Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-03-20
OurUnrcwarded
Regulars
BY Frederic ]. Haakiu.

Between three and four hundred officers
have left the navy since the war and q
thousand more have made applications
for discharge. These arc all men in the
regular service, not Just the wartime
volunteers. And thousands Of sailors are
len aving The army personnel is dwindling
at the snme alarming rate.
Recently captain, regular IN the
army, who was mentioned for distinguish
cd service in France, gave as his reason for
rrnigning from the service that lit was the
only manly thing to do.
To explain this rather surprising state-
ment be continued: ~ have no income
aside from my army pay, and II rs irnpo9-
sible for me 20 support my family IN
ordinary comfort upon that Mt tho present
cost OF living. ! regret having to leave the
service, but ] owe IL TO my wife and
children
COULDN'T AFFORD NEW UNIFORM.
The other day non-commissioncd
| officer apolopiscd TO his commanding
officer for the shabbiDess of his uniform,
saying that he simply could not afford
prcscntablc clothes on hrs present salary.
well, said his captain, with a wry
smile, YOU had better look at my uniform
before you apologize.
The uniform in question was literally
thing Of shreds and patches. II was shiny
| with long wear, there wss neat, but
obvious patch on one elbow, and the four
strips Of gold braid on each sleeve were
worn thrcadbare Yet this officer has
given 30 wears of loyal servicr tn hrs coun-
try, he was recommended for special
award during the late war, and he rc-
Gently refused an offer Of ten-thousand-
dollar -a-year Job in civil life hccatne of his
devotion 10 the navy. Nevertheless he
finds it impossible to send his two children
To college and st the sarne time To live
with the comfort and dignity which hIs
position calls for and his ability deserves.
Anvone who is often thrown in contact
with men in the regular service cannot but
realize the change IN their attitude since
the wer They are rather in the mood Of
kipling's Tommy Atkins. Who cited the
ingratitude Of the British public. The
sudden slump from the wartime glory 70
the hard facts Of Irving on inadequate pay,
while they sec the stsy-st-hoInes they de-
Tended rrsping all the benefits Of their
fighting, s making most of the men feel
little 40 il they had been the goats IN
this wsr One sees groups of officers dis
ciiasing means of further economy, such ss
trying to get outside work to supplement
their salaries, or even the trivial economy
of wearing ceiluloid collars, with a good
bumor that seems little strained
PROMISED IrcRrAsg.
The ono important yubject among the
enlisted men is tho pay bill This Is
particularly true Of the new recruits. IL
was given out in such an authoritative
way from Washington that the bill for
increased pay for officers and men would
pass that many men we're induced tn en-
list by the prospect. In fact, unofiiclally,
they were promised the increase N pay
as a Christmas gift IL IS the feeling Of
some OF them that they were practically
induced 10 enlist under faise pretensss.
MANY prominent Americans Are active
ly working for the passage Of the bills
increasing the pay Of the army and navy.
IL Is their belief that a storm of protect
would sweep the country II the true state
Of affairs were realized. 4 canvass has
already been made Of the House and Sen
ate and a largo majority Of the members
of both houses have stated IN writing that
they are decidedly IN favor OF an increase.
The uninitiated in matters political might
think that settled the whole matter, and
that the pay bill would be passed xIthou.
further ado. But the ~ays of the poll
sir&dlt are GfDFt kl31Al NEtsss VI btAf
plain citizen. and his motives are not
always apparent at first glance Hence the
paw bill has been held up for months be
cause of the refusal of six members Of
the House of Representatives 70 act.
These men are Thomas ). Butler, of
Chester. Pa. Patrick H. Kelley Of Saginaw
Mich, on the House Naval Committee,
and +. ". Mondell OF Newcastle Wyom-
ing. VI. h Madden Of Chicago, H., F. H.
Gillett, of Springfield, Mass. and J. r.
Nann of Chicago on the Steering Com
mittee The House is willing 20 pass the
Kelley bill which provides for Al increase
for the men, but not for the officers. The
Senate on the other hand is not willing TO
discriminate against the officers, and wish
es to have the Wadsworth bill passed
which will provide for an increase for Of
flcers as well And as the House Steering
Committee is unwilling TO bring UP this
bill In the House the whole matter seems
to be deadlocked.
But the men cannot be held IN the ser
vice with the same firmneSs with which the
pay bill Is held in abeysnce. Represents
tive Madden, one of the pay bills bitter
est enemies, recently came out with the
statement that if the officers and men
didn't like the pay they were getting
they could get out They are following
this very sensible advice with alarming
rapidity. Secretary Daniels, in the mean
time, Is recommending an extensive ship
building program for the navy, which
means that the navy will require more
men.
GREAT BRITAIN MORE LIBERAL.
Great Britain seems to feel a more
substantial gratitude for her defenders
than our own politicians do for ours She
has recently granted a hundred per cent
increase in pay for her army and navy.
The United States is allowing the interest
on her loan TO Great Britain TO lapse for
two years. So when the shabby American
officer sees the smart English officer
swanking by he may at least have the
sorry consolation that he and all his fell
low citizens are In an indirect way paving
for all this added grandeur in the army of
our ally, even il it is at the expense of our
own army and navy.
Among the prominent Americans who
are actively supporting the increased pay
bill is w. Butler Duncan, famous yachts
man and skipper of the cup defenders that
have raced against Sir Thomas Lipton's
yachts.
"The regular army formed the skele-
ton upon which the wartime army was
built" said Mr.. Duncan in a recent
interview. "The officers of the regular
army are the men who took the huge raw
bulk of conscnpts and volunteers and