The times., 1898-06-05
THE ARMY VICTIMIzED.
EVIL Results of Comforting Commis-
sions on Fnyorite sons.

EVIL Results of Comforting Commis-
sions Fnvorite sons.
The evil results of appointing favor
ite sons to staff offices in the Army and
otherwise unloading up the service in
experienced and inefficient men are fast
becoming apparent. AS soon as the
minor offices in connection with the
volunteer service began to be filled, il
was seen that the President intended
to throw appointments at the feet of
senators and representatives and other
influential persons.
Nepotism sprang up with SO luxuri-
ant a growth that the country became
appalled,. Men in numerous cases
young boys-were appointed as commits
saries, with the rank of captain, whose
only qualification for the Office was the
accident OF their birth Utterly without
experience in business matters. these
callow youths were put IN places of re-
sponsibility where the Health of regi-
ments depended upon their work, and
the result has shown how grave the
error has been.
When the nominations came up for
consideration in the Senate, there was
disapproyal. but the Senate had been so
poisoned by the appointment OF sons
and nephews that pketestE availed not.
and every nomination, regardless of the
well-known incomueterey in many
cases, was confrmed- Each of these
young men has been ordered to some
command and each~now has a gaily
decorated uniform; but beyond that
nothing seems to have tbeen accom-
plshed
The same lack Of system appears
among the higher officers, and with the
country today demanding prompt action
and clamoring TO know why 1t is the
army does not move the army remains
stationary simply because of either
official inactivity and incompetency, or
criminal negligence.
Not n Regiment Equipped.
Prominent senators who have dis
cussed this question with a Times rep
resentative say it is a notorious fact
that not a single regiment of the 125, 600
volunteers that have been enlisted, and
not battalion of the regulars, is prop
erly equipped for the campaign in Cuba
and Porto Rico.
Inquiry at the War Department by
one senator yesterday developed the
fact that all the men drawn from the
North and hurriedly sent South TO the
Tampa rendezvous are still wearing
the clothing suitable for the old climate
of the North and eating the food that
generates heat and blood, although liy-
ing in a Southern cline and supposed
to be getting acclimated TO region that
requires linen and cotton instead Of wool
for wearing apparel, and fruits and
light diet devoid of heating capacity
instead of hard tack. greasy meat, and
pork and beans for food.
Such a condition of affairs can be
characterized as little less than crimi-
nal, and public men not inoculated with
the virus of personal appointments as
sert that it would not have happened
had experienced, Regular Army officers
or practical business men been put in
charge.
Not until the army is properly
equipped with clothing can the advance
be made, and at the present rate Of
equipping the army no man can pre-
dict when the land forces will be ready
to properly move unless it be the inten-
ton to carry the men to Cuba and Porto
Rico wearing woolens and with COM
missary department loaded with food
utterly unsuited to the climate.
II is a noteworthy fact that these men
now encamped in land where fruit is
abundant can only receive 1t by the ex-
penditure Of their own funds and those
who have no money with which to buy
are compelled to witness it being
shipped North by the car load.
Incompetency MT Home.
But these complaints relative to the
inefficiency of the various departments
are just as loud nearer home. An off,
Ger of one of the Illinois regiments told
The Times last evening that his COM
pany had been at Camp Alger nine days
before the company cook saw a potato.
Within a stones throw Of the nation s
Capital and with potatoes plentiful: not
a potato for nine days. With many of
their men seriously i'll, medicine could
not be secured and had it not been for
the use of the personal funds of the Off
GERS il would not have been secured at
ALL This officer stated that appeals to
headquarters for medicine were re-
ceived politely, but never responded to.
1t was only through personal efforts
that even straw upon which to place
the sick was securedsI
These are fair samples of the condi-
ton of the army today. Public men who
| have looked into the subject say that
90 per cent of this condition is due TO
| the appointments that have been made,
and if a speedy change is not soon ap-
parent, it may be the subject for more
remarks on the floor of the Senate.
Open for Farther Questioning.
From the Chicago Times Herald)
An Alabama man who is said to have a
''rnodest, retiring disposition recently tor
mented by several friends, who characterized him
as coward" Thereupon he shot four of them
to death. The main question: we believe. is still
open for discussion.