The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1898-08-19
.ALGER THE SC.4PEGOAT

secretary Anger ana HIS COIL
duct of the war department.
They exclaim, "The comnissary,
quarternaster and medical de-
partnents broke down." and they
blame Alger. Yellow fever broke
out among the troops at Santiago,
and Alger is responsible for that.
Transports by one wave of the
hand did not sail up to Alger's
private Office door and offer to
take all the troops at once to
Manila, and Alger is culpable.
Some Of the troops were not
properly supplied with shoes and
clothing as soon as enlisted.
Alger is charged with incapacity
on that account. When the war
suddenly began i'll April last we
were short on smokeless powder
and ammunition of various
kinds, all owing to Alger's lack
of business capacity. When San
tiago was captured and our vic
torious army marched in, a
dreadful state of things existed; !;
the Spanish and natives alike
were short on quinine, Peruvian
bark, ipecac, soap, castor oil,
and a famine in choice imported
viands was found to be threaten
ing the city with dire disaster.
All charged "up On the debit side
of Alger's ledger account. When
our troops forced the San Juan
nights and drove the Spanish
from their entrenchrnents, it was
found out by the inspector-gen-
eral, SO some of the yellow
journals tell us, that the army of
invasion had not been provided
with Harveyized steel suits, as
everyone knows, is so essential to
the security of the brave boys.
1t was Alger's ld-blooded,
dom t. care-a-d- recklessness that
had failed to provide them il! the
hour of need. Alger did not
attain to the stature of a
great war secretary when the war
department failed to send Shafter
in an ice chest to Cuba, and
utterly regardless Of the health,
happiness and general welfare of
the troops in his command failed
to have macadamized roads over
which to transport the artillery
and, the refrigerator train carry
ing iced tea, even bandages and
Jamaica ginger. Trained wait
ers, in immaculate duck suits,
should have been on hand to
deal out the cooling draughts,
bpt Alger had no head for bust
>hess. And the poor boys were
allowed to suffer, and no apollo
gies by Alger.
Camp Merritt was located in
the sand, and rude Boreas played
pranks with it and the ~hoyssA
tents, yet Alger- never offered to
restrailiV the OLD BLoWHARD.
Miles carried a bath tub and
tooth brusfl-Mi lltlHto Cuba,
and Alger, the old iInbecile, did
not rebuke him. The Spanish
prisoners are not being sent home
as fast as the people desire; it is
all OH account of Alger's lack of
executive ability. Alger reproved
"Teddy," and he oughtn't to
have gone and done such silly
and wicked thing. And so on,
ad llauseum ad infinitum.
1t is about time to call halt, !!
dress up the line, and lay the
blame where it belongs. Presi-
dent Mckinley is the person, and
the only person, responsible, un-
less it be shared with senators
and representatives, for the ap-
pointinent of uns:,illed civilian !
connissaries, quartermasters and !
medical officers, and not Alger. !
Alger himself is a man of excel ,
lent business and executive abil-
ity, with years of SUCCESS and .
training behind him, and he is no .
more responsible for these fail
ures than any one of our readers.
He cannot and is not expected to
go into details. The aspersions
are unjust, malignant, unpatriot--
ic, and uzcalled for. They seem
to emanate from the disappointed
ones, who failed to secure posi-
tons, and the would be important
advisers of the secretary, who
have Eot the sand to lay the
blame where it belongs, for fear
Of the loss of prestige and official
faVorS.