democratic. felt the adYan-
tage of their better professional
training; and the men had the Eng
lish idea that they had taken the kings
shilling.
Men of the volunteer and of the
draft service had no such feeling.
They were the. citizen soldiery of the
United States republic to which they
owed allegiance; and with their bodies
and brain they were giving proof of
their faith. They were part of a
great. proud National Army; and they
need fear no man.
The war is over; the men are re-
turning to their old or to new call
ings. better for the enforced dis
cipline to which all but the coward
slackers gave willing obedience; but
they want a new order of things
They are insisting that the old
Regular Army give way to better
system. What that system will be
only time can tell. Universal mill
tary training, properly conducted,
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