The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1899-10-19
THE EXAMINERS ATTACKS ON
OTIS.


pines and laying special stress upon his
ineompetency from military stand
point As the Astorian has already sew
eral times said. the last charge per-
haps which could be made to stick
against Otis Is one affecting his record
and qualifications as a successful Mill
tary commander. The country knows
Otis, and has had abundant opportunity
to test his military abilities at home.
1t is nOt too much to say that no officer
in the American army had higher
standing than ods before his assign
ment to the Philippines. and It Is ex-
tremely unlikely that the enormous re-
spOnsibilitles Of his present position
would lneline him to be any less par
ticular as to his duty and fame as an
officer than when lighting the battles
Of his country, on his own soil.
There is certainly some serious de-
feet in our form OF government and
laws when traitors and public enemies
at home are allowed such free rein
in their efforts to cripple and handicap
the government and its armies In time
o. foreign wa-. The men who write
these lying statements about Otis. and
the owners Of the papers which dare
give them circulation in their columns,
would. in many European countries. be
made very short work Of by the author
tiles. 1t Is a pity they cannot be so
dealt with here. The San Francisco
Chronicle recently published a strong
comment on the series Of interviews
attributed to the officers and men Of the
Kansas volunteers. as printed in anoth-
er San Francisco paper. OF course the
public does not need to be informed of
the name OF the paper which was guilty
Of such dastardly and dishonest conduct.
There is one consolation. however. In
the course OF the Examiner-the rising
sentiment Of its own community in
favor Of the administration and its al
most fauItless conduct OF the Philip
pine war is creating such tide Of in
dignatioE against the dishonOrable
methods OF that paper that it must soon
lose all semblance OF standing and cir
culaTion in San Francisco and else
where on the Pacific coast. The Chron-
icle said:
The officers OF the Twentieth Kansas
regiment are Indignant over the man
ner IN which, as they declare. they
have been misrepresented by morning
paper. The interviews condemning Cen
eral Otis and purporting 20 have been
given by several officers OF the Kansas
regiment. are pronounced by them 10 be
totally false. The character Of these
interviews is revealed by the fact that
a few OF them were attributed to lieu
tenants" whose names cannot b. dis.
covered on the rolls Of the regiment.
Il was never so astonished In my
life" said Colonel Metcalf yesterday.
''as was when read the interview
that had been allotted to me. The al
legged interview is garbled, made up.
distorted--I might use harsher term.
/ hope l am not so ignorant as not to
know that it is not the part OF an officer
10 criticise his superior. There is only,
one grain OF truth in the whole inter.
view, and that is when am quoted az
saying, Otis is a good soldier That
Is what truly believe The interview !
makes me condemn the delay at Ca T.,
loocan, when. as a matter OF fact. II
know, as does every officer who was
there, that the delay was absolutely u
and unavoidable. There werr +
neither sufficient transportation fac!li- t
lies nor enough troops to warrant an
advance.
But the worst thing Of all is the car
-oon where. over my name, are written
he words, The war will never end ill, $
Otis is removed That is directly con- s
.rary 10 my belief, for General Otis has d
lone a wonderful amount Of good work. q
hough it was his misfortune TO have :
limited number Of troops at his COM
nand. The STAFF department could not
'ossibly have been better managed.
/ notice that the same paper has
'ome other interviews with men I never c
leard of before. There is no such an
ifflcer in the regiment as Lieutenant A
;. Johnson, and, although I know every
nicer. I am unable to locate Captain Il
rick I know Of no man who answer, 81
0 Lieutenant J. Frank. company K'l a
nd neither Is the name Of Heddelstoni Il
amilisr 70 me. We have no Lleuten- Il
nj l. A. Mitchell in the Twentieth
Kansas, and I do not recognize the pic c
urs published as that Of any one whom u
have ever seen" a,
aaza