The times., 1898-09-12
SECRETARY ALGER.


or Secretary Alger to take up tie ex-
acting work OF reorganizing the perma-
| nent army. AS one of the influences.
however slight, that led to the demand
Tor an inquiry into the conduct of the
war-wh1ch is, in fact the trial of Sec
retary Alger, with a clear case against
him IN certain particulars-it is not out
of place for The Times to note the alb
sence of political. personal, and busi-
ness motives, for the part it has played
In cause that has resulted. we be-
lieve, in the virtual retirement of
Cabinet officer
| secretary Alger is not a brutal char
acter, indifferent to the spectacle of
| human woe; he would not wade in
! slaughter to a throne His personal
ambition-which has been inordinate-
| could not induce him to be cruel. He
Is actually soft-hearted and, as far as
ne is able to understand his RESPONSE
biiity for the needless suffering in the
army, he would go to almost any per-
sonal trouble to undo it. His chief de-
rect is an amiable weakness and lack
or perception. He has not the qualities
OF great man, but as far as his aims
and knowledge go, he is good man.
He is kind TO the afflicted and generous
TO the needy, and not entirely because
1t is pleasant and easy His wealth
mas gained for him an influence in the
politics of Michigan, but outside the
boundaries of that State, and save
among the war veterans who know his
Kindness and whose interests he has
| DrOmOtP6 his noliina1 acfiP1tionc a
not taken seriously. His selection for
Cabinet office was a surprise to the
people, who accounted for it in the Gym
| icai way the course of party politics
has encouraged. AS long as the work
of his office called for no originality,
but was matter of red-tape and rou-
tine, he was a comfortable, agreeable.
and sufficiently useful member of the
Presidents official family. He made
pleasant travelling companion and ac-
companied the President on all his
journeys. Yet we are safe in saying
| that had there been any fear of a war
he would not have been appointed. AS
Mr.. Dooley expresses it, he was we'll
enough as Secretary of War, but not
! as Secretary of A War
as was expected, the demands of a war
were too heavy for him. Indeed, they
taxed as great a man as Stanton to his
last brain cell Secretary Alger re-
Trained from making any changes in
his subordinates that would offend Re-
publicans of prominence or affect the
/ complicated routine of the department.
but he had no knowledge of the quail
ties of the men he kept beyond their
familiarity with red-tape. Where
! changes We're made and new offices
were created by the war. he saw no
reason why he should not consult the
wishes Of influential party men. He
was never civil service reformer 1t
should be understood that he had no
( faith in the doctrine that man must
| be a West Point graduate or of years
of practical experience in military life
in order to project and carry on a war
! He had been, himself, an officer in a
volunteer army, and he belived ne was
even more competent to plan cam
paigns than a rule bound, tradition
ridden regular-the victim of a fatal
! passion for military asonventionali-
/ ties Napoleon had scorned conven-
! tions and so had Frederick the Great
/ and Marlborough. Why not Alger?
/ He was sincere in the opinion that the
unsophisticated young sons and other
/ relatives of politicians could meet all
/ the requirements of the service In
/ the transportation branch, under a
/ quartermaster general of whose quail
/ fications he was ignorant, he made a
T,.s1,
/ some affirm-the head He left the
! medical department in the hands of a
/ doctor who had achieved prominence
/ as bacteriologist Naturally, he was
slower than others TO discover their
/ failures.
Naturally, also. when the revelations
of incompetency and apparent neglect
| became too dreadful to be ignored he
! could see only the difficulties that had
! been overcome. These were many and,
! considering who and what his subordi-
mates were, they were serious. Not be-
! ing experienced in such matters, not
| being original and daring, as Stanton
was-but too amiable and soft-hearted
! and ready to excuse-he could not see
/ how other and different men could have
I uOHe any DetteT. 1HeH, TOO, ne lacks
the quality of Indignation and the
! power of imagination. 1t was not until
/ he went to Camp Wikoff and saw some
| of the least terrible consequences, not
| of war, but of failure. that he began
to understand. Recitals that had
| shocked others did not move him until
| he had visual evidence. Then he was
| eager to do something's though a
| personal favor to a single wrecked SOL
| dier, here and there, could make any
| impression on the mass of misery his
! feeble, well-meaning administration
/ had created 1t showed his kind heart,
| however, and his desire to relieve suf-
! fering. Before he visited that camp
he was able to make himself believe
the facts had been greatly exaggerated
| by the malice of the newspapers. They
! had never been kind to his political am
! bitions He had been able to believe
| His pathetic letter which Mr. Depew
was good enough to receive and publish
| proved that. No doubt the President
! had magnified idea of the obstacles
| overcome by the War Department from
! the daily recitals of his war minister
| obstacles that would have been swept
! aside like mere flies by a strong hand
! The President thought that. at least,
| Secretary Alger had tried to do we'll
and had spared himself no fretting;
L AZ -, L.