Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1914-05-05
PREPARED FOR CAMPAIGN
Army Ineffieieney of Old Times No
Longer Ssparent.

| Washington officials believe, says q
dispatch from Washington to the New
York Evening Post, that, II an army is
sent into Mexico, there will be no du
plication Of the state Of unprepared-
ness in which the army was found a
the outbreak Of the Spanish war, and
which led to rows between officers Of
high rank and to the scandals which
gave "embalmed beef" a place in the
| army annals. With the lesson Of the
Spanish war behind them the chiefs Of
departments have done the best they
could with the money which was forth
coming, and it can be said today that
except in the matter Of the field artil-
lery, the army will advance, with a
prospect that the men will be we'll
clothed, we'll fed, and well armed, and
that every precaution will be taken
and every means afforded to save them
from the ravages Of disease.
It was just after the Spanish war
that the general staff Of the army was
established. The general staff not only
has looked after plans for operations
in case Of emergency, but it has done
what it could to see that the supplies
Of all kinds were properly distributed
and made available for instant use.
Under an act Of congress, approved
two years ago, the quartermaster, sub
sistence, and pay departments Of the
army were consolidated into a single
corps to be known as the quartermas-
ters' corps. July l, 1907, President
Roosevelt nominated MAJOR James B.
Aleshire as brigadier-general in COM
mand of the quartermasters' depart
ment, and on August "a, 1912, Presi-
dent Taft nominated him to be major
general.
Today Gen. Aleshire has authority
over the three departments, which,
consolidated, make up the quarter
masters corps. Brig. Gen. Henry G.
Sharpe is the commissary general, and
Brig. Gen. Carroll A. Devol is the pay
master general Of the army.
The responsibilities resting on Gen.
Aleshire are, perhaps. greater than
those which rest on any other man OF
the United States army With. Gen.
Sharpe and the other officers Of the
quartermasters' corps, he Is RESPONSE
BILE for feeding and clothing the ar
mics in the field. Soldiers do not
growl as hard at the man who leads
them to defeat as they do at the man
who fails to lead them to dinner.
A good many people probably will
remember the plight in which an OFF,
Ger of the subsistence department
found himself because Of the beef
scandal Of Spanish war days. There
was a court martial and a suspension
from rank and command, with heavy
if not total, loss Of pay for two years.
Ever since Gen. Porfirio Diaz drop
ped the military dictatorship Of Mexi-
co and retired to more congenial quar-
ters abroad, the chiefs Of the various
army departments have been prepar-
ing for trouble in Mexico.
1t is the duty Of the quartermaster
general to know what he must do, and
what he can do If this country were to
become involved in war with any pow
er on earth. The matter Is constant
| study, and necessitate a shifting OF
plans occasionally as possibility OF
war changes from one quarter to an
other. The anxieties Of the chiefs Of
these departments are great, and they
have been made much greater because
Of the difficulties which came to the
service at the time part Of our army
went into Cuba and another part of 1t
went into camps in Virginia, Georgia
and Florida
Every effort is being made to keep
our army Of invason, well supplied
with field necessities, and to keep the
men as comfortable as possible under
the circumstances, and to make 1t GER
tain that the spirit Of the soldiers Is
kept burning by sufficient supply OF
fuel in their stomachs.