The National tribune., 1906-12-06
CAPT. PERSHING.
Strong Opposition to His Promotion to
Brigadier-

| Washington. found in their mail, IAN
open letter. from one Allen Williams,
whose identity is unknown, making a
| series of charges against the Captain.
Some of these letters had also been
seen at the War Department. Most OF
the charges are grounuless, but they
contained material which demonstrated
the writer's familiarity with Philippine
affairs.
The promotion of Capt. Pershng is
| characterized in the letter as the most
notorious of all the unprecedented po-
| litical and personal preferments the
| President has yet made, absolutely
without justification, reproach to the
| Army and to the Nation. His appoint
| ment is an undeServed rebuke to more
than 500 officers senior to him and as
worthy, who are mentally his peers.
| PerShing'S service in Mindanao was eff
cient, but not unusual. He was favored
as no officer in the Army has ever been.
| Every move he made was written up,
and given publicity as important ex-
pedition by Capt. Pershing.' He ad-
vertised himself thoroIy and system
atically. He had his friends In the
United States soliciting men proinin ent
| in public life to ind0rse him for q
| Brigadier Generalcy-a method con-
trary to the spirit and letter of law and
regulations, opposed to all the customs
and traditions of the service"
With this portion of the "open let
ter" there is general concurrence among
Army officers and likewise among 9TH
ers who have intimate knowledge of
the case. 1t is no secret that the Army
is bitterly opposed to the jumping of
| officers to promotion, and that the pro-
motion of Capt Pershing is as displeas-
ing to the Captains, Majors. Lieutenant
Colonels and Colonels as was the jump
ing of Gen. Leonard Wood. Even Capt.
Pershing's classmates at West Point
and officers who count themselves
| his personal friends contend that, good
as his service has been, it is no better
| than that of other officers who were
| less advertised, and therefore are not
so well known.
But these critics of the prom otion,
who are vigorously making their views
known to Senators, stop short of
| charges in the Allen Williams letter
| attacking Capt Pershing's moral char
| acter. Certain of these charges were
| brought to the attention of the War
Department, and were looked into as
far as 1t was possible. At least nothing
| has been found to substantiate them.
The universal verdict, as far as known
here, of those who have acquain lance
with Capt. Pershing, Is that he has
been a man of upright personal con-
| duct
'"The reasons advanced for not con-
| firming PershiDg may be impertinent," +"
says paragraph of the letter. but
they are to the point. He married the
daughter of Senator Warren, of Wyo-
ming. Why not give him a Medal of
| Honor and start him like Wood" Tho
answer at the War Department to this,
which will undoubtedly be emphasized
during the campaign for Capt. PERISH
| ing's confirmation by the Senate. is that
| he was suggested for promotion TO
| Brigadier before he knew Senator War
rem. now Chairman of the Military AZ
| fairs Committee, to which the nomina-
ton will be referred. President Roose-
Welt, about three years ago, announced
his desire to promote Capt Pershine
| for splendid military service in Min
danao, and likewise his regret that I'M
| der the law it was impossible to pro-
mote him to any grade below that Of
| Brigadier. The late President McKin-
| ley found the same difficulty when he
| wished to recognize the services OF
Funston in the Philippines.
The letter also links the name of
Gen. Leonard Wood with the present
case, but this is declared unwarranted,
| because Capt. Pershing returned from
the Philippines before Gen. Wood was
assigned to duty there. A sample of
the effort to ring Gen. Woods name in
on the discussion about Capt. Pershine
is seen in the following paragraph of
the letter:
1.-The S. S. Sabah is under charter to
the Quartermaster's Department at $50
or $50 per day, and was used exclu-
Esively by Gen. Wood as a dispatch boat,
which, translated. means . private
yacht. AT present Gen. Bliss has the
use of the Sabah. BY what authority is
n Brigadier-General provided with a
steamship as private transportation? ?
| The S. S. BorneO, of the same company,
is under a Government subsidy. Inves-
| tigatei''
Altho this is declared entirely sepa-
rate from the question of Capt. PERISH
ing's confirmation, the War Department
| is interested In the knowledge of af-
| fairs in Mindanao which the writer dis
plays, for the records of the Quarter
master-Generars Office show that the
| Borneo, owned by the Philippine
| Steamship Company, incorporated, was
| chartered for the period between July
1, 1902, and Feb. 2S, 1903, for $12, 900,
which was at the rate of $500 a
month, or $50 a day. This was for
service at Mindanao. and is said to be
during the time that Capt. Pershins
was in that Province. Since then the
Sabah has been under charter at $50 a
| day, and was used by the Quartermas-
| ter's Department as late as June 80
last The Peerless, a schooner owned
by the same company, has also in re-
| cent months been under charter to the
| Government at $50 a day, and it is
/ suggested at the War Department that
/ she may have taken the place of the
| Borneo.
| Still another charge in the letter
| reads: What authority was given for
handing over the two rifles to the Moro
Dattos by the oily Secretary of War
| the rifles that We're later used against
American soldiers and captured at Bud
! Dajo?" Secretary Taft sanctioned the
gift of the rifles to the Dattos, but the
/ Army was reimbursed at the time.
/ There is some speculation at the De-
partment over, the identity of the writer
| of the letter. Some think it came from
] Leavenworth. n Kan, where there has
been outspoken opposition to Persh-
i ing's confirmation. 1t may have been
i the work of some private soldier. who
served in the Philippines and has been
discharged. The Directory of Manila
u contains no such name.
i The friends of Capt. Pershing's con-
firmation will ltseek early action by tht
Senate 1t Isl too soon yet to tell how
effective the opposition will be. There
is always great difficulty in defeating
> the confirmation of an Army officer.