Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1917-05-21
ROOSEVELT URGES
MEN TO DISBAND
tContimucd Erom Eirst rnEcl


ton now in use in the French and
British armies All four divisions
would have sailed. and two would have
been on the firing line by September
THE tim AT which the Secretary of
war has announced the assembling Of
The selcctivc draft army is To begin.
About half of our men. a, least of
those In the first division. were men
who already had seen military service
wish respectfully to point out GER
tain errors in which tho President has
heen led in his announcement. lie
states that the purpose was Ia Give
me an independent command In my
last letter TO tho Secretary OF War ]
explicitly stated that il WAS given
permission to raise an army corps of
TWO divisions. to be put under the
command Of some commander like GEN
eral Wood. General Barry, General
Pershins or General Kuhn. desired
for myself only the position OF junior
among the eight brigade commanders
| would not have been 'indepcndcut :
would have been In precisely the
same position as the other brigade
commanders. except that would have
ranked after and been subordinate to
the rest OF them.
The President alludcs to our pro-
posed action as one that would have
an effect 'politically,' but AS not con-
ana as representing a policy OF per
Sonal qualification or advantage
wish respectfully. but cmphatical-
iE. 10 deny that any political consid-
eration Whatever. or any desire for
personal Eratification or advantage en-
tered INTO our calculations Our un-
divided purpose WAS To contribute cf-
tectivcly to the success Of the war.
know nothing Of the politics Of the
immense majority Of the men who
came forward. and those whose poll
tics ! do know numbered AS many
Democrats as Republicans My pur-
pose was TO enable the government Ia
use as an invaluable military asset the
men who would not be reached under
the selectivc draft. who were nj for
immediate service. and the great ma
Jority of whom would not otherwise
have been used at all
The President says in effect that TO
comply with our offer would be mis-
chleNouS from Il military standpoint
and he adds that the regular officers
"hom asked to have associated with
me arc some of tho most effective
officers of the regular army who .c.n
not possibly be spared from the duty
OF training troops one OF the chief
qualifications for military command T.,
10 choose from ones associates and
sunordinatcs the most effective officers.
ana thiS qualification the President
mus states that l possess AS for my
Withdrawing them from the much more
pressing-and necessary duty of train
ing the troops, wish to point out
that had asked for about nifty rceu-
lar oHcerS, from observation-disclosures 10
second licutenants, for the first di-
vision. This would be only about a
tenth OF the number who will 20 with
General PcrshinG's division. which. the
president announces, * to he composed
exclusively OF regulars. Therefore the
ll ~ ts.l.n
pressing and necessary duty about ten
times as many regular officers .s
would have been taken under our
proposal
1T has. been stated tha, regular
army othcers are opposed TO our plan
AS a matter OF fact, the most cncc-
tive hGhtinS officers have been eager
TO be connected with or have under
tnem the troops we proposed to raise
me president condemns our propos,I
on the ground that undramuti. action
III needed-action that is practical and
Win Sclentihc detnitencss and pre-
cisloh There was nothing dramatic
In our proposal. save as ali proposals
indicating caEerncsS or Willingness TO
Sacrihcc life for an ideal are dramatic
IL is true that our division would have
contained sons or Grandsons OF men
VINO IN the Civil War wore tho blue
or the gray. For instance, the sons
or grandsons Of Phil Sheridan. Eitz
hugh Lee, James Garfield Simon BolIi-
var Buck ncr. Adna r. Chuffce and
Nathan Bedford Forrest. But these
men Wonld have served. whether with
commissions or in the ranks precisely
IKE the rest OF US, ana all alike would
nave been judged solely by the efti-
ciency-including the Scientific def
nlteness which they did their
work. and served their nag with Ioyal
DEVOTION