The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1898-08-20
Time to Call a Halt.
From the Baltimore Sun.


Time to Call a Halt.
From the Baltimore Sun.
1t is Justly observed by the Philadelphia
Ledger, in an article animadverting severely
upon the favoritism and general incompetency
shown by Secretary Alger in his maladminis-
tration of the important department commit
ted to his charge, that criticism of the conduct
of the war has been generally withheld $50
long as there was any danger that such critic
ism might give aid and comfort to the enc
my" ''But now,' urges our habitually eau
tious and conservative contemporary. THAT
peace is within sight, patriotic purposes can
best be served by a thorough exposure of the
incapacity of the Secretary of War and the
great injury he has done the army by permit
ting his personal and political tavorites to guide
his administration of the office" The Ledger
does not hesitate to hold Secretary Alger
personally and directly responsible for the
breakdown" of the commissary, quartermas-
ters and medical branches of the service,
''because the breakdown has been due to the
appointments he has made of incompetent,
or, at least, inexperienced, men-appoint
ments suggested not by consideration of the
good of the service, but to please his personal
friends or to secure the support of influential
politicians"
These are grave charges, and which will,
doubtless, give rise to a demand for thorough
investigation hereafter, even ifthe Secretary's
own regard for his good name should not sug-
gest to him the necessity for such an investi
CATION and for a demand for it on his own
behalf But the one thing which the situation
imperatively calls for is that the opportunity
and the occasion for such scandals should be
promptly removed. One of the inevitable
and immediate results Of the appointment of
incompetent officials in the supply and staff
departments of the army has been eXtrava-
gance and waste, if nothing worse. Our three
months war, it is said by competent judges,
bids fair to prove one Of the most expensive
wars ever waged by any nation, and this
largely owing to the absolute recklessness
with which the peoples money has been spent.
1t has not been case of saving at the
spigot and wasting at the bunghole. Both
spigot and bunghole have been kept wide
| open. Unnecessarily large bills for the trans
portaton Of troops and supplies have been
| incurred by the injudicious choice of locations
| for encampments, apart from the sanitary
objections, which, in almost every instance,
| have condemned the locations as unsuitable.
Want of proper provision and preparation of
| the necessary facilities for transportation have
caused expensive delays and the congrega
! ton of supplies at points where the men were
uot needed, or couldn't be reached when
needed, and, i'll the case of perishable articles
| of food, the loss of enormous quantities
| spoiled and condemned to be thrown away
! Il-cOnsidered and conflicting orders for the
movement of troops-orders not infrequently
no sooner issued and made known than re-
| voked because, it is assumed, of personal in
! huences or Il ''prvate pull'' exerted to pro-
| cure their revocation-have not only tried
and exhausted the patience of officers and
l.. tI,o Cf
rations ordered to be cooked, but never eaten,
to say nothing of the time Of chartered trans
ports ordered hither and thither, for no pur
| pose but all charged for in the bill
The mismanagement of the troops since
the several States filled their quotas and the
men have been mustered into the service Of
the government is probably without parallel
in the history of any war. The formation
of divisions and brigades one day only to be
broken up and dislocated the next, the assign
ment and dispatch of troops to one point OF
rendezvous encampment, and the next week
to another have not been suggestive so much
of vacilation or want of fixity of purpose on
the part of the War Department as of a Sec
retary pulled hither and thither. first this way
and then that by the politicians and others
who have succeeded in getting his ear. The
War Department seems to have been run like
the campaign headquarters of political party
before nominations have been finally settled
and while every candidate is urging his claims.
When the war cloud first loomed large and
black upon the horizon Congress was thought
to have done very liberal and patriotic thing
in placing $50, ,O00, 900 at the Presidents dis
posal in order to put the country in state of
preparation for war. When the war revenue
bill was introduced provision for an addi-
tional revenue of $100,000,000 to 5000, 900,
600, with contingent provision in case of
necessity for an issue of S400 900, 900 of bonds,
was thought to be ample for war expendi-
ture to cover twelve months. Now there are
those who estimate the cost of our three
months diversion at not far from billion of
dollars. Nobody, in fact knows how much
the war has cost or is costing per month, per
week or per day. And apparently, at Wash
ington nobody cares. 1t is spend-spend-
spend. The country's credit is ineXhausti-
ble-why, then, stop at few thousands or a
few millions of dollars? But, by and by,
there will day of reckoning come. The bills
will come in and will have to be paid. 1t may
be found that certain individuals, certain
classes of persons, have profited largely by
the war-have been made rich, thanks to their
personal relations with parties in power at
Washington and the influence they have been
able to bring to bear. But how about the
millions who have no "pull, no Influence, "
who have made nothing out of the war, who
will only have their dead to mourn and the
bills to pay? In the interest of the great the
overwhelming majority of the American peo-
pie it is high time to call halt and to say
that the war should stop, and that when the
fighting and the shooting ceases the spending
and the wasting should cease also.