Clje j&rtoicrs' Journal.
WEDNESDAY MORNING, AUGUST 10,1504.
R. A.. CASSIDY, Editor and Publisher.
AMy: LI. BRADLEY;,- - - Proprietor.
I ■ —————————M—
OUR VOLUNTEER AGENTS.
The following persona are announced as our apcents
at the places standing in connection witli their names,
and are authorized to receive subscriptions and con
tributions for Thk Soldiers' Jouknal:
Miss Amy M. Romans, East Vassalboro', Maine.
Miss Mary P, Looks, Charlestown, Muss.
Mk. Q. T. Crawford, Camp Agent.
Mr. J. I. StkwabT, Canvassing Agent.
We still invite the co-operation of our friends every
where, to increase the circulation and Influence of our
paper.
Contributions, Intended for publication, must be
accompanied by the name of the author to insure in
aartton.
Advertising.---A limited amount of advertising in
serted at ten lor the first and five cents per line for each
subsequent publication. Tiie cash must accompany
all orders.
All Oommm. Irations, and other mail mutter, in
tended for Thk Soldiers' Journal (except such as
Is prep, red in this camp, sliould be addressed to 241,' l<'
tftreet, Washington, D.C. No notice taken of commu
nications unaccompanied by the name of tiie author.
PBOSPBCTUS.
"THK SOLDIERS' JOURNAL,"
PUntISHRD KVKRY wednrstiay at
RENDEZVOUS OF DISTRIBUTION, VA.,
HKCENTLY
CONVALESCENT (AMP, VA.
At the subscription price of $:i,OO per annum,
payable always in advance. Single OOploa
XTive Cents ench.
The proceeds resulting from its sale to be devot
ed to a fund for the maintenance of the or
phans of soldiers who have fallen ,or
may yet fall, in defence of the
cause of the Union
Its primary objects will lie to promote the interests
of the soldier in the ranks. To this end it will contain
all necessary Information as to the methods of keep
ing In good order their account* with the Obvernment,
The soldier in hospital will find in our columns in
«tructions how to procure pay and clothing when en
titled to It; what are the requisites exacted by the
Government when furloughs are granted; and dis
charged soldiers will be put In U c way of procuring
prompt settlements of their accoi .;ts without the in
terference of claim agent*.
Aside from tiiis THE SOLDIERS' JOURNAL will
•tontaiii interesting original and selected reading mat
ter, ft is tiie intention of those engaged in its publi
cation to make its pages lively and readable, and it is
believed that tiie varied talent pledged to its support
will enable it to take at least a respectable rank
swnong the journals of the country.
Superiors to their Inferiors.
In order to the maintenance of a proper degree
of discipline among soldiers, tho principle that
subordinates should not only obey with unques
tioning willingness the orders of, but treat with
all duo respect, their superiors, must be kept
prominently in view. The inculcation of this
principle, so essential, in the opinion of military
men, to tho efficiency of military strength and
the success of its operations, is recognised and
enjoined by Army Regulations as one of thelirst
duties of an officer. In no relation does the
adage, "familiarity bre-ds contempt" so fitly
apply as in tho intercourse between tho soldier
and his oflicer, but, at the same time, under no
circumstances is the authority which rank con
fers so frequently abused, and instead of creat
ing respect engenders a hatred moro pernicious
in its results than tho most unrestrained associa
tion could pro luc3. Official authority in our
army has degenerated, in many cases, from the
dignified demeanor which is the result of con
scious intellectual and martial superiority to
that of a snobbish and contemptible tyranny,
and In such cases soldiers entertain for their su
periors a degroe of disrespect which sours every
attractive feature of military service. This su
perciliousness is confined in a groat degree,
strange to say, to the men who possess few of
the qualifications requisite for a skillful officer,
having been appointed, through the influence of
friends, to positions in the military service from
civil life. Very few of those who have received
military educations but have learned to enforce
discipline and at the same time win the esteem
of their inferiors, and it is a relief in these days,
and makes us think better of our military sys
tem, when we hear the old regulars speak in
terms of unqualified admiration and affection of
the officers under whom they served years ago.
As far as we are able to judge from observation
and experience, the stars, eagles and leaves are
much more approachable and considerate to
private soldiers than tho bars, and this circum
stance accounts in a great degree for the almost
idolatrous respect entertained by soldiers for
their Held an I general, while they execrate the
very names of their line officers. In many cases
soldiers submit to injustice and loss without
complaint, because, through fear of being treat
ed indifferently, they fail to reveal their griev
ances to their immediate superiors.
This practice of treating private soldiers with
indifference and setting aside their claims is not
co»tiiied to military officers, but constitutes what
seems to be one of the new phases of civil life.
