The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-08-01
Pick of the Country Selected, and
with Few Exceptions They Reflect
ed Honor ON the President.
ADVICE TO HIS SUCCESSOR
OPEN THE WAR DEPARTMENT BOOK
AND LET THE PUBLIC JUDGE.
Gen. AIger Packed His Trunk and
Left Last Misunderstanding Root
Takes Charge To-day.

-H
WASHINGTON, July 31.-One of the last
official acts of Secretary Alger. who to-
morrow will relinquish his portfolio, was to
prepare a statement covering several mat
tiers regarding the conduct of the war which
have been the subject Of criticism in the
public press, particularly with reference to
the appointment of staff officers in the vol
unteer army. The statement follows: II am
led to make the following statements on
account of many criticisms which have been
made by the public press and especially on
account of a recent article which appeared
in the London Times. containing assertions
which have no foundation in truth.
cat the commencement of the war with
Spain, and for several years prior to that
time, the regular army consisted Of only
p 900 men, with the minimum number OF
officers prescribed by law. The situation
can be partially appreciated when 1t is re-
membered that within sixty days from the
declaration of war the strength of the army
was increased to 275.0OO and everything for
the equipment of this great force including
clothing, tents. transportation. medical sup
plies, camps and camp equipage, and all
that pertains to equipping army for
ported and distributed for use.
From the statement referred to. the
public mind might be made to believe that
the volunteer army was differed by men
selected through political influence with the
secretary of war, by special favor and with
out any.-regard to fitness for the duties
they were to perform. AS is well known.
the volunteer force. with the exception Of
ftroo rcerfr,n ,fG nf OR f1raa ori-
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 discharged
was replaced by another in the same man.
ner. The President had no voice or control
In the matter.
THE returns of the volunteer army show
that in August, 1898, there were 2O7,24i en-
listed men and s,7S5 officers in those regi-
ments. This, with the regular army re-
cruited up to the war strength, made an
aggregate force of about 275,0OO officers and
men. The volunteer officers appointed by
the President numbered, all told, 1882. OF
this number AL were taken from the regu-
lar army and 591 from civil life. The search
ty 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. For a little over a thousand appoint
ments made by the President the number Of
applications was over $500, and each appli-
cation was accompanied by a certificate Of
his ability, and in most instances giving the
military service either in the regular army
or a state organization and not infrequent-
ly both. These certificates showed that
each one was as we'll qualified for the po-
sition he sought and to which he was ap-
pointed as could be possible for men in civil
life in this country. OF the number ap-
pointed there were, for instance, twenty
six major generals. of whom nineteen were
taken from the regular army and seven
from civil life. OF these seven all except
one were graduates of West Point Military
Academy and all had distinguished them
selves in command during the civil war.
OF brigade generals there were 1O2 appointed,
slxty-six from the regular army and thirty
six from civil life. Those from civil life
had all seen service during the civil war
or on our western frontier, and all had
proven themselves competent to command
1T has been stated and repeated many
times that the secretary of war made these
appointments, when the truth is that very
few were made on his recommendation, al
though he caused the entire list with the
recommendations to be compiled and placed
before the President for his selection. 1
would be Only too glad to have had the
honor to have made these appointments. No
better, no more loyal or more patriotic set
| of men, as a whole, ever served their coun-
| try, and their appointments were a credit,
| not only to the appointing power, but to
| the country they served. There were ex-
| ceptions, but that could not have been fore
| seen. In every walk OF life men are found
| who cannot carry out satisfactorily the
work they have undertaken. There were
| three regiments of cavalry the officers of
| which were appointed by the secretary of
war. Col Leonard Wood, now brigadier
general and commanding the Departments
of Santiago and Puerto Principe. was one of
| these. Colonel Grigsby and Colonel Torrey,
| both good officers, were the other two.
| There were three regiments of engineers the
| colonies of which were all graduates of the
| Military Academy, and not only the officers,
| but the enlisted men were selected with q
| view to their special fitness, and in most
| instances on the recommendations of the
colonies themselves, ard all proved them
selves most efficient.
There were also ten regiments of i'm
| mune infantry OF whose colonies eight were
| graduates of the Military Academy, who
were selected for special fitness to COM
mand, and in the short time these regiments
were in service developed remarkable pro-
| ficiency.
Criticisms as to the amounts and meth