Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1911-10-16
loNWA.9 OFFICIAL STORY OF WAR
SHOWS UP INsoLENcE OF MIL.
lrARY OFFICIALS.
STATE REFUSED ACCESS
TO SOLDIERS RECORDS
Men Compiling Roster Of War Veterans
Handicapped in Work by Red Tape
It National capital-RefusaI of
Facts Written Into Records Of lowa's
Patriotic Sons.
Special to Times Republican.

Special to TimeS-Republcan.
Des Moines, Oct. 1.-THE arrogance
and insolence Of the bureaucratic war
sw1pe in the official story Of Iowa in
the war, and the indictment will stand
for all time against the petty officers
who have stood in the way Of coInplet-
ing the published records of Iowa sol
dierA. The manuscript completed and
to be embraced in the last Of the vol
umes Of the Roster of Iowa Men re-
veals for the first time how the war
department placed insurmountable OBJ
stacles in the way Of the patriotic men
of Iowa of today who wished that the
iowa records might be complete. 1t
reveals q shameful state of arraitS.
In preparing for the compilation of
the Iowa roster it was desired that &C
cess be had to the records at Washing
ton to complete the history which the
state Of Iowa has. Trouble was en-
countered in an old order OF Score
tary Lamont in 1897 to the effect that
information relative to individuals Will
not be furnished from the records to
complete the records Of states or socie-
ties. Adjutant General Thrift asked
permission OF the war department to
have the order modified to the extent
tina Iowa might be permitted to Sc
cure in some way some Of this tnfor-
nation from record n pension Of
ftce'' in view Of the Iowa law provid-
ing for the publication of h roster.
Adjutant General Ainsworth re-
fused this and said that it was wholly
unnecessary for Iowa to do this work
as the war department was then en-
gagged in completing a roster.
Protest From Cummins.
Governor Cummins wrote a letter to
the president fully explaining the great
desire OF the Iowa soldiers to have pub
lished an Iowa roster and pointing out
that 1.-The euuest Of a state to be given
q chance to verify OF supplement its
" records in such a manner should
be granted and asking the president
to take it up in person with the then
modified. saying:
Il do not ask that the state be fur
nished certified copies, as that might
unduly increase the work at Washing
ton. What I ask is that the rule be SO
changed that a competent and ac-
credited agent of the state may be
given access, under the supervision of
the department, to such records as will
complete the history in our own de-
partment. The suggestion made by the
adtutant general that the war depart
ment is now making a roster Of the
union and confederate armies does not
help US. first, because we can not de-
lay our publication until after the gen
eral roster Ia prepared and published,
and second, because Iowa soldiers
want an Iowa roster"
The governor also suggested that in
view of the Importance of the matter
he would be glad to submit the mat
ter in person if granted a hearing.
Crossley Explains.
The story Of the result Of these ne
g%otiations with the war department as
prepared by Col. G. W. Crossley, the
compiler of the Iowa roster, as it will
stand in the Iowa records, is as fol-
lows:
Incredible as 1t may seem the presi-
dent referred the foregoing letter Of
Governor CU-nmins to the Var depart
ment for reply. without. apparently.
having given the subject n personal