Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1899-08-04
BRATTLEBORO, FRIDAY, AUGUST A. 1899
Gen. AIger whI.ewash.s Himself.

Gen. Alger whitewashed himself by
making public statement on the day be-
fore retiring from the war office. He men
tions the smallness of the regular army
when the war broke out, and the immensi-
ty of the task of raising, equipping and
transporting large army, and says in re-
gard to the charge of political favoritism in
distributing commissions to volunteer Of
iicers that the President named 1882 ap-
pointees, 441 from the regular army and
501 from civil life.
The scarcity of regimental officers in the
regular service, owing to appointments in
the volunteers, special recruiting and mus
tering details, had so reduced their num-
Der that to have taken larger number for
service with the volunteers would have Sc
riously impaired the efficiency of the reg
ular regiments. For little over 1000 ap-
pointments the President had over %, 900
applications, and Gen Alger says that each
application was accompanied by a certifi-
cate of his ability, and, in most instances,
of the military service, either in the regu-
lar army or a state organization, and not
infrequently in both. These certificates
showed that each one was as well quail
fed for the position he sought and to
which he was appointed as could be posi-
BILE for men in civil life in this country.
Gen. Alger says in closing: at has been
stated and repeated many times, that the
secretary of war made these appointments,
when the truth is that very few were made
upon his recommendation, although he
caused the entire list, with the recommen-
dations, TO be compiled and placed before
the President for his selection"
The Philadelphia Ledger, after review
ing Gen. Alger's valedictory, says:
He thus denies responsibility for issuing
the commissions which foisted upon the
army that wondrous list of 'the sons of
the iathers,n which astonished the coun-
try, and he pleads that such as were APP
pointed, while regular army men were left
in the lurch, we're provided with certiti-
Gates of fitness. 1t is pertinent to ask
here, whoever appointed them, whether
these men were appointed by and with the
advice of the major general commanding
the army, and whether their certificates of
fitness came from politician or from army
circles. He closes his defence by denounc-
ing as utterly false the criticisms of the
London Times, which imply that improper
expenditure of money was made and
points to records to show that not dol
lar twas misappropriated, stolen or en-
beZzled"
This is an amazing defence. Mr.. Alger
has set up man of straw and belabored
it, incidentally giving some attention to
the President. He has not said word
about that commissary department. He
never mentions Camp Alger and the other
typhoid fever pest holes; he does not de-
sign to explain why faint-hearted and
unwieldly person was picked out to COM
mand the Santiago campaign over the head
of Gen. Miles, the chief of the army, nor
why the commanding general, with all his
talents and capacity, has been ignored,
snubbed and cast aside. He ignores the
persistent neglect or worse which kept the
soldiers at Santiago and condemned them
to DEATH and he passes by the 'round
robin" signed by Roosevelt and all the
leading officers which enlightened the pub
lee and rghted the wrong. He avoids the
word beef. He does not comprehend what
Algerism means. He may have answered
the London Times, but he has ignored the
charges which the American people
brought against him, and on which they
found verdict of guilty"