The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-09-21
ANOTHER TYPICAL ACT.


Mr.. Roosevelt has just performed
another act which Is thoroughly typi-
cal of his habits of partia1ity and favor
ftism. 1t Is the advance of Captain
John ]. Pershing to the rank of briga-
dier-general. AS The New York Com
mercial expresses 1t, the captain Job
tains his great promotion at the ex-
pense of 257 captains. ssa majors. ls1
lieutenant-celonels and ITO colonies,
all OF whom he overslaughs. The spe-
cial excuse for this extraordinary adj
yancement is Captain Pershing's work
while commander of a small force in
the Lake Lanao country of Mindanao.
would have ranked during our civil
war as one Of thousand raids into
the enemys country to which no spe-
cial attention was paid. There Is very
considerable difference Of opinion in
army circles as to the military value
of the exploit. some officers maintain
ing that It accomplished little or moth
ing permanent. and that, so far from
being an expedition into country un-
known to Americans, officers with
small escorts had several times traver-
sed this district without causing any
bicodshed whatever. or even being
threatened"
The New York Sun is doubtful wheth-
er the killing of few Moros entities
line officer to the star of brigadier-
general, and The Commercial recalls
the fact that some time ago Colonel
Baldwin was made a brigadier- general
in hot haste for his alleged heroic at
tack on Fort Bayou, in Mindanao," and
then goes on to show that when the
war department came to investigate
this alleged act of heroism II was found
to have been a decided military blum
der. and the appointment was not con-
firmed. very much to the dissatisfaction
of Baldwin and Roosevelt, we may feel
assured
There is no reason for surprise in
connection with this Pershing affair.
for it is by no means the first per-
formance of the kind. No President
has ever had more to say about q
square DEAL" and few have SO thor
oughly disregarded 1t. The appoint
ments or advancement of Grant, and
Wood and Mills and Funston and 9TH
ers we might name afford ample evil
dence of that fact that Roosevelt re-
wards his favorites in the army with
out regard to their services and ap-
parently Indifferent to the gross injus-
tice of jumping~an officer over the
heads of scores who are not only in
the line of promotion but who are far
more entitled to 1t as an act of justice
and for the good of the service than
Is the one thus singled out.
1t is pointed out as "a coincidence
that Captain Pershing Is a. SON law
of Senator Warren, of Wyoming,
Chairman OF the Senate Committee on
Military affairs, Whether that had
anything to do with the jump may be
question: but doubtless 1t had its
| weight. However, that may be. 1t is
given out that the other officers of the
army are not at all enthusiastic over
| the advancement of an officer who real
" had no claims other than that he Is
D good company commander. There's no
use seeking for reasons or explana-
lions of the affair. other than that II
| is a habit of Roosevelt to reward his
| favorites without regard to fairness or
| fitness AS a matter OF fact. while
some men are born great. some
achieve greatness, and some have
greatness thrust upon them" there
are others who have Roosevelt for a
| friend.