New-York tribune., 1917-12-28
Unpreparedness Is
Lesson, Says T. K
Colonel Blames Wilson for
Present Conditions in
Army Camps

KANSAS CITY, Nc, Dec Z''-in d"
editorial entitled "Broomstick IRE
paredness: A Study in Cause and Ei-
feet" to be published by "The Kansas
City Star" tomorrow morning, lheo-
doro Roosevelt will say:
at is earnestly to be hoped that the
Congressional investigation into the
fruits Of our military unpreparedness
will keep two objects clearly IN mind'
First, the aim must be to speed up
the work of efficient war preparation
b. doing away with all the present
practices that are wrong.
Second, the aim should be 20 MAKO
evident 70 all our people that our
present shameful shortcomings are due
TO failure to prepare in advance ana
that never again ought we 20 allow
our governmental leaders TO put us IN
such humiliating and unworthy posi-
tion.
at will be quite impossible to get
at all the facts of our unpreparedness'
Most officers will be very reluctant 10
testify 10 the whole truth. They Eno"
that they will suffer if they do so. be-
cause they have seen the punishment
inflicted by the Administration on
Major General. Wood for the sole rea-
son that he dared 70 tell the truth
about our shortcomings and dared 10
advocate preparedness in advance.
"For this reason | am not at liberty
TO quote the generals, colonels, cap
tains and lieutenants of the artillery,
infantry, medical corps and quarter.
masters corps who have told me OF
their troubles, with unhested hospitals,
insufficient drugs, summer under.
clothing in winter weather, lack oil
overcoats, Of shoes, of rifles, of ammu-
milton. of cannon.
"But in the camps visited | saw
some things 50 evident that no harm
can come to any officers from my
spcaking Of them. Last fall saw
thousands Of men drilling with broom
sticks. | have such broomstlck now
before me. Last fall | saw thousands
of men drilling with rudely whitfield
wooden guns. have one such before
me now.
81 saw them drilling with wooden
machine guns as late as the beginning
of December. | saw barrels mounted on
sticks. on which Jealous captains were
endeavoring to teach their men how to
ride horse. | saw in the National
Army camps in Illinois and Ohio scores
of wooden cannon. Doubtless any man
can see them now if he goes there.
"The excellent officers in the camps
are as rapidly as possible remedying
these deficiencies. | hope and believe
that by spring they will all be RENE
died; but let our people not forget that
for one year after Germany went to
war with us we were wholly unable to
defend ourselves and owed our safety
only to the English and French ships
and armies.
"The cause was our refusal to pre-
pare in advance. President Wilson s
message of December, 1914, in which
he ridiculed those who advocated pre-
paredness was part Of the cause. His
Presidential campaign on the He kept
us out OF war issue was part OF the
cause.
"We paid the price later with
broom rifles, logwood cannon,
soldiers without shoes and epidemics
of pneumonia in the camps. We are
having the price now. We pay the
price in the doubled cost OF necessary
war supplies. We pay the price IN
shortage of coal and congested trans;
portation. The refusal to prepare and
the price we now pay because OF the
refusal stand in the relation OF cause
and effect.
81 do not dwell on these facts to
blame ANYBODY; | dwell on them IN or
der TO wake our people TO the necessity
of learning the lesson they teach.
sour next paramount duty IS 10 IN
,roduce the policy Of universal obliga-
tory military training for all our young
,,a1 bafore they are twenty-one."