The National tribune., 1908-09-17
IN THE soLDrERs. HOMES.

Icy OF the management OF the SoldiefS
Homes The President of the Board is
Maj. James S. Wadsworth, of New York
For some years now there has beer
a persistent, ansparing course of elimi-
nation of the old volunteers from the
management of the Homes. and substi-
tuition for them of retired Regulars and
civilians. In one or two instances it is
alleged that even aliens have been give'1
minor places taken away from entirely
competent veterans of fine record in the
volunteer service.
Among the many instances of this
kind we may select two for present il
lustration
There was no finer cavalry leader in
the Western armies than Gen. o. IL
La Grange, Colonel of the 1st Wis. Cav
1t was part of his command which cap
tured Jeff Davis, and Gen. J. II. Wilson
pronounced him zone of the most meri-
torious and promising officers L have
ever met"
Gen. La Grange was for years Cover
nor of the Pacific Branch of the Sol
diers' Home in Los Angeles County, Cal.
Apparently he gave the greatest salts
faction in that capacity to everybody
outside of the mysterious little clique in
the Board of Governors, of which Maj.
General and the community We're as
founded by the demand for the Gener-
ais resignation on the convenient pre-
text of advancing age" There was
much and general mitigation among
veterans and citizens, but the. Board of
Governors is severely autocrafic, and
the gallant old Rough Rider made his
first surrender, and accepted the Boards S
harsh terms of months leave of alb
sence.
The removal of Gen. La Grange was
followed by that of Capt H. C. Par
sons. the Quartermaster, and other vet
Grams. who had been believed to be per-
forming their duties satisfactorily, and
for which removals no adequate reasons
have been given. 1t is alleged, with
what truth we do not know, that one of
the officials appointed to succeed vet-
eran is an Englishman, absolutely with
out service even in the militia, and who
was not yet naturalized when appointed.
Following close upon these changes
are stories of heartless treatment Of the
veterans. One of these cases has been
so nagrant that it has reached the civil
courts. One of the young guards. who
had a previous record for brutality. SO
wantonly and causelessfy beat an aged
veteran as to arouse the Indignation of
the public. The Los Angeles County
Press Association adopted resolutions
denouncing the outrage, and the man.
agement was compelled to yield W A.
Foy, the offending guard, to the civil
authorities, and he has been bound
over to appear before the. Superior
Court
So much for one branch. We will
only take space now to allude to anoth-
err The name of Chas. C. Candy was
one to conjure with in the Twelfth
Corps.
He is man with a most remarkable
history native of Kentucky. he had
enlisted in the Regular Army, served
on the plains for years before the war.
and by good service had risen to the rank
of Sergeant-Major. The State of Ohio
was badly in need cof drill masters at
the beginning of the war. Serg't-Maj.
Candy was discovered by the Governor
of Ohio, and set to work organizing and
drilling the gallant youths who an
swered Ohio's. call. Candy showed SO
much ability in this work that he was
selected for Colonel of the 66th Ohio,
and commanded it with the greatest
ability until he was promoted to the
command of a splendid brigade, with
which he made a great deal of the best
history of the Twelfth Corps in the
Army of the Potomac and of the Cum
berland. He first attracted attention
by the splendid fight his regiment made
at Port Republic, where the 66th Ohio
Won its designation of Bull Pups by
its obstinate resistance to Stonewall
Jackson's force. Gen. Candy, who is
to-day as fright and alert as most m"n
at 80, was FOR s years the Quartermas-
ter of the Soldiers Home at Hampton.
and gave the utmost satisfaction in. that
position. His long experience as a nom
commissioned officer in the Regular
Army and as a Colonel commanding a
volunteer regiment eminently fitted him
for this Dositiou The place drp,y the
covetous eyes of the clique around
President Wadsworth. and Cen Candy's
was demanded upon the pre-
text of advancing. age" Anyone who
met Gen. Candy at the last Encamp-
ment and talked with him five minutes
would see how absurd such a pretext
was
There are many other instances which
we may take up in the future. but these
will suffice for the present. 1t is alleged
that President wadsworth has laid
down the rule that no more veterans of
the civil war shall be appointed, and
that those in office shall be gotten rid
of as rapidly as possible. He may not
have said this in SO many words, but
color is given o.tfe truth of the allega-
ton by the persistent removal of vetar-
ans in positions about the Soldiers
Home. This policy would be more de-
fensible if their places were taken by
veterans of later wars, which is not the
case. 1t is not believed that the mem
bers generally of the Board of Cover