Omaha daily bee., 1911-06-09
Commercial Club is Aroused

dO Id L Al OOONA
the addition Of the state Of Colorado
Is joke. there being nothing in the
entire state but a recruiting station
at Fort Logan.
As an excuse for all Of this up
heaval is alleged a great saving in
administrative expense We all know
Uncle Sam has a peculiar way OF
handling some Of his accounts; that
in making purchases for the War de-
partment account Is not taken Of
what II costs to transport supplies
from the point Of purchase to the
ultimate destination, so that when
the statement is made that a great
saving is to be affected, Il mag be
Just another case Of 'robblng Peter
to pay Paul" We can see no way
Of saving very much except through
clerical hire, as the salaries Of Of
ficers and the expense OF maintain
ing offices at the various points will
continue just the same. except in the
case Of Denver, where they are now
renting space. II, as seems to be their
plan, a large number OF clerks will
be located in Chicago, they will In ali
likelihood have to go TO quite an ex-
pense for office space there, as the
army headquarters located in Chicago
postoffice building are said to be
crowded right now. On the other
hand, Omaha is reputed to have the
finest and best equipped office build
ing for War department purposes any
where outside OF Washington, with all
the room and every facility necessary,
To summarize the situation as we
see It, we are confronted by a very
serious condition. Here is what han
pened within the last year, and, as we
have frequently said, IL we cannot add
something to our headquarters or mill
tary possessions from time to time,
we Will sooner or later lose what we
have.
Last summer we learned too late
to forestall 1t, although we worked
hard to have IL rescinded, that an
order had been issued disseminating
disbursing quartermaster's offices
here, through which had been ad-
justed and paid all bills for trans
portation expense. This took from
Omaha six or seven men and their
families, and most OF them went to
Chicago. This reduced our bank de-
posits and clearings accordingly.
In the early part OF this year orders
were issued transferring from Omaha
to Denver the purchase of all COM
missary stores for Fort Russell
(Cheyenne), Fort Robinson (Craw-
ford), Fort Meade (Sturgis) and Fort
Mackenzie (Sheridan), regardless of
the fact that so per cent OF subsist-
ence stores for these reservations
could be delivered at these posts from
Omaha at less expense than from Dem
YER This change alone reduced the
purchases made at Omaha by s. per
cent, measured by the number of men
at these points. When the troops re-
turn from the Mexican border the
purchases made in Omaha for
groceries, teas, coffee. sugar, spices,
meats, lard, ham, bacon, etc, will be
only IS per cent of what they were
at the beginning Of this year.
Now We are to have our headduar-
tiers force reduced to practically moth
Ing, so that later on the same may
be said of its abandonment as General
Wood now says of Denver-that under
the new order of things the loss of
their headquarters is insignificant,
only matter of seven men.
The article referred to In the OPEN
ing paragraph OF this letter is, ac-
cording to our ddvices, misleading
to our members and our citizens.
1t does not tell the truth. Omaha will
lose fifty-three men. ten departments,
and what is more serious in the long
run, practically all of our prestige
as a military center and a purchasing
point. Therefore, at a meeting OF the
executive committee held the 9Th inst.
resolution was unanimously adopted
instructing the forwarding of this let
ter to you protesting most vigorously
against the reorganization that will
be 80 Injurious to our interests and
at the same time questionable from
War department standpoint and
urging that our senators and repre-
sentattves give the matter, which is as
important to Nebraska as II is to
Omaha, their immediate and personal
attention.
]. NJ. GUILD, Commissioners.