Show OUR DWINDLING ARMY Officers of or the regular army are se Be seriously seriously alarmed over oer their dwindling forces fores or es They rhe say that the companies and regiments are arf mere skeletons That there is hardly one in the entire army that has Its full tull peace quota When the terms of o the mens enlist enlistment enlistment ment mett expire they do not reenlist They get out of ot the army as rapidly as they can And the number of ot deser desertions desertions according to reliable reports Is increasing It has as been said that the abolition of or the post canteen is responsible for or present pre nt conditions This may be one reason reasa but It Is only one of dt many The absence of ot the canteen by no means accounts tor aU the failures to reen reenlist reenlist reenlist list or for all the desertions We Ve doubt If it it accounts for more than a small percentage of them The truth is that the thc lot of the private soldier is not at all a happy one under the most favorable circumstances In recent years the th demand for tor labor has leer teer unparalleled There has been plenty of work for all who want to work The wages paid have been very high Common laborers earn from 60 to 75 a month and sometimes more They vork ork eight hours and they are Independent Skilled laborers of whom there are many in the army re receive receive receive as a civilians U 4 to 38 8 per day da ac according according according cording to the section of oC the tha country and the character of ot their work The pay of at a private In the regular army Is from fram 12 to 16 a month with board and some ime S clothing thrown In No won wonder wonder wonder der the private looks with envy upon up n his civilian brother Some officers are suggesting compulsory compulsory compulsory sory military service as a cure for the admitted evil They say that young I men between the age of 18 and 25 2 years should be required to give not less leas than tha n two years ears to the army anny ser service service service vice This Is the rule In many of the European countries The Herald does not believe however that any necessity necessity sity sll for tot It exists here When we need men for tor defense we can always get them as many man as are necessary and many more In our war with Spain it was not possible to use u e to adan advantage advantage tage a tenth of the men that offered themselves We do not need In this country a large standing army arm though we do need a 8 nucleus around which to form torm forman torman an effective army when it is needed This province pr Is filled to a considerable ble extent by the national guardsmen of the various states Perhaps we do need more mere men In our skeleton regi regiments regiments regiments ments and companies The way to get them though Is not by a compulsory military service law but by an in increase crease creace In the pay of the men by mak making making making ing their surroundings pleasanter their lives Hes better worth living |