be put in motion to protect the liberty of a single citizen; the law should be uniform for all, and universal in its application, and the refusal and failure of the State to repress and punish violations of personal liberty is a practical alliance with, and a defence of, anarchy.

CHAPTER IX

THE AMERICAN ARMY

LORD WOLSELEY, with, as it seemed, a fine love of paradox, perhaps from an exaggerated belief in the value of individual initiative, has lately told us that the American Army is "the best in the world."

A few years ago the very phrase "American Army" would almost have been tinctured with irony.'

Contrasted with the conditions which pertained less than a quarter of a century ago, the change in personnel and moral, is even more striking than that which has marked all the other conditions of national life. Europeans smiled at the laxity which attended enlistments. Who took the American Army seriously? What need was there for an American Army at all, except as a small mounted frontier force? In those days, as an American officer' reminds us, "the recruit who easily entered through the front door made his exit from the Army with equal smoothness; the result being that for a time the desertions outnumbered the enlist

1 In 1890 the whole military force of a nation of 60,000,000 consisted of only 25,000 privates (principally of foreign birth) and 2144 officers. The navy was even proportionally smaller. Yet both appeared to suffice, because it seemed absurd to suppose a war with any foreign power.

2 General H. C. Corbin.

ments, and became a national disgrace." Yet the reformers of the Army had a hard task to enlist the public and the Government in their cause. Army reform finally came; it began with a closer scrutiny of candidates. The recruiting standard has gone on increasing in severity, until in 1898 only three men were accepted for every ten rejected as unfit; that is to say, only 29,521 recruits passed muster, while 98,277 applicants were rejected as lacking in legal, mental, moral, or physical requirements.

In the British Army the chief qualification is the physical one; it is almost a foregone conclusion that when a candidate presents himself he is a British subject. It would, on the other hand, surprise no one who recognizes the cosmopolitan character of America to learn that a large number of Army candidates were foreigners. Strictly speaking, of course, there are no foreigners in the American Army. If the force may not be called, as one of its commanders calls it, "American in every sense of the word," yet it is a legal requirement that the accepted soldier shall be a citizen of the United States, 66 or shall have declared his intention to become a citizen." Out of the 130,000 men who presented themselves at the recruiting office in 1898, only some 5000 were aliens, and these were promptly rejected. Of the 29,521 accepted applicants, we learn that 24,000 were native born and 5031 of foreign birth.

Every recruit is obliged to bring with him testimonials of good character signed by two persons, and it is part of the military requirements that "if satisfactory evidence of good character, habits, and conditions cannot be furnished by the recruits, or be otherwise

obtained, the presumption should be against him, and he should not be accepted."

There are other points in the recruiting system which deserve our passing notice. In addition to being of good character, he must specifically be free from intemperate habits; and recruiting officers are directed to seek closely for evidence of intoxication or other forms of debauchery. The recruiting officer cannot be perfectly justified in rejecting men upon whom the smell of liquor was perceptible. The applicant must, furthermore, be intelligent, and must speak, read, and write the American language. Here is a quotation from "Triplet's Manual," the official guide for officers in their examination of recruits :

"The examination of men for enlistment may, in general terms, be divided into the physical, the intellectual, and the moral. In the emergencies which our troops are called upon to meet, where celerity of movement and ability to endure privation and hardships are indispensable to success, the necessity for able-bodied men is obvious. Intellectually, although no educational standard is officially established, a soldier should be able to read and write, and should also be quick and clear in his understanding. The advance in the science and art of war, and the improvement in modern firearms, calls for a higher degree of intelligence than was required by the soldiers in the past. This is recognized by the Government by the establishment of schools and libraries, by providing reading-rooms that are liberally supplied with periodicals and newspapers, and by opening the way for promotion to all who will avail themselves of these opportunities for advancement. The care and attention that the soldier is required to give to his weapon and ammunition, the drill which their use entails, and the skill which may be attained by the practice of riflefiring, develop individuality, excite interest and ambition, and tend to make the profession attractive. It is therefore desirable

that men should be selected who can appreciate this life, and who have the mental capacity to profit by it.

"The moral character should be scrutinized with care, in order that enlistments from the vagrant and criminal classes may be avoided. The recruiting rendezvous is a favourite haunt for these men; and a study of their personal characteristics will well repay the recruiting officer for his labour. The vagrant seeks admission to the Army usually at the beginning of winter, for shelter, food, and clothing, without any intention of completing his enlistment or of performing any more service than he is compelled. The criminal seeks to bury his unsavoury history under an assumed name, and by service in distant stations to escape the observation of those who know him. The evil influence of even one of this class cannot be overestimated; and no degree of physical perfection or soldierly bearing would induce a recruiting officer to accept his service."

In one sense, America may be said truly to have "the best army in the world," for not in America can the private of the regular army be made the butt of scornful jests, or the fact of his enlistment be accepted as primâ facie evidence of his having failed in life. The legal requirements which must be observed before he can enlist, and the physical examination which he must pass, render it certain that his acceptance is a guarantee of worth. He is even welcomed in the

music-halls.

In a country where nearly every man goes armed, and pugnacity exists to a remarkable degree, it is delightful to find an army so peaceful and well behaved. Before the prospective recruit passes into the hands of the examining surgeon, he is obliged to answer the following questions:

1. Have you given your true name or an assumed

one ?