The Lamar register., 1918-12-25
CAPITAL NEWS
A Complete Breakdown.

going from bad to worse. The eiTici-
ency of that branch of the govern
ment appears to vary inversely rs the
number of clerks, to use mathemati-
cal phrase. Although a stream of new
employees is constantly being added
to the Bureaus personnel the work is
falling behind more and more, and
soldiers allotment checks are many
months in arrears. Should a Congress
sional investigation of the Bureau be
had disclosures would be made so
starting as to constitute a practical
breakdown of the organization.
Even the Democrats of the House,
accustomed as they are to the incom-
potency Of their political appointees.
are shocked at the conditions they find
at the Bureau of War Risk. One of
the leaders of that party states on his
responsibility as a member that while
our soldiers were fighting at the front
a pile of more than 100000 letters de-
livercd at the Bureau were dumped
into heap and left there without be-
ing opened. Many of them contained
applications for allowances, applica-
tions in behalf of widows and wives
who had been deserted. and miscel-
laneous correspondence relating to the
business of the office. One clerk,
more conscientious than the rest, und-
ertook to open and attend to the COM
munications. After opening a few of
them she was discovered by a higher
official, who ordered her to stop be-
cause she was making too much work.
That incident occurred in the bureau
having the largest force of employees
in Washington, constantly being in
creased by freah-arrivals. 1t is indi-
eative of the altar lack of competent
management atd executive direction
that is imposed on a branch OF the
government whose work affects more
directly the homes of our boys than
any other. Complaints of conditions
flood the mails of Senators and Mem
bers of Congress, and soon there will
be an explosion that will expose TO
public view one of the most extreme
cases Of Democratic ineompetency that
have characterized the war.
Silver tneyrons 'Mong the Gold
The swivel chair corps in Washing
ton have been honored by the Presi-
dent in a War Department general
order OF congratulation, and have been
accorded permission to wear service
chevrons on their sleeves Of the same
pattern, and worn in the same manner
as the chevrons of men in the field,
with the single exception that they
shall be of silver instead of gold.
Many of the Washington officers have
taken advantage already Of the privi-
lcge and their sleeves are bedecked
with service insignia that few feet
away cannot be distinguished from the
service stripes Of men who have fought
and bled on the fields of France.
OF course many Of the office forces
in Washington were placed there much
against their will, and endeavored in
every way possible to secure their re-
lease and assignment to active duty
overseas. To them no blame can at
tach, but, on the other hand, it is
notorious that soft berths at the Ma
tional Capital were sought by draft
dodgers and others in an effort to
escape the dangers of the trenches.
But even in the case of those who
wanted to go abroad the fact remains
that they did not go, and were not
subjected to the fearful dangers and
hardships of the men in our combat
army. There is no more reason for
awarding service chevrons to them
than there is in giving distinguished
service medals Of a slightly altered
design to every man in the expedi-
tio-ary forces. The fact that few
men had an opportunity to perform
deeds of exceptional heroism does not
mean that any other man in the army
would not have done as well had the
chance come his way. Yet such n
wholesale distribution of awards would
not be countenanced for a moment.
II is little short of an insult to our
returning soldiers to confront them
with a lot of stay-at-homes decorated