of course followed them. All went well for a time. The
bride sank her social inferiority in the rank of her husband, and the
ladies of the post called on her, not as the sergeant's daughter but as
the officer's wife. The mother of the bride finally decided to visit
her, and thus became the guest of the officer, who was a lieutenant.
Under ordinary circumstances it was the duty of all the ladies to call
on the mother of the lieutenant's wife; but it so happened that she was
the wife of a sergeant, and hence to call was impossible. No one did so.

The young wife felt herself insulted, and the ubiquitous reporter seized
upon the situation, until it was taken up by every paper in the country.
The pictures of mother, daughter, and sergeant were shown, and columns
were written on the subject. Almost to a man the editors denounced what
they termed the snobbishness of the army, and denounced West Point for
producing snobs, claiming that the ladies of the post, had they been
real ladies, would have called on a respectable laundress even if she
had been the sergeant's wife. I refer to this to show the intricacies of
American etiquette. The point is that nearly all the editors who knew
anything, believed that the ladies were right, but did not dare to say
so on account of the fact that the majority of their readers felt
themselves the equals of the army officer; hence the cry of snobbery
that went whistling over the land. The lieutenant committed a gross
mistake in marrying the girl; he married out of his class. But in
America I am told there are no classes, and I am constantly forgetting
this.

In the army there are several black regiments (negroes). They have
black chaplains, and attempts have been made to find black officers,
but the social difficulties make this impossible, though the blacks are
free and independent citizens and help pay the salaries of the white
men. It would be impossible to force white soldiers to admit to their
regiment black soldiers. No white man would permit a black officer to be
placed over him, even by inference.

In the navy we see an entirely different situation. On every ship are
negroes in the crew, sleeping on the same gun-decks with the white men,
and no fault is found; but a negro officer would be an impossibility.
Though several have been sent to the Naval Academy, none have "gone
through." Even in these almost perfect institutions favoritism exists.
To illustrate: the son of a prominent man