Arizona republican., 1898-09-07
ATTACKS UPON GEN. ALGER.
Senator Lindsay of Kentucky Com ments Upon the Present Outcry.


 It seems a concerted attack is being made on Secretary Alger, and the more the details of the attack become known, the more evident it is that it is inspired, if not actually carried on, by his old po- litical enemies. From some directions 1t amounts almost to persecution. For in- stance, to show the venom of some par ties connected with it, there is no piece of scandal printed about the secretary nor any attack, no matter how trif1ing, that is not sent to Mrs. Alger.
 Every morning her mail is filled with these scurrilous clippings. Nothing ever good is sent to her. In consequence, she is kept under nervous strain. When it is remembered that Mrs. Alger is at the head of the Woman's Relief Society, which has furnished many thousands of dollars in comforts to the sick. contrib uting largely out of her own means, such acts seem cruel and ungrateful. This is an old method of evening scores for po- litical offenses in Washington. but one which invariably excites sympathy for the person thus persecuted.
 The question is being seriously asked II our volunteer army is not being discred- ited by those papers which are daily pub fishing individual cases of hardsh1pS o1 the men. The heads of the army depre- cate the sensational talk of hunger and want among the men. AS a rule, these complaints come from outsiders, and sel- dom from the men. Those men who fail ed to be provided for at the beginning Of the war with offices are the busiest in prosecuting the administration for in competency and neglect, and for political 1 reasons are loudest in censuring those | who had the care of the soldiers. These men seek to diseredit those charged with | the conduct of the war, and see no good 1 in the organized efforts of those charged | by law to provide supplies and medicines | to the men and all others holding super visory military commissions. To those who have gone through the last war I -l 40 I,o f1,a f r. ment of the men that those who would make political capital by appearing to be | the guardians and friends of the army would make it appear.
 | I had occasion to discuss this matter | with Senator Lindsay, of Kentucky, who | is here making few inquiries on his own | account. He said, among other things:
 'There have been possibly inexcusable l blunders, and doubtless the soldiers have suffered. But I am afraid that the pa pers, or, rather, some of them, are pur- 1 suing a course that is calculated to de- l preciate the manhood of our army. While 1 the soldiers have a right to have all SUD- plies and medicines which they are en- i titled to. by law, still every soldier must 1 recognize that there are times in an ac- | tive campaign when hardShipS are uIl- avoidable. It rather detracts from the criticisms in which the press indulges to lay stress upon the fact that the army | in front of Santiago is to be made the subject of maudlin sympathy, because ] during active operations, full rations were not supplied"
 the Confederate army, two years as a private and then as lieutenant and cap- tain. He therefore knows something o1 war and it's hardships.
 l '1 am glad to See,'' he continued ''tia. | few complaints have come: from the Iner | who did the fighting, or who have served in camp during these heated days. It de.
 grades the American soldier to the plane
 of children when we talk of the soldiers | in front of Santiago having nothing but coffee, hard tack and bacon. For the las
 three years of the war 500.000 of our mer
 never tasted d drop of coffee. I remember
 that a ration of bacon served to the Con 1 federate soldiers would incite the wildes
 enthusiasm and patriotism. Hard tacl
 was luxury to us, and we seldom got il
 save when we could capture some Fed
 eral commissary wagons.
 When we would go into the field tt | meet the enemy we were always ordered
 to cook four or five days rations ant
 store it in our haversacks. Old soldiers
 will remember that medicines, and nor
 phne especially. were contraband of war
 and it was the rarest thing that we coul,
 ever get them. Of course these thing ! are no excuse for a failure to suppl,
 these things now, but it must be show
 that there has been such failure. w
 have no right to prejudice the conduct O
 this war. I do deprecate. however. tha
 our army is to be Appreciated in the eye
 of the world by efforts to hunt out tn
 individual cases and apply it to the en , tire force of men who so patriotical
 answered the call to arms. That cam paign before Santiago was too glorious t
 mar it by complaints now. The result
 were magnificent, and each soldier ther should be regarded as a hero. l believ
 that the battle of Santiago will go int
 the history of the world as one of tn
 greatest ever fought" Archibald W , Butt, in Nashville Banner.