The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-08-26


best Judgment of the people. why
should he not ask for the resignation
Of the secretary of war?
The Chicago Journal makes these
comments:
A wise and profitable result of the
Squabble with which the closing days
of the war have been disgraced would
be the resignation of one Russell A
Alger. For the lesson of Ayers career
has been completed. People who may
not have known it before know now
that a rich man is not necessarily
great, and that success in private bus
mess does not assure success in public
business. knowledge of the proprieties
of life was not expected OF Alger.
Everybody knew that he would aVenSe
old wrongs on Merritt, that he would
pay political debts with army appoint
ments, that he would publish secret
communications to the department.
But a good many people thought that
when it came to purely business work
of the campaign he would be lumin-
Gus success. That is where they were
wrong. When scores of soldiers are
dying and thousands are ailing from
yellow and malarial fevers, the secre-
tary of war would be more decently
employed if instead of attempting to
devoting his time to letter of resig-
nation.
The Spokane (Wash.) Spokesman
Review says:
Secretary Alger shows a persistent
determination to convict himself of lit
tleness and incapacity. His most re-
cent exhibition of vindictiveness is in
connection with the courageous and
o,,Ix toll nv
Roosevelt to save the army at Santiago
from humiliation by disease.
The Minneapolis Journal says:
And there was no shelter for the
wounded, who went from the wet grass
to the operating table, where, tired,
overworked and nervous surgeons
dressed their wounds and sent them
back to the wet grass and the drench-
ing rains of the night and the hot sun
of the day And that is the way
modern American army Jared in this
year of grace 1898. Oh, yes; we have
done SO much better than the be-
nighted, ignorant Spaniards. We know
so we'll how to care for our men. And
the boys of America are dying at san
tiago as the boys of Spain died before
them Now we must bring the surviv-
ors home to recuperate from region
where they ought to be in good health.
Should there be an inquiry? Should
there!
All these quotations are from Repub-
lican journals, and could be multiplied
indefinitely, but we have no space for
them We shall make one more quo
tation, from the Army and Navy Reg
lister, Washington, D. c., a professional
journal that cannot be called either
Democratic or Republican:
With the end of the war upon u.s.
and the work of the army and navy
practically accomplished, it is not
amiss to say, in all candor, that both
politics and politicians have had their
influences. The quality of the one and
the presence of the other have con-
trolled the destinies of this nation and
have governed campaigns. The APP
pointments made to staff positions in
the army have in numerous instances,
been fragrant and brazen examples OF
the influence of politics; orders issued
to officers have been actuated by the
letters and visits of influential people;
camps have been chosen or abandoned
with more consideration for the pOliti-
cal effect than any sanitary conditions;
troops have been designated for service
at the front not always because they
were efficient or well equipped, but be-
cause they could get the assignment
and because the senators of their states
wanted it.
These extracts prove one thing, at
least, which is that the Democrats are
not alone in making a concerted effort
to charge the blame for the defects in
the commissary. hospital and transpor-
tation service of the army upon Secre-
tary Alger. A good many Republicans
kind of work.