The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1904-01-16
Roosevelts Determination to Force the Con
firmaton of His Favorite, Has
Serious Results.
Wilson Says That Wood Was Not at San
Juan, and That President Wished
! to Conceal That Fact.

him to be heard; that nothing had beer
proved against him; that there was
nothing for him to answer; in a word
that he was self-vindicated.
"This, submit, was to me, and
must be to everyone, perfectly mon.
strous. When did it come about that
this individual, a doctor in civil life
and bloodless soldier in battle, if he
ever saw battle, has reached the ex-
alted position that he is unlike other
people and is not to be accountable
to anyone, not even to the Senate OF
the United States, and will not even
honor it with his presence?
"Now, for my part, I want to say
that it is due to General Wood, it is
due to the president of the United
States, that he should not only explain
but disprove many of the statements
made in the evidence now here for con-
sideration before confirmation should
be thought of. The fact that he is will
ing to let this investigation go on
without personally meeting it like a
man is in itself strong evidence to my
mind that he is not made of material
that goes to make soldiers such as we
need for Our major generals and chief
of staff
The talk about the difficulty of his
coming here is silly. 1t is simply evad-
ing the question. The truth is, a brave
and courageous man would rather re-
sign dozen commissions as brigadier
general than allow his character to be
smirched, his conduct assailed, his mo-
tives impugned and his integrity and
veracity sought to be impeached, if by
giving up the same he could come in
person and disprove the accusations
made against him. And it is not neces-
sary for him to resign in order to
come.
Nothing said or proved against
General Wood, indeed! Positive and
direct specifications, involving the in
tegrity and honesty of his administra-
ton as civil governor, some of them
against his character as a man and
an officer, are made against him. Much
evidence is introduced to sustain each
of them; many witnesses, men of the
highest character, great prominence
and high order of intelligence, have
been examined and, at least as to some
OF the charges, it cannot be said that
they have not been sustained"
Senator Scott comments on the evil
dence introduced tending to reflect di-
rectly upon General Woods character
as a man by impeaching his integrity
and veracity and then after summing
up other charges says: 'To my mind
a most grievous injustice has been
done in the preferment of General
| Wood over hundred or more old
army oficers-oficers who won dis
tinction on many bloody battlefield
battlefelds where more lives were lost
and more prisoners taken in one day
than during the entire Spanish-Amer-
lean war"
One of the most interesting allega-
tions in the testimony was that made
by Gen. James H. Wilson, who i'm
lplicated President Roosevelt in an at
tempt to prevent the public from
knowing that Gen. Wood did not parti-
cipate in the battle OF San Juan. The
following is Gen. Wilson's exact Ian
guage as given in the report:
He (Gen. Wood was appointed
without military experience, without
military study, other than that he had
gotten as medical officer, to be a
general ofeer. : tell you that every
officer in the army resented it-every
one that I ever met.
By Senator Foraker That was
when he was made brigadier general?
A. Yes, and then when he was pro-
NOTED to be major general.
Q. In promoting him to be major
general he is not being jumped over
anybody? A. No; but I suppose that
he was being Selected because the pres
idcnt thought he was the best man.
Now, think that it would be we'll for
this committee to have a showdown as