The Washington herald., 1918-01-14
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on shore with not smother days ra-
tions.
Then, as now. the causes were the
same-red tape, lack Of business men
and business methods for q business
job; the results were the same-all-
round inefficiency, delay, confusion.
breakdown in the supply service. e
@. M. ID. Responsible.
Our success or failure to do our part
alongside our allies in this war for
human rights, the very lives of our
sons and brothers whom we have sent
to battle. rest upon the quartermas-
ter's department, upon the foresight
and energy of its bureau heads. and
the swift, unceasing operation OF its
transportations and supply service.
There is no department in any army
so important
The feeding, the transportation, the
equipping of a great army Is a business
job for men of wide vision and large
business experience such as no army
officer of a non-military nation ever
gets or ever could get under normal
conditions. We have the same blum
dering, tie same loss of time and ef-
fort as in 1888. but with this great diff
ference, that in 1918 they may cost US
opportunity and life. 1t is then but
the commonest of common sense that
the business end of an army be placed
in the hands Of business men-as Great
Britain finally found 1t necessary to
do-and that the best Of the high
grade business brains with which the
United States is plentifully supplied
and the choice of which the President
may have for the asking-should di-
rect the work. We have translated
the Washington circumlocution office
to France; we have made the quarter
masters department in France which,
in subordinate places has some capa-
BILE. energetic and youpgish men Of
business experience, an annex to
Washington with its crossroads gro-
cery store methods and its ancient and
honorable personnel
The Typical Instance.
! The sorry, shameless story of the
machine gun is the story of the
supply and transportation service in
France today.
In August, 1916. Congress appro-
| priated $12,000,00O especially and
specifically for the purchase OF ma
chine guns. and placed the sum at
the disposal of the ordnance depart
ment. But it was not until our first
division was already in France. in
June, 1917-ten months later-that
| the first steps were taken by the
chief of the ordnance departm mt.
Gen. Crozier-according to his own
statement-to get the guns which
three years of terrible carnage had
demonstrated as being the most use
/ full of all the arms for the soldier
in the trench. With the world
struggling for freedom through II e
/ hellfire of such battles and our en-
trance imminent-it is an amazing
story. paralIeled only by that of the
months wrangling in the Shipping
Board over the respective merits of
wood and iron at the cost of irrem-
ediable time, while the worlds
boats were being sung daily and
! the worlds food endangered.
We are somewhat in the position as
! to general officers that England was
at her beginning. and we must do
| Cand the House recommendations give
! encouragement that we shall begin TO
dol what England did, only we must
/ llOl "dll 81 lolb " uO ~ NAAANSS " -
want to subject our soldiers to a Gal
lipon with its heroic CHASTITY record,
or Neuvechapelle where the British
lost thousands and the chance for a
distinct and much needed victory.
France and England withdraw their
officers too old for the new game.
At a recent dinner to an American
] Congressman in a British sector there
was not an officer over A years of
age. and four brigadier generals un-
der &C.
/ France is no place for officers who
are too old to learn. or too firmly fix
ed in their notions to do so. They
, should be brought home. As Gen.
Sibert said in my presence: 'It is an
entirely new game, and its up to us
boats were being sunk daily and
! quick" exclaimed another more out
/ spoken officer in the group.
Misplaced Spirit.
/ Perhaps an incident. amusing TO
me at least at the time, and one
not likely to cause court martial
by my relating, will in a small
way illustrate the mental processes
of this narrow visioned type.
Going into the Paris garage of
the local United States army quar-
termaster. and, finding it out of
commission and presided over by a
single sergeant, a member of the
Red Cross transportation service
asked the nature of the trouble.
"Ah, we fired all them Frenchy
chufrers because we couldn't un-
derstand what they said. and now
we're up against it for English
speaking ones who savy the mech
anism Of this bunch of bum for
eign cars"
Incidentally. the English-speak-
| ing chauffeur in France cost in
wages almost half as much again
To learn this war game, exact
ing and scientific to a degree never
| dreamed of, demands men younG
and eager, and at the mental and