The evening times., 1898-10-03
MONDAY, OCTOBER 5. 1898.
Annoying the Commissioners

Those who fancy it is only Iun to
serve on the Alger Relief Com
mission are not as well inform
ed as the many gentlemen who
resisted the Presidents entreaties
and firmly declined the honor
Washington is quite as entertaining as
any other town in the season, but in
that dull interval between the summe n
and the beginning of soca al functions
when everybody is recovering from the
exhaustion Of q vacation, il is tiresome
to the visitor. Some of the nine who
Were lured into the Alger enterprise
manage to escape utter extinction by
systematic sightseeing. but there are
four who, for an hour or two every day.
are positively driven 10 the rooms Of the
commission from lack OF anything else
to occupy them.
~ 1T is a comfortable lounging place. if
il were not for occasional annoyances.
such as letters from uniformed per-
sons who profess 10 know of army
abuses and want funds to bring them
to Washington. These are more easily
disposed of than newspaper editor.
here and there, who has failed to study
the request of Secretary Alger that is
the cause Of the appointment of the
commission. For example, the editor
Of the New York Herald, with the ex-
cited air of a discoverer, recites the
story of the Minnewaska, which was
about to put to sea with scores Of sick
soldiers and no medical attendants,
medicines or food. He asserts that
merciful Providence, taking account of
the idlcness of the commissioners, has
put into their hands exactly what they
needed to convict the War Department
Of iucompetency and neglect. Let
them" shouts this tiresome editor,
give up opening letters in Washington
and forming vague theories as to where
and how to begin. and seize at once
upon this latest outrage committed
right under their noses, in spite of
them. in defiance of them. If the COM
mfttee Of investigation is worth its salt
ii viii be ar the bottom Of this latest
scandal and on the right track of the
Others within forty-eight hours"
This is trying to the nerves, and with
a hospitable concern for the gentlemen
who are TO be our guests until after the
November elections we shall endeavor
TO enlighten the few editors, at least,
who persist in telling the Commission
what ii should do. This body was
instituted in response to request made
by Secretary Alger to the President
That request MADE no mention of the
army scandals relating to the needless
sufferings and preventable deaths of
our soldiers, but limited the inquiry to
the purchases, contracts and charters
effected by the War Department, and
indicated the various heads of bureaus
as the proper sources of information.
The statements as to the enormous
quantity of things bought for an un-
grateful army and the vast number of
contracts entered into by the War De-
rartment now engage the energies of a
large force of clerks The work cannot
be completed until after the elections
When il is, and the report is made, the
disturbed editor OF the Herald will be
forced to admit that mighty lot of
business was done in that department,
and that if there was corruption in il
the commissioners had no means of
finding ii out Now. let the gentlemen
alone. They are not disposed to harm
some trouble to kin time is no reason
why they should be advised to excite
themselves about irrelevant matters.