The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-09-19
Force the Investigation.

heart of every individual in this coun-
try that the present administration
has been guilty OF derelction that is
criminal. If the apologists for Alger
want to put the matter on the basis
of laundering, so much the worse for
him. 1t was the plumbers that are
made in warfare that Napoleon had in
view when he said that a blunder was
worse than a crime. The responsible
ity of the laundering may be fixed on
Alger, if the president is so inclined,
but the people will not be of a mind
to accept an apology for what has been
done
The results of the evil-doing Of the
powers directing the war have been
particularly brought home to us here
already, and today, when the Twelfth
Minnesota arrives and we hear the
story of the horrors Of the great mo-
billing camp, they will be even more
keenly felt. A month ago a commits
stoned officer of the Fourteenth, home
On furlough, said that he had lain in
a division hospital in the camp at
Chickamauga and had actually seen
men. suffering from disease, so help
infested their persons. When the reg
iment has been mustered out and the
men are no longer under the restraint
Of silence, we shall have the whole
truth about this matter. 1t is horri-
BILE to think of, but the man who made
the statement referred to is the son Of
a respected citizen of st. Paul and an
enthusiastic soldier
We have already the figures in the
case of the Third infantry, U. S. A.
Here is a body Of troops said to be
the finest regiment Of foot in the regu-
lar army. 1t has been magnificently
disciplined at the best post in the
United States. 1t has been efficiently
differed, and the reports go to show
that it was for years the cleanest reg
iment morally and physically in the
regular organization. More than half
of the men have seen service on the
frontier and know what life in the
field is, and, when they were ordered
to Cuba, they had very clear idea
of what they might expect.
The regiment left Smelling over 500
strong, with a full complement of Of
flcers. After five months in camp, I'M
der the control OF the general staff,
that regiment is back at Fort Smelling
with less than 800 men fit for duty.
disease.
What excuse has the government to
offer for the fact that more than one
third of this magnificent body of troops
should have SO far been affected by
climatic conditions that were accurate
" understood and should have been
provided for as to be now in hospital
or unfit for duty? That is the Dues
ton. What excuse is there for this?
These were not raw men, not men who
would succumb under even eXtraordi-
nary hardships. Those of them who
could survive on a diet of bacon, hard
tack and coffee, with plenty of quiz
nine, in a climate altogether foreign to
what they had been used to for years,
came back. 1t appears that there was
nothing else for them to survive on
than the articles named.
Why were the men who could not
survive that sort of diet not supplied
with food and medicine more fitting
for the sick?
The government will have to meet
these questions fairly:
Why was the Third infantry not sup
piled with the camp equipage that 1t
turned over to the general quarter
masters staff for transportation to
Cuba? Is it a part of the Alger plan
Of warfare to let men sleep without
shelter, to wear the same rags for
months q nd To Io
Of the means Of cooking the army ra-
ton?
Why was not the regiment supplied
With even its own field hospital equip
ment? Why was it deprived Of the
medical corps Of it's own training? Is
it not right to charge the persons re-
sponsible for the deprivation of the
regiment of these things with criminal
stupidity or negligence?
By what sort of reasoning did Alger
and his men arrive at the conclusion
that the Red Cross society was not
necessary in the field for the comfort
of the army? 1t appears that the
Third infantry was in the thick of the
fighting about Santiago. It is agreed
on all hands that the first that the
Third saw Of the Red Cross people,
after the regiment left Tampa for
Cuba, was when the regiment was de-
barked at Montauk. The people of
this country gave much intelligent
consideration, a good deal of money
and much self-sacrificing effort to the
establishment Of the Red Cross as an
aid to our arms. Did Gen. Alger be-
lieve that some Of the glory of his
gold-festooned medical staff would be
lost if the Red Cross was given an
opportunity in the field?
There has been political chicanerv.
the perversity Of ignorance, the as
sumption of vanity, or rather all three.
at the bottom of the trouble that has
cost the soldiers of the United States
untold and unnecessary suffering and
the loss Of thousands of lives.
The administration is directly charg-
ed with being responsible for all Of
the misery and for much of the mortal
ity. Let us have the light Of dav
thrown on the matter. Not next month
nor after the fall elections, but now
The administration cannot afford to
put the matter off until after the cleo
tions. There must be no shielding Of
the guilty or the culpably negligent.
The truth is wanted, and the guilty.
must be given such a lesson that never
again will knavery in office dare to
fatten on the lives Of American citi-
zens in the field.
The Interstate Commerce Commits
sion.
The interstate commerce commission.