Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1899-08-05
CRITICS ANSWERED.
Ger. Alger DefenIs-.s c5..5o wiz
Reference to the Army.
He Confines His Statement to the
Question of Army Appointments,
and Denies Charge of Mis-
use of Funds.

Washington, Aug. 1.-One of Secre-
tary Algers last official acts was to pre-
pare a statement covering several mat
ters regarding the conduct of the war
which have been the subject of criti-
cism in the public press, particularly
with reference to the appointment of
staff officers in the volunteer army.
The statement follows:
"I am led to make the following state
ments on account of the many criticisms
which have been made by the public press,
and especially on account of recent ar
ticle which appeared in the London Times
containing assertions which have no foun-
dation in truth.
"At the commencement of the war with
Spain and for several years prior to that
time the regular army consisted of only
25,0O0 men, with the minimum number OF
officers prescribed by law. The situation
can be partially appreciated when 1t is re-
membered that within so days from the
declaration of war the strength of the
army was increased to 275. .OGO and every
thing for the equipment of this great force,
including clothing, tents, transportation,
medical supplies, camps and camp equip
age and all that pertains to equipping an
army for service had to be manufactured,
transported and distributed for use.
Army Officer Appointments.
"From the statement referred to the pub
lie might be made to believe that the vol
unteer army was Differed BY men select
ed through political influence with the sec
retary of war by special favor and wNh-
out any regard to fitness for the duties
| they were to perform. AS is well known,
the volunteer force, with the exception of
| three regiments of engineers, three regi-
ments of cavalry and ten regiments of i'm
mune infantry, was made up of regiments
| from the various states, the officers OF
| which were all appointed exclusively by
the governors of the respective states
| from which the regiments came, and any
officer found untitled for service and dis
! charged was replaced by another in the
same manner. The president had no voice
or control in the matter.
'The returns of the volunteer army
show that in August, 1898, there were 2O7,-
pa enlisted men and S,7S5 officers in those
regiments. This. with the regular army
recruited up to the war strength, made an
aggregate force of about 275,0O0 officers
| and men.
1.-THE volunteer officers appointed by the
president numbered all told, 0S2. OF this
| number AL were taken from the regular
army and 591 from civil life. The scarcity
| of regimental officers in the regular serv-
ice owing to appointments in the volun-
teers, special recruiting and mastering de-
tails, had so reduced their number that to
have taken a larger number for service
with the volunteers would have seriously
impaired the efficiency of the regular regi-
ments
Thousands of Applications.
"For a little over 1000 appointments
made by the president, the number of APP
plicants was over $4,000, and each appli-
cation was accompanied by a certificate
of his ability, and in most instances the
military service, either in the regular army
or state organization, and not infre-
q ,F.a
showed that each one was as well quail
fled for the position he sought and to
which he was appointed as could be possi-
BILE for men in civil life in this country. OF
the number appointed there We're, for in
stance 26 major generals, of whom 10 were
taken from the regular army and seven
from civil life. or these seven all but one
were graduates of West Point military
academy and all had distinguished them
selves in command during the civil war.
"Of brigadier generals there were 10.
appointed, 66 from the regular army and 81
|, from civil life. Those from civil life haC
all seen service during the civil war or OF
our western frontier. and all had proved
themselves competent to command.
His own Appointments Few.
"It has been stated and repeated man!
! times that the secretary of war made thes
: appointments, when the truth is tha
very few were made upon his recon
:. list, with the recommendations, to be com
: piled and placed before the president TO
his selection. l would only be too glad t
have had the honor to have made thes
1 appointments. No better, no more !oys
, or more patriotic set of men as a Who'll
ever served their country, and their ap
- pointments were a credit not only to TIL
appointing power but to the country the,
. | served There were exceptions but tha
+ | could not have been foreseen. In ever
| 70 L of IA az "a IN On mr. M
carry out satisfactorily the work the
have undertaken.
S "There were three regiments of cavalry
= the officers of which were appointed by th
secretary of war Col. Leonard Wood. nov
a brgadier general and commanding tn
n departments of Santiago and Port
Y Principe. was one of these. Col. Grigsb
n | and Col. Torrey, both good officers wer
the other two. There were three regiment
) of engineers, the colonels of which wer
e all graduates OF the military academy, alt
= not only the officers, but the enlisted men
Z, were selected with a view to their speca
fitness and in most INSTANCES upon the rec
L concentrations of the colonies themselves
and all proved themselves most efficient.
a There We're also ten regiments of i'm
! mune infantry. of whose colonies eigh
were graduates of the military academy
> who were selected for special finess I
= command, and in the short time these reg
i ments were In service developed remark
n able proficiency.
: Denies Misuse of Money.
T Criticisms as to the amounts and meth
ods of expenditures which could imply tn
J wrong or careless use Of money Were ais
" made by the London Times. This charge
d false So far as the conduct of the serviC
! was concerned, no person with any know
edge of the facts can ever charge truth
/ fully, and no one can ever show that Il do
h lar was misappropriated, stolen or en-
: bezzled out of the hundreds of millions {
. dollars that were expended. The record
. are an. open book, ard l vii! be glad to hav
: them rgldly examined, and ask my suC
= cessor to open those accounts to the cour