American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1918-06-21
THE AMAZING CASE or GENERAL
WOOD.

wOOD.
In such a serious hour as the pres
ent, when the United States is passing
through the greatest crisis in it's his
tory, II would III become the Scientific
American 10 indulge in captious crit
lcism OF the war department, or call
in question. for one moment. the puri-
~ and disintorestedness Of It's motives.
At the same time Il Is our bounden
duty. as one of the oldest and most
conservative organs Of American OPP
inion. TO draw the attention OF the war
department TO the fact that It's treat
men OF General Wood carries on the
face OF IL a suggestion OF discrimina-
ton and ~discourtesy. so palpable and
disconcerting. that II may well dis
turb the confidence Of the country at
the very time when public confidence
and public morale are Of supreme Inn
.%portanco.
For General Leonard Wood Is not
merely an American and a soldier; he
Is an American of the Americans, and
a soldier whose professional career
has been an unbroken series of sue
esses-administratiye, diplomatic and
military. Not only is he the ranking
general Of the American army. an Of
hcer OF proved and universally admit
ted ability, but by the sheer force of
his character and the fine quality of
his patriotism, he has become one of
those really representative Americans
who are as greatly honored in the old
world as in the new.
That General Wood has been sue
.cessful both as a soldier and an adj
ministrator is proved by his record.
Serving first as colonel and then as
brigadier-general and major-general
of volunteers in Cuba. he was appoint
ed az the close of the Spanish wal the
first governor general of the island.
Under his four years regime (1S9S to
1902 he brought order out OF chaos
and left that country peaceful. pros
porous and friendly to the United
States. Then we find him, as com
handing general. doing similar re-
constructive work In the Philippines.
Following this service. he was station
ed at Governors Island as commander
OF the department of the east, and at
Washington as hief-of-staff. Dur
ing his tenure of this office (1910 to
1910 he recognized the general staff.
and under him Il functioned better
than ever before in its history.
In 1914 he became again the COM
handing general of the department
Of the east, a post which he held until
the United States entered the war
when he was summarily denoted.
General Wood has ever been the
great protagonist of military prepar-
edness. Long before the European
war. as chief-of-staff. he drew atten-
ton to the weakness of our military
system; and when the great catastro-
phe burst upon the world, he sounded
the alarm with a trumpet voice. IL
took no little courage to do this at a
time when the administration regard
ed even the mention Of military pre-
p~aration as a breach Of hat neutrali-
lty even in thought" which it was en-
Joining upon the American people.
The event has proved that Wood
was right.
II was the confident expectation that
the soldier who had so nobly ieopar-
died his future career for the sake
of his country. would be called at
once into the intimate councils of the
administration. now that the crisis
which he foretold had actually come
upon us. An able. far-sighted and
highly experienced general, such as
he. who holds, also. the affection and
lunbounded confidence of his fellow
citizens. is surely, at such an hour as
this. a most valuable asset to his
country; and we take it that no other
questions than those of his record anC
his proved ability should determin,
the degree of his employment.
Hence II came about that. when in
> the same breath in which il was an.
nounced that we were at war. we wer,
told that our highest ranking officer
the very soldier who had labored {,
awaken the country to the imminenc,
OF that war. had been removed to
minor command-the country simpl,
stood aghast.
Let us consider. briefly. the amazinl
treatment TO which General Leonar,
Wood has been subjected from the da,
on which war was declared
At the very outset, his department