The Washington herald., 1922-03-11
Some Army Facts.
To the Editor. The Washington Herald

~ thc ENAtoIs LUG
AS a member of the lower classes
was amused by the weird con-
ceptions of army life. the charac-
ter of the army's personnel and
economic views expressed by A. H.
Shellenberger
Is Mr.. Shellenberger piqued be-
cause men would not labor for him
at 81 a day? l am myself an en-
ployer OF labor in the building
trade. am glad to say that after
considerable experience have
Gus and most reliable. would
not have a man around who did
not prove himself worth 81 a day
after a days trial. i have my own
opinion of employers who seek to
take advantage of . temporary
condition to benefit themselves by
attempting to hire labor at such a
low level. They don't sell their
product. whatever 1t may be. at a
corresponding rate, you may be
sure, nor do their bank balances
show depletion, but they rant
vociferously II an offer worthy only
of scorn meets the disgust IL de-
serves. In decrying the reluc-
lance of war veterans to work for
80 per day. Mr.. Shellenberger fails
to state whether the same trait is
observable in others who had to
feed and clothe themselves during
the war To be consistent in his
argument should not the delinquen-
cies of these last devotees OF
freedom also be included in the
indictment?
OF course, it Is the misfortune
of those OF us who served in the
army and navy not to have lived
when men cf those days were
men-the kind real Americans are
made Of etc" This, in spite of
the fact that the draft had to be
resorted to, most strenuously, in
civil war days when men were
men" Was this necessary to put
a holy fear into their systems?
Most of us will be fair enough to
admit this was not the case. Did
civil war veterans receive bonuses
during and after the war? They
most emphatically did. some far
ing quite literally. n Mr.. Shell
lenberger is the American he pur-
ports to be Though he does not
unequivocally so. state) he will
only have to review the records
Of his father or grandfather 70
know this is a fact. Nor were
the civil war veterans listed as
buns or parasites.
We must challenge thc statement
that the bonus scheme carried to
its ultimate conclusion means that
citizens must toll and support g.
H. L. L.. he ~
during the world war. Can Mr.
Sheilenberger be citing the mill
tary statistics of his own coun-
try? Less than 100000 served
two months or over, including
those that volunteered and did not
have to have holy fear injected
into their systems. Why not give
these shrinking, self-seeking. well
fed and paid shirkers their rights
The ratio is 100. 900. 900 to 100000
or rather 104 to 4 as the shirkers
themselves must be included. That
should materially lessen the strain
of contemplating the dread conse-
quences of a bonus.
As to the care of the disabled
that Mr.. Shellenberger speaks Of
the justice Of that is too elemen-
tary for discussion and really be-
lifting to one who would intrude
lit into a discussion. I apologize
most humbly.
l don't know much about life In
the camps on this side, except that
never found II joyous. No need
to go into details OF the grind or
the other side from April to No
vember with plenty of twenty
hour, days and no overtime. All
can say Is that the grind wore
out men in my outfit who have
not and never will apply for COM
pensation to their generous gov
eminent. Though not technically
disabled, they are worse off.
As to the poor civilians-mil-
lions of them-who had to pay
high prices and lost their jobs as
q result of the efforts Of 100000
men of inferior type in the
Argonne. our heart bleeds for them
I happened to be one Of them dur
ing a part of 1917. All could
save during that time was $4,000
and am no miser. Some called
1t work. So did I till I learned
the meaning of it in the army
upder pressure. These self-sacri-
ficing workers. maintained an atti-
tude of habitual disgust toward
fools who Joined the army" when
the boss could ret them exemp-
ton. After mir 6ng with that
cult IL was refreshing to get into
the army among real men. Never
have been among men. before
or since. who assayed higher in
anrinr the AEr. shelienber-