The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-05-03
THE LOGAN-TANNER CONTRO
VERSY.

The demand for commissions in the
volunteer army has been very great in
deed, and in each state there has been
more or less wire pulling. and some
heart burning; but Illinois has devel-
oped the most celebrated case. 1t is
that of John a. Logan, jr. The story
of this case is told in the following tele-
grams:
Governor John r. Tanner, Executive
Mansion, Springfield, His:
Have seen the secretary and Miles.
Both expect you to give John A. Logan
his commission as colonel of the cav
airy regiment given Illinois for him at
my request and your promise. You
could not ask him to step aside with a
full regiment for an incomplete one.
Give Young a new commission in an
infantry regiment. Call it dismounted,
if you will. l rely on you giving my
sen his commission, and can never get
over this disappointment if you do not.
You will never regret it.
MRS. JOHN A. LOGAN.
John r. Tanner, Governor, Springfield,
Ills:
According to your statement in this
mornings paper, you have been misin-
formed. 1 was not offered senior ma
jorship, but only third. Young's men
rot willing to serve under me. As you
have only ordered the four national
guard troops to Springfield, in organic
ing the regiment for service, let Young
furnish two more troops, let me fur
nish six. and then let the consolidated
regiment vote for its own five field Of
ficers, and decide themselves whether
they wish Young or me for colonel; the
other to take second place. I offered
this yesterday. as most equitable COM
promise. Answer. JOHN A. LOGAN
John a. Logan, Chicago, Ills:
l consider the conclusion of our talk
over the phone last evening settled the
whole question. / don't care to reopen
it, especially on the terms mentioned
in your message. / offered you ranking
major. You positively declined it, and
said you wanted a colonelcy or moth
ing. 1 told you / could not give it you,
so I consider this ends it.
JOHN r. TANNER
The following, in response TO an
earnest appeal from Colonel Gates, of
the governors staff, one of his most in
innate friends:
John w. Gates, Washington, D. c.:
To appoint John A. Logan colonel.
over the he ads of faithful. well equ poed
national guard officers, would be a
crime. Logan has no experience as an
officer, and is not considered a resident
of our state, never having voted or paid
taxes in Illinois. In this crisis we must
recognize common justice before senti-
me-t JOHN r. TANNER.
OF the merits of the case it is diff
cult to speak. Young Logan claims to
have raised regiment, and this in re-
Spouse to an agreement with Governor
Tanner. He is also graduate OF West
Point. The Chicago papers generally
sustain the governor in his action. If
Major Young, who is a West Point
graduate. has been at the head of the
Illinois cavalry right along, and is a
thoroughly competent officer, as ap-
pears to be the case, it would seem to
be the right thing to do to give him
the command.
In all this controversy one thing, at
least, seems evident, which is that
young Logan has been banking on his
fathers reputation, and relying on his
mothers well known political influence
He came into rather notorious and I'M
enviable prominence at the time of the
cars coronation, by donning the uni
form of a rank to which he was said
not to be justly entitled, and the wear
ing of some of his fathers medals. 1t
led to a very acrimonious controversy
between him and General a. Med. Nc
Cook, in which he did not conduct him
self with a dignity becoming his. posi-
ton and parentage. He seems to pos
sess an unfortunate faculty for pro-
voking disagreeable controversies.