The Washington herald., 1912-05-26
FIGHT EXPECTED
ON WOOD ATTACK
Conferences Member Will Fight to
Have Report Rejected
BY House
wouIp OUsT CEIEE q sEAE1


A lively hght is expec.e6 In both the
senate ana the House over the amend
ment IN the army appropriation oil
which proposes 70 change the law re
rardIng ths Detail for Chief o. stan q
the army and which II enacted vii
eliminate Gen. Wood from service In
that capacity after March I next.
The oonferees Of the Senate and House
yesterday agreed on the paragraph aftel
several days OF strife, and all OF them
signed the report except Representative
0eorrs Prince. OF nllnais, who declined
10 acquiesce IN Il. Mr.. Prince viii lead
the dght against the adoption Of the
conference report The Senate and
House cannot amend a conference re-
port. They can simply accept or reject
h, and the eject OF rejection VIII be
20 send the matter back 70 conference.
According 10 statements OF the con-
ferees. the authorship OF the provision
belongs primarily 20 Representative Hay
OF virginia, Chairman Of the COMMITTEES
on Military Affairs Mr.. Hay Is a friend
OF Gen. AlnsWorth, who was recently re-
tired from the once Of AdjutaHt General,
after being severely condemned BY ats Su-
perior. Some Of the. friends OF Sen.
Wood insist that the paragraph u aimed
TO humlllate the Chief OF stan and Sec
retary stimson as 3 reprisai for the part
they took In deposing Gen. Alnsworth.
other Members Offended.
The Intimation is also given that the
Joint recommendation OF Gen. Wood,
which was approved by Secretary stim-
son, for the abandonment Of certain army
posts, offended other members Of the
Military Affairs Committee Of the Senate
and House and brought additional sup
port to Mr.. Hays proposal.
The amendment as Il appears in the
conference report. provides that the
present Chief OF stan shall retire from
ONCE on March 4, next, II Il stopped
there its effect would not be TO ma
terially modify the status OF the ofies,
for the articles Of war provide that the
Chief Of Stan shall be subject 20
change at the beginning OF each new
administration. But the amendment
goes further and provides that no offi-
GER shall be eligible for a detail as
Chief Of Stan unless he shall have
seen at least ten years service with
troops In the field before having at
tained the rank OF brigadier general.
One Of the critics OF the proposed
change OF the law pointed out yester-
day that this provision would elminats
from consideration the detail as Chief
OF STAN at least three brigadier gem
erals two OF whom, Gen William Gro
Zier and Gen. Frederick Funston, have
been msntioned from. time to time IN
connection with the detail. He OBJ
served at the same time that II would
not AFFECT Gen. John ]. Pershing. SON
in-lav Of Senator Warren, one-time
chairman OF The Committee on Military
Affairs OF the Senate and still an infiu-
entail member OF II. This critic was also
Ungracicus enough to charge that prob
ably the fact that Secretary Stlmson
and Gen. Wood recommended the aban-
dOnment OF Fort d. A. Russell at chey-
enne, Wyo., may have had something
to do with bringing Senator Warren into
line with Chairfjan Hays proposal.
~Warpkn NSt nIamsd-
The conferees were prompt to acQuit
Senator Warren Of any such personal In
terest IN the matter. They declared that
Il was inconsistent with what he had al
ways maintained in regard TO the ad-
Of the sarmy, and Il was
said further that when the Ainsworth
case was up that Senator Warren was
one OF the most effective agencies In
bringing about the voluntary retirement
Of Gen. Ainsworth and preventing the
being aired In Congress. In
that case he stood by the Secretary Of
War.
The new provision affecting the Chief
Of stan Is made applicable only in times
Of peace. II may be suspended by the
President in time Of war or any other
emergency.