The Democratic majority in the American House of Representa- tives
has not forgiven the Army yet. On March 30 they passed, by a vote of 141 to 61, a Bill reducing the pay of officers in the Army by about one-third. The new rates are fair enough, judged by English standards, Major-Generals receiving £1,200; Brigadiers, 11,000; Colonels, £700; Lieutenant-Colonels, £600; Majors, £500; Captains, £350; and First Lieutenants, £300; but they are considered low in America, where the officers are practically always on service, and usually on very disagreeable service, in the Indian districts and on the frontiers, it is possible that the re- duction will please the masses, who dislike the men trained at West Point as gentlemen, but it is sure to injure the Army itself, which is wanted as a nucleus for the real force of the Union, the Militia. It was formally proposed to call the Bill a "Bill for punishing the Army for preserving the Union," and though this satirical motion was rejected by 151 to 62, it ex- pressed very nearly the truth. The Senate will, of course, strike out the reductions, but the tone of the House is making the Democrats unpopular. It smacks too much of Secessionist feeling.
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