Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1917-05-21
RELEASES VOLUNTEERS
Continued from Page One)

expedition, drawing the conclusion
that France thereby will get Ameri
can soldiers in the trenches at once.
although Col. Roosevelt VII not lead
them.
''If this gives the explanation of the
mattre," Col Roosevelt added. Il
gladly say we are all unselfshly
pleased to have served this use, al
though we regret not to have been
allowed ourselves to render active
service
Certain Errors
Col. Roosevelt declared that had his
offer been accepted all four of his
proposed divisions would have sailed
and two would have been on the firing
line by Sept L. the time at which the
secretary of war has announced that
the assembly Of the selective draft
army is to begin.
II wish" said Col. Roosevelt, re-
spectfully to point out certain errors
into which the President has been led
in his announcement. He states that
the purpose was to give me an indie
pendent command In my last letter
to the secretary of war, l explicitly
stated that if | were given permission
to raise an army corps of two divi-
sions to be put under the command
of some general like Wood, Pershing,
Barry or Kuhn. | desired for my
self only the position of all the other
brigade commanders except that l
would have ranked after and been
subordinate to the rest of them.
THE President alludes to our pro-
posed action as one that would have
an effect politically but not contrib
uting to the success OF the war and
so representing "a policy of personal
qualification or advantage l wish re-
specially but emphatically to deny
that any political considerations what
ever or any desire for personal graf
ification or advantage entered into our
calculations. Our undivided purpose
was to contribute effectively to the
success of the war. l know nothing
whatever of the politics of the i'm
mense majority of the men who came
forward and those whose politics l do
known include as many Democrats as
Republicans. My purpose was to en-
able the government to use as lnval-
liable men who would not be reached
under the selective draft who were mt
for immediate service and the great
majority of whom would not other
wise be used at all
THE President" added Col. Roose-
Welt. "says in effect that to comply
with our offer would be mischievous
from the military standpoint and he
adds that the regular officers whom
have asked to have associated with
me are some of the most effective
officers of the regular army who
cannot possibly be spared from the
duty of training regular troops one
of the chief qualifications for military
command is to choose for ones assoc
ciates and subordinates the most ef-
fective officers and this qualification
the President has stated that l pos
sess. AS for my withdrawing them
from the much more pressing and
necessary duty of training the troops
wish to point out that | have asked
for about so regular officers from
lieutenant colonies to second lieuten-
ants for the frst division.
This would be only about one
tenth Of the number who weuld go
with Gen. Pershing's division which
the President announced is to be COM
posed exclusively of regulars. There
fore the recent plan will take from
pressing and necessary duty about 10
times as many regular officers as
would have been taken under our pro-
posal. 1t has been stated that the reg
ular officers are opposed to our plan.
AS a matter of fact the most erect
i've fighting officers have been eager
to be called with or to have under
them the troops we proposed to raise.
There was nothing dramatic IN
our proposals save as all proposals IN
dicating eagerness or willingness TO
sacrifice life for an ideal are dramatic,
1t is true that our division would have
contained the sons and srandsens OF
men who in the Civil War wore the
blue or the gray, for instance, the sons
or grandsons of Phil Sheridan, sFitz-
hugh Lee, Stonewall Jackson, James
A. Garfield, Simeon B. Buckner, Adna
Chaffee. Nathan Bedford Forrest. But
these men would have served whether
with command OF in the ranks, pre-
ciseiy like the rest of us; and all alike
would have been judged solely by the
efficiency, including the scientific def
iHiteness' with which they did their
work and served the nag, ar their 10y
al deyotiop