Mr. SEWELL, from the Committee on Military Affairs, submitted the following REPORT. [To accompany S. 661.] The Committee on Military Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (S. 661) to regulate the pay of noncommissioned officers in the Army, have carefully considered the same and report it with the following amendment: In line 4 strike out the word "ninety-six" and insert "ninety-eight." Your committee reported this bill at the first session of the Fiftyfourth Congress after a very thorough examination, and it was passed by the Senate. The committee have again carefully examined into the whole subject and again report it favorably with the amendment, fixing the 1st day of July, 1898, as the date when its provisions shall take effect, and recommend its passage and adopt the report made to the last Congress, the amendments recommended to the bill then pending (S. 2420) having been incorporated in the pending bill. [Senate Report No. 642, Fifty-fourth Congress, first session.] The Committee on Military Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (S. 2420) to regulate the pay of noncommissioned officers in the Army, have carefully considered the same and report: Your committee submit the following communications and recommendations from the War Department in regard to this bill: Letter of the Assistant Secretary of War. Indorsement of Major-General Miles. Letter of the Adjutant-General of the Army. The committee fully concur in the views expressed by the General of the Army, the Assistant Secretary of War, and the Adjutant-General of the Army, and beg to submit the following reasons why this bill should become a law for the best interest of the service: The grade of noncommissioned officer in the line of the Army is the intermediary between the private and that of the commissioned officer. On The noncommissioned officer is always in immediate contact with the men. his force of character, good capacity, strict integrity, untiring energy, and soldierly qualities depends, in a great measure, the success of military administration. The very slight increase of his present pay over that of the private soldier is totally incommensurate with the responsibility placed upon him and the onerous duty required of him. He receives less pay than the private soldier on extra duty, and so it not infrequently happens that the good soldier in the ranks prefers extra duty in the staff department to the chevrons of the noncommissioned officer. This should be remedied by establishing such remuneration as will induce men of high intelligence to enter the Army with the object of making the career of the noncommissioned officer that of their lives. The qualifications necessary for such a career in a well-trained modern army demand a much higher order of intelligence than heretofore, owing to the introduction of modern arins, thereby increasing enormously the dangerous zone over which troops in hostile contact must be led, and greatly adding to the importance of the subordinate leaders, including the noncommissioned officers. The opinion of the highest military authorities on this subject, based on the testi mony of all intelligent observers of the progress of modern battles, is stated in HomePrecis of Modern Tactics, as follows: "The question of how a small body of men should be handled in actual fighting has now become of far greater importance than formerly. The first troops There can * * that come into contact with one another are small detachments. be no doubt that the correct leading and handling of these small bodies conduces greatly to bringing the action of larger bodies to a successful conclusion. 糖 * And it follows that the skill and intelligence of individual officers of every grade, more especially their aptitude for seizing favorable places for an advance, are now of more value than they have ever been in war." Thus, then, the qualifications and attainments of the noncommissioned officers of the line must be of high order, and may be briefly stated as follows: (1) Theoretical and practical knowledge of the duties of their grades in minor tactical operations, outpost, advance, and rear-guard service. (2) Comprehension of the principles governing the modern fighting formation of a company, troop, or battery, mounted and dismounted, and practical instruction therein. (3) Intelligence and aptitude in "squad leading" over varied ground (cavalry, mounted and dismounted). (4) Horsemanship, skill in use of arms, and knowledge of the duties of their grades in drills and garrison duties. (5) Knowledge of all duties of noncommissioned officers of interior guards. (6) Sufficient mathematical training to become gunners in the modern seacoast fortifications. (7) Soldierly appearance and deportment; firmness and force of character sufficient to inspire respect and obedience when leading separate groups in action and under the immediate supervision of the company commanders. Formerly familiarity with parade-ground drills, a knowledge of routine garrison duties, and a neat, soldierly appearance were considered sufficient tests