Tiie uniform which at one time elicited admira
tion for the wearer has become the badge, we
were about, but hesitate, to say, of contempt.—
Perhaps, as in the case of unrestricted inter
course between superiors and inferiors, " famil
iarity breeds contempt," but, in the congest now
in progress in this nation, where the private sol
dier bears so important a part, and where hirs
services are so indispensable Tor the preservation
of the law which afford* security to all, it would
be well that th person in citizen garb should
see to it that the propensity which engenders a
feeling of indifference Cor the uniform of the
private soldier does not have a similar tendency
When applied to familiarity with higher and no
lier associations, for we hold that the person who
loves not the miwi who exposes his life to defend
can have little affection for the government
itself, and devoid of patriotism he is destitute of
of avcry sentiment that -joes to make up the
sum of true moral excellence.
We are happy to know, however, that there
aro officers, in every relation and situation, who
study to benefit and accommodate their infe
riors, as there are also citizens who treat with
all due consideration tho soldiers of the Union,
without distinctions of rank or grade. Tho for
mer are found in every regiment and depart
ment, the luttor are met in every city and village
of the country. We need not particularize, but
this much we will say, that tho soldier who sur
vives the war will not forget his friends, and
those who spurned him because he was an infe
rior or a soldier may rest assured that they will
also be remembered and, if circumstances per
mit, properly rewcirdsd. *
M > 1
Hacked Down. —The whole country will re
joice to learn that the Union officers in the hands
of the rebels who were placed within range of
the Union guns at Charleston, by way of deter
ring General Foster from shelling the city, have
been exchanged for an equal number of rebel
officers placed under their fire in retalliation. —
The pride and brutality of the robols have for
once been made to succumb to a species of reas
oning which is well adapted to thoir capacities.
Soldiers' Libraries.
While the Sanitary and Christian Commission*
are busily engaged in the philanthropic work
of clothing tho needy, foeding tho hungry, mol
lifying tho wounds, assuaging the pains, and
imparting spiritual consolation to the heroes of
our national struggle, there aro acl.ivo minds
and hands at work at home, collecting and pre
paring boxes and packages which, although
they may not contain either lint or bandages,
will contribute almost as largely toward the re
lief and elevation of the soldier as the labors of
either of the two great commissions. Next to
proper medical and surgical attendance and
spiritual instruction, the sick orwoundod soldier
requires something to preserve his mind from
engaging in those reflections that produce des
pondency, or, worse than thaf, lead to the em
ployment of time in games and amusements
that tend to immorality and extravagance, and
that which has proven most effective for good
under these circumstances is good reading mat*
ter. It is impossible for our friends to fully
realize the amount of relief they afford by the
contribution to soldiers' libraries of books, mag
azines, etc., which after being read by them, are
thrown aside to become food for the moth, and
we are glad to see that the frequent presentations
of this subject to them by the press and the
agents of our various relief societies have been
attended with such signal success. Not only
have tho old magazines and books which works
of the more modern issue have supplanted on
the shelves of the homo libraries bmen sent out
for the entertainment and edification of the sol
dier, but the standard historical, theological,,
biographical, poetical, scientific, dramatic, and
misee'la: eous works of the day are to bo found
among tho bioks contributed, and who shall
undertake to estimate tho benefits resulting
thcrofrom. We hope the friend? oi the poldier
will not grow weary in well-doing, but taking
ou-agt oy what they have already accomplish
ed, press forward untiringly in the good work to
which they have devoted themselves, md relin
quish their efforts only when every hospital and
camp throughout the land is supplied with a li
brary sufficient in variety and extent to gratify
the taste and supply the wants of every class
and grade of tnen represented in our armies.—
Educate the head of the soldier and his heart
will be better able to appreciate the momentous
issues ho is fighting to establish. In a cause like
that for which our government is battling, the
soldier should not be ignorant of the principles,
iuvolved, and nothing is so potent for the dis
semination of wholesome political principles as
a judiciously selected library. While packing
your boxes with lint, bandages and
remember that it will not be considered out of
place, but, on the contrary, emir.ently
ate, to fill up small vacuums with volumes from
the shelves of the home library or nearest
stand.
Conspiracy.—A short time since much sur
prise was created by the arrest of several prom
inent secessionists of St. Louis, Mo., the cause of
their arrest being unknown. It has since trans
pired that they were connected with a conspir.
any extending throughout tho entire Mississippi
Valley, having for its object the erection of a
Northwestern Confederacy. The Washington
authorities have now in their possession testi
mony that implicates many prominent men, C,
L. Valandigham being conspicuous. It is be
lieved that tho recent guillera movements in Mia
souri havo connection with this conspiracy,