The Washington times., 1901-10-14
SECRETARY .ALGER'S BOOK.
fhs spanish-s mericun War and Its
Varied Scandals.

| Varied Scandals.
| For as much as two years the country
has been threatened with book from the
pen OF Russell A. eAiger. of Detroit. which,
according to his trends, would, when pup
| lishtd, 50 comp.etely silence the critics o1
! his administration and conduct as Secrc-
tary OF war in Mr.. Mckinley hrst Cab
/ met that they would Nsai.t 20 hiCe tnSir
i heads from the wrath oT an Inruristtsd
p0Duiace. Mr.. Algcr has n41ally wI1tttn
| and the Harpers have printed the work
We do not intend to Join our esteemed
contomp aries in ignoring this contriDu-
tion TO the literature OF the Spanish
American war, although We must ;.gree
with them that, like Maclay's History of
the American Navy" it fai S, on the whole,
to be history at all. Nevertheless. We
consider the book worthy of some review
1t is wei written. Mir. Alger evidently
has been able to engage the services OF
a thoughtful assistant in its preparation,
and it contains many compilations of War
Department and other data which are
not without value.
To generalize, the work is devoted to
an attempted defence of Mr.. Algers ad-
ministration of the War Department dur
ing the Spanish-American war; to an ex-
PLANTATION of the obstruction to the land
campaign Of Santiago by Admiral Samp-
son; to a broadside attack upon General
Mics; to a laudation of the author in
connection with the Philippine insurrec-
ton. and, lastly. to a defence Of the un-
speakable Eagan as. next to Aiser him
self. the hero of the epoch.
We wish to be entirely fair to Mr..
Alger. He is entitled to consideration on
two grounds. Firstly he is a man smart
ing under criticism. largely just, but not
the less calling. Secondly, he is a civil
ian attempting to criticise the opinions.
plans and acts of professional soldiers.
in the latter aspect it is painfully appaz-
ent that he expects to be taken seriously
as a recognized authority. Mr.. Alger may
be a great soldier and military genius. but
there is nothing of which we are aware in
his record to show it, We need only refer
to the fact that in his bitter and personal
attacks in his book on the General Com
manding the Army he assails an officer
who In the civil war, found 1t necessary
to comment strongly upon his conduct
General Miles was not alone in this. Cen
erals Sheridan and Merritt also referred
to his peculiar service in language more
pointed than complimentary. In this con-
nection it is perhaps strange that Mr..
AlSer should have aired himself, as he
does in his book. as a military critic, but
as long as he has he must take the con-
sequences in the amusement he excites.
BY way of Introduction we have only
one other word to offer Mr.. Alger had
postponed the publication of his book so
often that 1t seems he might have delayed
it again with propriety. But at last, he
selected a time just after the nation had
been stricken with a great sorrow, and
when the resurrection of the questions
and scandals with which he was identified
would better have been left to lie fallow
However, that is his business.
Beginning his narrative, Mr. Alger says
that the thoughtful observer OF public
events during the years 1ss5-97 need hard
ly be reminded that both the Cleveland
and the Mckinley Administrations sought
by every honorable means TO avoid COM
plications with Spain" Translated, this
is to say that when Mr.. Mckinley came
to the Presidency he inherited from his
predecessor policy of infamy which the
country universally condemned He
found the United States in practical al
lance with Spain against the suffering
people of Cuba, fgEEng Tor their freedom
from the most hideous and diabolical op-
preston that has been known in modern
times. He found the Cleveland navy in
effect under orders from Madrid, and
every national agency engaged with Spain
IN an effort to crush liberty in Cuba 1t
is to the glory of Mr. McKinley's Admin
istratton that all this was changed, al
though it would not have been had some
of his Cabinet advisers been given u free
hand. In this connection Mr.. Alger truly
says that the conservative and RESPONSE
bic men at the head of the nations affairs
were profoundly averse TO war. So they
were, and he. the hero of Charlottesville,
"a h.aF ny fufatp Tgrrs
destroyed the battleship Maine while on
a friendly visit to Havana Harbor, and
then. remarks Mr.. Alger; .'the sun had
set upon the day Of polite palayer and fu-
tile effort"
Mr.. Alger devotes the first part of his
WoTk to an explanation of the unprepar-
edness of his Department for war. After
the destruction of the Maine and before
million dollars at the disposal of the
President for national defence" but not
any part of this fund was considered
available for purposes of preparation for
offensive operations Hence, the army
and navy were handicapped, and it was
not until war actually had been declared
that the War Department was able to
supply itself with ''sinews." The country
Will acquit the then Secretary of blame
for that condition. II was after he had
ample means, and had surrounded himself
with commercial staff that criticism be-
gan. He went into the war with equip
ment of rifles for the army consisting of
So. sos 30-calibre Krag -Jorgensen rifles
and 1885 S0calibre Krag-JOrgensen
carbines. There were also 265.S95 Spring
held rifles and 1888 Springfield carbineS
The Government did not manufacture
smokeless powder. The manufacturers of
black and brown powder had been too in
fiuential for anything of that kind to hap
pen. 1t is history that Admiral Sampson.
when at the head of the Ordnance Bureau
of the Navy, retarded the smok eless pow |
der reform in that service for years.
gE..n.W a. n.HrNH fFNfW
the course of the story by referring to
Mr. Ayers criticism, later on. of A rec
by General Miles that a !
type of rife other than the Krag-Jorgen- |
sen be produced by the Government. We |
are not disposed to find fault with the |
author, since, as we have said he is a /
civilian. and unfamiliar with firearms. At /
the same time il is notorious that the /
not devoid Of inauspicuOus circumstances. /
Viewed from abroad, it is the most clumsy |
and inutile arm carried by any modern |
army. 1t is heavy; ii is cut through; Ii |
is impossible to handle at n carry, and |
1t is recognized here and elsewhere as |
inferior TO the Mauser, to the Japanese |
rifle and perhaps to others. Like many |
other things in this country, it was adopt |
d not on its merits. but because the peo-
pie backing it had money and political
pull
There were many things that the Secre-
tary of War of the time had a right to
plead in bar of criticism. Let us give
him the benefit of all OF them up to the
limit. 1t is unnecessary to follow him
through the initial expansion of the regu-
lar or the organization of the volunteer
army. The country Is familiar with the
record of both processes. But in connec-
lion with the mobilization of a consider
able volunteer army it became necessary,
Or the War Department thought so, to as