The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-08-27

Washington, Aug. 27-Theodore Roosevelt's speech at the Plattsbure camp wednesday,, in which the ex- President attacked President Wilson and his administration. brought yes- ferday from Lindley M. Garrison, the Secretary of War. an official repri- nand for Ma General Leonard Wood, because he had given Colonel Roosevelt the opportunity to make political address To emphasize this aebuke, Secretary Garrison, who is Ae immediate superior of General ss bod, gave to thep ress the telegram eIsood. gave to the press the telegram
 Washington, Aug. 26, 1915.
 F have just seen 1tffe reports in
 the newspapers of the speech
 made by exPresident Roosevelt
 at the PIattsburg camp. It is
 difacu1t to conceive of anything
 which would have a more detr1-
 mental effect upon the real value
 Of this experiment than such an
 incident.
 This camp! held under govern
 nent auspices, was successfully
 demonstrating many things of
 great moment. Its virtue con-
 Sisted fn the fact that it con- i
 veyed it's own impressive lesson
 in it's practical and successful
 operation and results. No op-
 portunity should have been fur
 flished to anyone to present to
 the men any matter excepting
 that which was essential to the
 necessary Strafning they were
 there to receive. Anything else s
 could only have the effect Of dis
 tracting attention from the real
 nature of the experiment., divert
 ing consideration to issues which
 excite controversy, antagonisrn
 and a1l-fee1ing, and thereby i'm
 pairing, if not destroying, what
 otherwise would have been So ef-
 feetfye.
 There must not be any oppor-
 tunity given at Plattsburg or at
 any other similar camp for any
 such l1nfortunate <consequences.
 LINDLEY M. GARRISON,
 Secretary of War.
 Did Not Consult President.
 Secretary Garrison said he had taken this action on his own Iniative and had not discussed the matter with President Wilson, Whether any further action is to be taken has not been determined. Sec rotary Garrison was asked whether a copy of the telegram of reprimand would be placed on Najor-General Woodss efHeiency record. He an- sv7sred that he had not taken up consideration of that phase of the matter. Whether any further action will be taken will depend on the re- sponse, If any. made by General Wood and upon whether President Wilson directs that other action be taken.
 It was made plain that General Wood was not being reprimanded for what ex-President Roosevelt said, but for having furnished the opportunity to any one to present to the men any matter excepting that which was essential to the necessary framing they were there to recefve.,'
 Although White House officials re- fused to make any comment on the speech delivered by ex-President Roosevelt at the PlattsbIrg camp, it was apparent that officials and close friends of the administrations were highly disp1eased over the action of Wood Early in the war, President Wilson issued warning. army officers, prohibiting them from part fcipa6fne in public discussions of the war in Europe or in discussi ons of the governments military and for eigu policies Friends of the Presf- dent were said to feel that General Wood should not have invited Coll one1 Roosevelt to the Plattsburg' camp: that General Wood. must have had a full appreciation Of the lat ter's views and his tendency to dis cuss them on such occasi ons.
 At the opening of the Platts0urg camp. General Wood was quoted in newspapers as having commented in. an address on the failure Of the sad-. to adopt a more vfgor- ous policy of national defense. Secre- tary Garrison was asked whether of- dcial attention would be paid to the remarks then attributed to General Wood. MT. Garrison said that he had been assured by General Wood, both by telegraph and letter that he had delivered no such speech. An extract from a letter from General Wood to MT. Garrison. under date of Aug 14, was made public by the Sec refary Of War, as follows:
 You perhaps have seen some
 thing Of the articles in the sarf-
 o1is papers. It is needless to
 state that there was no discus
 sion by me- nor has there been :. any by any officers here. of inter
 national affairs or anything Athal
 comes under the Presidents pro-
 hfbition. The talks to the men
 have been on purely technical
 subjects, explaining the use of
 armies. methods of raising them, e saA1laIzOns etc. My own talk
 was absolutely on technical lines,
 and had to do with the methods
 of raising and maintaining arm
 ies. voluntary systems. etc, and
 the usual strong endorsement of
 the militia into which think 9
 great many of these men will go.. Effect on General Woods Career
 Speculation was active today as to he4 effect of the reprfTpand of Gen-