| Show THE PLAINT OF THE VOLUNTEER I 1 believe it is a fact that the complaints of enlisted soldiers in the late sortie against spain came wholly from volunteers and chiefly from those of the western states the cause of this is worth looking for it it is the he outcropping cropping out of a phase of the national life and is indicative of growth of the national character in the old states of the east men are born with the quiet patience of the local ox for generations they have been growing accustomed acus tomed to restraint when they engage to labor they expect to do as they are directed it if they volunteer to serve in the army they understand that they surrender themselves wholly for the time being to the long gradation of officers and officials over them from their noncommissioned officers to the president they are in this respect like the regulars they take what comes with assurance that growling will not help matters and they exercise a common sense philosophy phili phill sophy in assuming that it is better to laugh than cry the western volunteers represent the western life where restraint is always irksome even the hired man ot of the west wept dislikes to be instructed it grinds him to have to do what he Is told to do by his hie employer As an illustration let me give just juat one little experience with a first class west ern farm hand in a country where no farmer ever thou thought glit of cutting weeds on the road along his f farm arm I 1 sent this man out with a mower and an old cutter to set an example to my neighbors the man was so chagrined at being seen doing such work that he rebelled and I 1 had to tell him to do the work 0 or r git he did it and I 1 had the pleasure of being at least two miles of highway dally daily that were the cleanest in the country and the man admitted that it was a great improvement western men mistake license licens e for liberty they do not realize that liberty means constraint a concession of individual liberty all the time tor for the benefit of the mass the young men of the west never before knew the restraint of army life they were bursting with volcanic fire of enthusiasm when the war became possible the man who cautioned them was looked upon as lacking patriotism I 1 lectured before the young men of the brigham young academy of ava last spring when soldiers were moving to the front the boys were wild to x volunteer I 1 told them some homely truths s and some ome of them ithem said I 1 bed bad given them new light but I 1 presume many of them volunteered and in a shout time became sick of the restrain to which w bieh they had to co submit and venti ed it in complaints compla Ants of their treat treatment mouL this cry of the fhe volunteers against the treatment they have received doubtless has bias in some eams ln in ot stances ances good cause behind it butin but in the mabin ft dt shor shows simply that western life is stall some somewhat whak wildia not sawwa ly as the east baet believes it to be it marks a condition cheit will make it necessary for the nation to rely teal and less upon volunteers and mote more and more upon a standing army tor for protection if that la Is volt not clear let me add that no nation lis Is j safe caf e behind an am sa admy atsy of volunteers who feel that they poe sess a privilege of faultfinding fault finding that may grow into revolt and refusal 0 o t obey the orders necess necessary amy to make any army useful I 1 look for a great increase in OUT our dt standing anding array army even though it does nothing but stand because of the spirit of disaffection abo wn by many mandof of the he rec recent nt volunteers and ana I 1 maintain that it will alu be wisdom to make the increase I 1 look with pride upon the boys of the dihe twenty fourth because while they bore as hard a part as fell to the ithe acott any of our men they did ir dvar a murmur when theop marched down east bast temple fotre eit ft other day I 1 was at their elbow and watched them closely in tours fours they passed like a great machine feeling their independence of ra W gt raint would have been looking tor friends the went by vath eyes front and never a man mail forgot thet save to glance up at ow he banners streaming over them never a word not a gato but now and then a covert stolen smile of pleasure one on boy with a face that could never be 6 happy and a hat marked all over with legends of san juan was sorely tempt ed to play antics as lie he moved but bul tbt sense of duty was supreme and witha long drawn out sadle on his face ba t looked straight ahead and apparently apparent li saw nothing but marching orders you cant get volunteers to submit to that I 1 was a volunteer once m myself and one day I 1 came near bear sent to the guard house because awo we were waiting for a train I 1 luo hall joined with the bivs in shooting at some pigs across a river and fully hw halt a mile away the captain gave VA me 11 because as orderly sergeant I 1 wa setting such an example I 1 knew lie was right and took it all without a word but if that captain had talked to me e that way atter after we were mustered out I 1 would have knocked the stuffing out of him when the volunteers get home harne it will not be a month before they wm t forget about the evils of which th they 1 have been complaining and they be loud in their praise of the president preside and the war department the investigation now on will that under the circumstances the taftt ment of our men was the beet pos possible dible CHARLES ELUS |
