The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1899-04-07
ABUSES in THE ARMY
Why There Is No Harmony in Our
Military Establishment.
There Arc Too Many Independent
Bureaus Whose Heads Are in q
Measure Not Responsible
to Anybody.
Especial Washington letter.

The army reorganization bill, of
which so much has been said in the
newspapers, is a measure which has not
been analysed so that everybody can
understand it.
That the army of this republic is in
q disorganized condition must be mani
Test to all of the people; and it is not
putting it too strong to say that the
condition of our army is disgrace to
this nation before the peoples of the
civilized world
This condition, which has brought
about all of the war department scan
dals, results from the everlasting con-
nlct between the. secretary of war and
the general commanding the army.
Every general commanding the army
has found himself handicapped and his
power of command taken from him by
the civilian secretary of war, no mat
ter whether the secretary of war knows
anything about military affairs or
not.
When Grant was made lieutenant
general he so we'll understood how our
armies had been handicapped by orders
from Washington that, in the presence
OF the cabinet, he accepted the COM
mission from President Lincoln, say
ing that he would not retain that COM
mission unless it carried with it the
full command of the army. Grant was
so great and powerful at that time that
President Lincoln gave him the com
mand; and from that moment all of
the federal armies moved under one
impulse and direction
When Sherman became general in
command, after Grant became presi-
dent, he assumed command, just as
Grant had done, and issued orders for
the appointment of his staff officers.
Sherman expected to have full com.
mand, of course. But Gen. Rawlins was
secretary of war, and he Influenced his
friend, President Grant, to take the
staff officers from the command of the
general, and place them under the COM
mand of the secretary of war. Presi-
taken that stand for anybody on earth
except Rawlins, who had been his warm
est friend and almost his guardian angel
in his days of trouble and peril.
When President Grant took that
stand, Gen. Sherman left Washington
and took up his abode in St. Louis, be-
cause he did not want to be mere fig
urehead in the war department at the
national capital. Years went by, and
Sherman made his home in St. Louis,
occasionally visiting Washington as a
mere matter of form. But he was never
iii actual command of the army.
The result of Grants orders has been
the disgraceful and scandalous condi-
tons, increasing in disgrace and acri-
mony from year to year; so that when
the war with Spain began our regular
army and our volunteer army did not
pass to the command of the senior ma
jor general of the army, but all of them
were placed at the mercy of civilian
secretary of war, and staff officers who
were independent of the general under
whose command they should have
served.
This, brief statement contains the ker-
mel of the causes of all the needless sui
ferings and deaths to which our SOL
diers were subjected. It makes no diff
ference who may be the secretary of
war, whether his name is Alger, Nc
Creary, Lincoln, Endicott, Proctor or
Jones; it is improper thata civilian sec
rotary of war should be allowed by law
to supervise duties of which he must
necessarily be ignorant, while the gen.