The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1918-05-10
Washington Letter.

cussion in Congress as a corrective of
gross abuses in the executive depart
ments has been very convincingly il
lustrated in several recent instances.
Of course, everyone is familiar with
the stimulating effect of criticism of
the dallying policies in war prepara-
tions, even after war was declared.
Those were matters of large import
ance and attracted the attention of the
whole country. But there have been
numerous other instances, of less i'm
portance to the country as a whole
but of great Importance to large num-
bers of individuals, which have es-
capped public notice.
Representative Madden, of Illinois,
called, attention a few days ago, to an
instance of gross neglect of boy who
had enlisted in the Navy. According
to the statement made by Mr.. Madden'
on the floor of the House, this boy had
been accepted as fit recruit for SER
vice in the Navy, but had been dis
charged thousand miles from home,
sick, refused admission to the hospital
home. Madden tried to have him adj
mitted to a Government hospital but
was told that since the boy had been
dismissed as unfit, he could not be
given admission. Said Mr.. Madden,
"He was dismissed not because of his
character, not that his character was
not good, not that he was not moral,
not that he was not an American, not
that he was not clean, not that he was
not everything that a young man
ought to be, but that for some reason
his health had failed and he was sun
fit for service in the Navy
81 do not know who may be respon-
sible for the injustice that has been
meted out to this young man, but l
do know that there should be some
remedy applied, and that remedy
should be applied at once. l know
that the Government Of the United
States can afford to act in humane
way. 1t cannot afford to turn the
young men who go into the Army or
the Navy onto the streets and COM
pei them to depend upon charity when
they are turned out of the service.
This young man should be cared for,
cared for by the Government, and
cared for until he is nursed back to
health; and demand that that branch
of the Government under the direction
of the Secretary of the Navy shall see
to it that the commanding officers of
ships in the future shall so conduct
themselves that no complaint can be
made by the mother of any boy"
In the course of his remarks on
that case, Mr.. Madden made refer
ence to another case which had prev
iously been called to the attention of
the House by Representative Johnson,
of Washington. In that case, a boy
who had enlisted on the Pacific Coast
became i'll during the trip down the
Coast and into the Caribbean Sea,
and, being unable to perform his
duties, the commanding officer dis
charged him, turning him out on
foreign soil, in a strange land where
he could not speak the language of
the country, without dollar in his
pocket, and he was compelled to find
his way back to those who could care
for him.
Both Representative Johnson and
Representative Madden recognized
these as probably isolated cases of
neglect, and were reluctant to place
the facts before Congress, but felt,
and apparently with good reason, that
the only way to assure reform in such
practices was to expose the conditions
which make such injustices possible.
They want the rules changed so that
it will be impossible to turn any en-
listed man out without making provi-
sion to transport him to his former
home, unless he has committed some
act which results in his being court
martialed and dismissed as punish
ment.
Senator James Hamilton Lewis is
reported to have stated in a recent
public address that Germany would
sue for peace and the war would
cease by July of this year. Such
statements are exasperating, mis-
chievous, and if coming from the lips
VI dlfuOSI ally OtHcT iildu Iiley WOulu
promptly create the belief that the
speaker was irresponsible. But Sen
ator Lewis boasts that he is the
spokesman Of the President, and on
the Floor of the Senate he is accorded
that distinction by the Democratic
side, at least. Newspapers, men of af-
fairs, men who have been on the front,
have repeatedly cautioned against the
emittance or the acceptance Of these
irrational utterances, which have de-
cided tendency to create a relaxation
on the part of the rninformed, and
which are promptly seized upon by
German propagandists, translated,
and spread broadcast to subserve
enemy ends. If there is no way to
convince Senator Lewis of the advis-
ability of maintaining a discreet
tongue, certainly. President Wilson
should take some steps to rid himself
of the implication that he is the source
of inspiration for Lewis dangerous
drivel. Few people believe that he is
the source. hut Lewis has rather