of the efficiency of noncommissioned officers, but now the vastly increased importance in modern war of intelligent and well-trained subordinates of every grade demands, as shown above, a higher order of intelligence and opens a career for young soldiers of the right stamp, but who have been unable to obtain commissions, which may justly be regarded as of a high professional character. It follows, naturally, that to obtain greatly increased efficiency in the line of the Army, by securing the services of intelligent men willing to make the career of the noncommissioned leader in the fighting line their profession, the pay should, at least, equal the compensation paid to the noncommissioned officers of the staff, and the object of this bill was to bring the pay of sergeant-major, first sergeant, and quartermaster-sergeant of the line up to the standard fixed for the pay of the ordnance, commissary, and post quartermaster-sergeants; to give the sergeants of the line the pay now given the first sergeant of the line, and the corporal the pay heretofore enjoyed by the sergeant. The committee have amended the bill by reducing the increase 37 per cent from that proposed. The following table shows the result of the increase as recommended by the committee: Your committee believe that the needs of the Army call for this increase of pay, and that the amount to be expended will secure a very much higher state of efficiency, and, besides being a necessity for the service, will in the end, by reason of the better condition of affairs in attracting to the service intelligent young men and preventing desertion, prove an economical measure. With the amendments proposed, the committee report favorably on the bill and recommend its passage. WAR DEPARTMENT, OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY, Washington, D. C., March 24, 1896. SIR: I return herewith Senate bill 2420, referred to the Department for information and remark, and have the honor to invite attention to the inclosed reports of the Adjutant-General of the Army and the Major-General Commanding the Army, whose views are concurred in. It has become practically impossible to command the services of the class of men needed in the Regular Army for noncommissioned officers without a considerable addition to the amount of pay now allowed them. Very much could be said upon this subject in addition to the very important views of it presented by the remarks of the Adjutant-General. For example, it is thought that the entire solution of such difficulties as now exist in the administration of Army affairs, so far as the enlisted strength of the Army is concerned, will be reached if the service will be made sufficiently attractive to the kind of material which the Government needs. A proper increase in the pay of the noncommissioned officers would be a long step in this direction. It would stimulate, of course, the desire among the private soldiers for promotion, which would necessarily result in additional care, activity, and general soldierly qualities. Additional attractiveness, by way of increased pay, to the position of noncommissioned officer would also induce much more intelligent, competent, and faithful soldiers to enlist as privates with a view to promotion. The number of desertions will be diminished in proportion as the standard of character and intelligence in the enlisted force is raised. As the service becomes more attractive to the best class of material for soldiers, the number of recruiting stations and rendezvous will be diminished, and thus the increase of expense will be to a great degree apparent only, and, as desertions become more infrequent, expenses will be still further reduced by diminution in the number of courts-martial, the number of prisoners, and the expense of apprehending and maintaining deserters. The passage of this bill is recommended by the Department. JOSEPH B. DOE, Assistant Secretary of War. The CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE ON MILITARY AFFAIRS, United States Senate. [S. 2420, Fifty-fourth Congress, first session.] A BILL to regulate the pay of noncommissioned officers in the Army. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That on and after the first day of July, eighteen hundred and ninety-six, the pay per month of the following noncommissioned officers of the line of the Army shall be as follows: Sergeant-major, artillery, cavalry, and infantry, thirtyfour dollars; regimental quartermaster-sergeant, artillery, cavalry, and infantry, thirty-four dollars; first sergeant, artillery, cavalry, and infantry, thirty-four dollars; sergeant, artillery, cavalry, and infantry, twenty-five dollars; corporal, artillery, cavalry, and infantry, eighteen dollars. [Indorsement.] HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY, Respectfully returned to the honorable the Secretary of War, concurring in the inclosed letter of the Adjutant-General of the Army, and strongly recommending the increase of pay proposed for a most deserving class of public servants. NELSON A. MILES, Major-General Commanding. |