The New York herald., 1921-12-12
ECONOMY BECOMES
BYWORD FOR ARMY
No More See America Tour
for Raw Recruit at Expense
of Government.
MUST WATCH CLOTHES
Transfers of Whole Regiments
a Thing of Past as Congress
Cuts Appropriations.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 1.-THE time was
when in popular fancy no good soldier
ever locked at his heels That belief,
fostered by countless jol1esmiths, is due
to be rudely shattered when the dough-
boys Of the present army offer their
testimony, according to officials of the
War Department. The good soldier of
the present day Is giving careful atten-
tion to not only his shoes, heels and
soles' out to every item of his equip
ment they declare. and all because of
the wave of economy that has swept
over the military arm of the service.
In Its effort to live within the reduced
appropriations granted by the present
Congress the army has been forced to
apply economies all along the line and
the thrift habit Is being impressed on
the rank and file In 4 manner calculated
to leave an abiding impression
some saving soul suggested that the
item or shoes was one that might be
easily subjected to a. little pruning. The
doughooys We're scuffing out their sole
leather at g. rate that threatened to
prove ruinous, he demonstrated, and 1t
was suggested that the man behind the
gun be made personally responsible for
the state of his footwear. The sugres-
ton was adopted and as translated to
the rank and file Ii runs about as fol-
lows:
Privates will see that their shoe soles
are IN good order-that they are turned
In Tor replacement at the first sign of
a hole in the outer layer of leather,
and they will make this shoe inspection
every day, on penalty OF having to pay
themselves for any requirements where
the old shoe turned in to the Quarter
masters Department is to greatly worn
to permit it's repair
Saving on Clothes.
In the matter of clothing. too. the
War Department is effecting saving
wherever possible. When a private or
"non-com'' takes his best girl to the
movies he is clad in his Sunday best,
the suit he wears only at inspection
ana when on pass. In his other waking
! hours he is uniformed in kalShi that has
seen better days, but still Is serviceable
for drills and camp routine Careful
inspections of salvaged clothing are
made by the inspector general to the
end that no uniform be scrapped while
there yet is minimum OF service in It..
Economics in clothing. however, are
merely straws to show how the wind Is
make Congresses dollars go as far as
possible is apparent all along the line.
and even the rawest of recruits is aware
that thrift is regarded as a cardinal
virtue In the army. That is impressed
on him as soon as he enlists, for where
II once was possible to join the colors in
one part of the country and be assigned
20 duty with some remote organization.
getting splendid opportunity to -See
America First at the expense of
the War Department, things work out
quite differently now. Recruits are as
signed to organizations nearest the sta
tions where they enlist, and the day of
free sightseeing tours are over, War De-
partment officials assert.
Only CoIors Are Sent.
This transporta ton taboo is fast be-
coming all inclusive according to army
offi,ers. In times past. when g. regiment
was transferred to another post the
transfer was accomplished by entraining
the men and their impedimenta and set
ting them down in their new home. bag
and baggage. Under the new scheme of
things the transfer of regiment in
wolves no such expenditure Of time and
mo3ey. Only the colors of the outfits to
be transferred are sent on to the new
post the men being assigned to some
other organization near by.
An instance OF this is to be found in
the recent transfer of the Nineteenth In
fantry Regiment from the Atlantic TO the
Pacific coast. The colors of the Nine
teenth were sent to San Francisco-and
by boat instead of train. to save expense
the men of the old Nineteenth were
transferred to the Twenty-ninth Infan-
try Regiment, near by. and the new regi-
rtf ~ cd hty
members of the Thirty-second Infantry,
who had been put on the inactive list. at
the soresidio. Even the colonel of the
Thirty-second Infantry became the COM
mander OF the transferred" Nineteenth
When transfers of units are TO be
made at lesser distances they are accom-.
plished by hiking. The men shoulder
their full impost of equipment. the ac-
companying baggage trains are loaded
the command 10 march Is given and the
outfit is on its way TO it's new post
Another evidence OF the arrny's effort
10 cut its coat of expenses according to
the cloth appropriated. Is to be found in
a new sentence that is beginning to ap-
pear in the general orders of the chief
of staff That sentence reads: "No ex-
pense will be incurred by the Govern
ment in connection with the change
herein directed" Interpreted by Off
cials of the War Department, II means
that no individual transfers are being
made except at the expense of the in
dividual involved.
Indeed, army travel has been reduced
to a minimum. even on official business.
Where an officer is sent from any de-
partment on an inspection trip he is
charged with the performance Of any
other duties in connection herewith that
may concern other departments OF the
service. and the travel expenses OF sew
eral men thereby are saved.
Economy has become the armys
watchword. and the days of war time
spending are over.