Arizona republican., 1898-09-27
THE WAR DEPARTMENT.

years of peace coupled with the parsi-
 mony of congress had served to make the department incapable Of providing On short notice the material necessary for the maintenance of large army iD l the field. It is trua that advantage
 was taken Of the time between the
 sinking of the Maine and the actual
 gether stores and equipment, so | far as the limited available appropriation would admit, but when war was declared the department was still far from ready to clothe and feed and arm the immense army that was suddenly called into service The war department made commendable showing in the face Of tremendous re- responsibilities.
 It is not a matter of hours or days or weeks to get the commissary of great army in thorough working order, or to organize an extensive hospital service An organization that is sufficient to meet the requirements Of a small army
 becomes insignificant when the needs of 300,000 men are considered The equipping of an army of this size quick ly and efficiently is a problem that
 many governments would approach with fear. It would be idle to say that costly mistakes were not made by the bureaus On whom the
 chief responsibilities fell. Mistakes were inevitable. The country was un- prepared for war. There was barely sufficient equipment for an army of 25.oo0 men. Thousands of contracts had to be made for supplies of every description. Human nature has not changed since the time of the civil war when contractors reared rich harye5ts
 It goes without saying that the army
 contractors had a gccd deal to do with the confusion which attended the ef- forts of the war department to equip the big army.
 The president and the secretary Of
 war have been criticised for the ap-
 pointment Of inexperienced officers to important places. Doubtless some of the men provided with commissions were deficient in the qualities that go to make good army officers. How could it have been other1se? The president and the secretary Of war had
 to he guided largely by the references placed before them. They could not possibly have personal knowledge of the character of the majority of the men whom they were asked to ap- point. The White House and the war department were crowded with polite
 ians in the early days of the war, all
 Of them seeking appointments for friends or constituents. Thousands of places had to be filed; the president and Secretary Alger did their best to
 fill them satisfactorily. Naturally : some bad appointments were made
 Abraham Lincoln, in the years of the
 nations greatest peril, made grievous
 mistakes in appointing officers. Ed
 win M. Stanton, 'the great war sec lretary," was criticised by reason
 of many appointments he sane l tioned. It was inevitable in the face
 Of a great emergency that Mo
 Kinley and Alger should have i been imposed upon to some ex- ] tent by politicians. But it is a mat
 ter of record that President Mckinley appointed to high places some of the ] Beginning with fighting Joe" Wheeler i the list of magnificent Americans hold 1 ing commissions in the army is a long
 one.A The president was actuated by a
 desire to serve his country well and to secure the very best material for
 staff and other appointments.
 1 While criticism of the government $
 conduct of the war was begun at an early date by the democrats, it was
 not until sickness began to make in
 roads upon the soldiers that the criti- cislns grew into persecution. Every fresh case reported from the different
 camps was exploited by the sensational
 press and the responsibility was laid
 upon the war department That l Q large portion Of the troops 1 should be overcome by Illness IS not
 strange, although tLe democratic and
 silverite newspapers are striving to
 malla %it appear so. Sickness was
 to be expected among soldiers who
 were drawn from sedentary pursuits
 and suhieeted to the rigors and hard ships of camp life. No matter how complete or comprehensive the condi- tions may be in camp, the sick list is always large. All but the regulars
 were surrounded by new and trying
 conditions. A man may be able to
 rass the physical examination re- Guired by the government, but put him
 in a camp and give him army rations
 and water from newly dug wells and
 tho chances are three to one that he
 will require medical attendance.
 The critics of the war department
 apparently forget that the medical rec