New-York tribune., 1920-03-19
One Lesson of the War
Promotion, in Army Should Be by
Selection
To the Editor of The Tribune.

To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: There are before the House of
Representatives and the Senate bills
purporting to promote the efficiency
of the army Of the United States"
Certain provisions of these bills have
been widely discusscd; for example,
the question of universal military serv-
ice and Of the size of our regular army.
The root of the whole matter has been
neglected.
No corporation could succeed were
the president and board of directors
selected because they we're the oldest
employees. One can imagine the set of
rules which would be made by COM
mittee of the oldest employees of
great bank, and one can almost .see the
awful frown these men of forty years.
service would bend upon a compara-
tive youngster of twenty years service
who dared to suggest some of those
rules were wrong. Yet that is the way
the army has always been run.
Let us suppose some terrible tinan-
cial crisis occurs and that among the
personnel of the board of trustees and
those bank officers in responsible posi-
tions were found many who were lazy,
cowardly or ignorant; that these were
temporarily displaced. Would it be ad-
visable after the war to denote the
capable juniors who had displaced
them and restore them to their former
positions? Would that help the bank
organization
1t is as sad as 1t is natural to find
that many officers Of the army who
were good enough for routine peace
duties failed absolutely at the front
or under the strain Of preparation In
the bureaus.
Some were incapable; some cared
more for their bodily comforts than
for the welfare of their men; some
pushed caution in the face of danger
to excess; those who overstepped the
line too far were permitted to resign,
but there is no provision for either
eliminating or retarding the advance
ment of the officer who is no good. He
must be thief, an overt coward, a
confirmed liar, public drunkard, be-
fore he can be dismissed.
The House bill provides that all off,
GERS Of the army be put on a single list
and promoted by seniority, the brave
and the overcautious, the shirk and the
worker alike. The Senate bill provide
that board Of officers shall yearly ex-
anime the qualifications of every off,
Ger, his past record, the recommends
tlons of his superiors and his mental
alertness and under oath to act with
out fear, favor or affection and with a
sole regard for the efficiency of the army
OF the United States: to classify ali
officers in three classes-Class A, those
fit for immediate promotion; Glass B.
those not at the time fit for promotion:
Class G, men whose elimination will be
for the good of the service. Promo.
tions will then be made in order of
seniority from the "a" list. With the
"A" list opening opportunities to the
ambitious and the &C" list to spur on
the laggard, our regular army can
hardly fail to improve. If.all officers
are put on single list and promoted
J by seniority what little hope the cap.
able men now have will die. Our best
1officers in the lower grades are resign.
ing by the thousand; their pay is
worse than that Of the school teache,
and they see no hope for advancement
The poor and inefficient man who does
not dare leave safe job stays in the
army
Our officers are probably naturally
as capable as any body of college
trained men of similar size. Give them
the machinery to improve the service
and they will do it. Fail, and they will
leave the machine
AYMAR EMBURY II.
New York. March IT 1920