New Britain herald., 1918-02-04

sa
administration leaders prepared
reply to Senator Hitchcock, whoa
speech launched the debate which hd
been impending since Secretary Ba.kd
made his statement and the presid g n
made known his opposition to the mi
itary committees plans for reorganizH
ing the governments war machiner1
Conceding that much of big tas
has been creditably done, the Nebras
ka senator insisted centralized and &C
ordinated war operations through
war cabinet, and centralized pun
chasing, through a munitions directo
are imperative. He asserted the pres
1dent and Secretary Baker had tried
but failed to attain the object and thaN
the governments system was obsoIet
The committees legislation, he argued
would not embarrasS or interfere wit&
the presidents direction of the war
Sharp criticism of many govern
ment war activities was made by til I
senator in illustrating his argument
"BlunderS that almost surpass bC
lief" have occurred in the war dd
partment, he said, and tho shil
building situation, he described a.
farce and almost crime" Ho dc +
clared the transport rtatiOn system h;
"brOkcn down." and is q rgigant
wreck" with 100000 tons Of fseis
piled up at New York withou. sh!rN
ping facilities: that the fuel ad,ni
istration's orders have paralyzcd wa
and other Industries ard that foON
distribution has also been inefficient
In fatty denying Secretarys BalE
cra statement that the governmer&
has a plan. for the war, tho senato&
said the military committee wa
thunderstruck at the statements
Secretary Baker; his sanguine pre-
dictionS as to our ability to ship me
to Europe and supply them whc
there are eXaggerations of the wilde +
sort.
ITO supply million men
France, supposing we could get theII
over there, it will require 5000, 0OI
tons Of shipping in constant use an
we all know the total tonnage moi
available is nothing like that amount
We all fear it will not approximat q
CndC q year from now.
The senator summarized the enor&
nous burdens on the president, in +
Guiding his formulating a foreign poll
cy, designing all the legislation fo t
congress to pass, debating the indus
trial and political activities of tn
country and looking after expendf
lures of $250,000,000 a week.
''In the first place the president be
- 11S1
ophers who adhere to the belief tina
this all important legislation shoul
originate with and be proposed bN
the executive" he said. "I cannot sub
scribe to this scheme of government
it has some obvious ad J.
vantagese, in that it provides leader
ship, order and program.
Since he became president, MI
Wilson has enforced his view upo
congress to a large degree and gem
orally with good results. In the mai
I have been one of those who hav
followed his leadership and supported
his policies and [ expect to do so
the future. Now and then, however
an exception must be made
The war departments obsolet
methods, the senator said ma
brought the expected results con
fusion of authority, red tape clfculn
locution and incapacity," ana ne cite
evidence given in the military com
mittee's inquiry Of clothnG' rlrle an
equipment shorta ges ana Sickness an
deaths in camps rs the result Oh over
crowding and lack of clothing.
I'VE found we must depend on Owe
worked and overstrained France 10
Z 4