The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1898-09-12
war CRITICS SHOWN UP.
The Mistakes Were Marvelously Few
All Things Considered.


To the Editor; Whoever undertakes 70
criticise the administration Of the presi-
dent and the conduct of the war with Spain
in cspt'ous and sault-fnding spirit VIII
always find willing ard sympathetic sis-
teners. Ours seems 10 be time % pessi-
m.sts. Party hate. and rancor and greed.
are placed in the light OF progress, ana
seffshness dams up the fsow of patriotism.
that il may sap the yitals Of government.
There never was. ard there never will be.
a war where preparation was assured and
the details secured. The Franco-Prussian
war presents, perhaps. the greatest fea-
ture Of plan and preparation for war On
the part Of Prussia Of any government Of
ancient or modern times. For years the
iron Will Of Bismarck. with the tactical
mind of Won Mollke. strengthened and en-
couraged by their soldier king. planned A
war of conquest. Yet the history OF that
war shows egregious blunders, unpardon-
able mistakes, inadequate preparation On
the part of Prussia. There can be no war
without suffering and death There never
was and there never VIII be a war where
suffering. hardship and want are not the
real terrors of the soldier and the great
est destroyers of armies. Certainly the
soldiers and sailors who went TO Cuba and
Cuban waters expected to soil their clothes
and risk their lives. They knew they
were going TO the tropics. the land or heat.
miasma and fever. They knew they
would be called upon to expose their bodies
TO Spanish shot and she'll They knew. or
ought 10 have known. that the commits
sary and quartermaster could not always
be on hand 20 I'LL their can.eens and haver-
sacks. They knew. or ought 10 have
known, that when hunger and sickness
took hold of them 1t was not the fault of
the government or those whose duty IL was
to supply their wants, but rather the in
nf frsA de- ns,S
to overcome conditions that delayed the
execution OF plans made for their benefit.
The fault. II any, was congestion, with
out adequate means OF distribution. To
assemble. supply and distribute 100000 SOL
diers inside OF ninety days is a task the Ia
Dor OF which can be understood but by
few. because but few give such an UNDER
taking the consideration and study neces-
sary TO inteliigenily grasp the subject.
And. comparatively, there are but few
competent to intelligently grasp the sub
ject of war.
/ am safe in saying that the greatest
mistake was In giving SO many unframed
and inexperienced men responsible COM
mands. Much Of the cause of complaint
grew out of want OF experience-ack OF
knowledge of the wants Of the situation.
After three years of our civil war, when
We were trained and drilled In our wants
and the methods of supplying them. there
were many days, yes, weeks. when our
soldiers were hungry, ragged and bare
footed. but the supply department was not
condemned. Ask the soldiers who fought
for Uncle Sam from the Rapidan 10 Peters
burg how many. days they drank muddy
water and kept off hunger with a nubbin
OF corn? Ask them how many days they
were without bareback just before they
crossed the James. Ask them how many
miles they travelled, marching by night
and fighting by day. and II at the end of
each battle the commissary and quarter
master were at hand. Ask the soldiers
of that campaign now living if they eX-
pected Ice water and lemonade, bread and
butter, coffee and milk and an umbrella
on the march after the battles Of the Viii
derness. the North and South Anna Spott-
sylvana, Cold Harbor and other little
skirmishes Ask them If they cried and
sulked IL their wants were not supplied.
The men who soldiered four months did
not suffer like the men who soldiered four
years. The four months men of the war
with Spain didn't serve long enough to be
hardened and Injured TO war. They re-
turned just in time to make bitter COM
plants and TO give the demagogue a chance
to use their complaints as a hobby to ride
into office. The greed of office. and not
the sufferngs OF the soldiers spurs them
on 10 denounce that which they do not
understand.
When the history of the Spanish Amefi-
can war Is written it viii develop that for
coDciseuess, concentration, promptness of
action and results IL stands first In all his
tory, and that the American soldier has
no peer In war. year hence the yellow
journal horrors of this last war will have
disappeared, and then We will wonder at
the lies that have been told.
p. Z. CARROLL.