The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1917-08-02

time the phrase is pregnant with mean
ing but in wsrtimes it is often the
explanation for pages Of history, writ
ten in the blood Of heroes. who gave
their lives in attempting to carry out
the laundering orders Of their supcriors.
The defamation of the Light Brigade
at Balakiava when the six hundred
rode bravely and well into the Valley
Of Death, - the wall of Fredericksburg,
where the blood Of the boys in blue
was split in profusion the charge OF the
Old Guard at Waterloo, where the
sunken road held death for the brave
TROOPERS, have all reflected the terrible
responsibility which rests upon the
leaders Of any army. To avoid IT posi-
bic such disaster for the soldiers who
will follow Old Glory, the government
instituted the Officer S Reserve Train
ing Camps, the first of which will soon
be ended by the issuance of com
missions. The test for the system
is to be whether these appointments
are made without political prefer
ence or wire pulling.
In the information relative to the
training camps the War Department
put itself on record as follows: "To
provide officers for the drafted forces
Of the national army the War Depart
ment has ADOPTED the policy of COM
missioning ali new officers of the line
(infantry, cavalry, field and cost ar
tillery) purely on the basis Of demon
strated ability after three months of
observation and training III the Of
fcer's Training Camp. Thus the APP
pointment Of officers of the new armies
will be made entirely on merit and free
from all personal or other influences.
1t is a novelty in the history of war
fare in our own country; no one can
read the pages of history of the Civil
War nor any war which this govern
meut has waged, without noticing with
regret where officers, appointed because
of their political following have failed
and failed miserably, not because of
lack Of patriotism, but because of lack
of ability to see the course which would
have led to victory at the cost Of the
least bi0odshed. No ore can read these
pages without realizing that again ire
mendous pressure will! be exerted to
place the commissions in the hands Of
the F'faithful few WHO rule the dis
trict back home rather than to grant
them to those who in the months Of
training have proved themselves cap
able of upholding the tremendous re-
sponsibility of saving the lives of the
soldiers entrusted to their care To
the men, who from every corner of this
broad land have answered the call to
the camps, the War Department must
keep the faith by granting the commits
sions solely on merit; for the better
interests of the country and the free
dom which is now at stake, the War
Department must pass over all personal
friends and political henchmen and
appoint in the new army only those
men, who by actual service ,have shown
that they can see and dc.
The responsibility for the success of
the scheme does not rest wholly on the
administration, which has asserted it's
determination to carry out this solemn
pledge at any political cost. Appoint
ment on merit will be made and it must
be supported not only by the friends of
those who gain the commissions but
also by those who were disappointed
and must return to civilian life. The
task which the administration has as
signed to itself can be made possible
or impossible in the future by the sup
port of public opinion. To accept as
fair the choice of the War De-
partment, which has pledged itself
to use only merit as basis, is a
patriotic duty which will confront
the American public with the announce
ment of the commissions.
There are Kenosha men in the camps
whom we are all anxious to see receive
appointments; they are the kind of men
who have convinced us back home that
they deserve the recognition of the
government. If, however, when the
slips are passed out, these men have
failed TO show up as well as the men
from other parts of the country, high
er patriotism should lead us to accept
as necessary and right the selection
which has used merit and not political
or personal friendship as basis.
1t is the hope of the American peo-
pie that this nation will avoid in this
war "blunder in bloodp caused by
the wrong order being passed down the
line, 1t is hoped that such men will be
selected to lead the armies of this de-
mocracy that every soldier may feel,
when he is called to charge in the face
of death dealing fire, he is risking
his life not in an experiment to test
out the principles of half educated of
fcers but in way in which, if death
should come, he has split his blood so
that his sacrifice will bring vic
tory to his flag and preserve freedom
tor his people.