New-York tribune., 1918-07-07

TO reward an officer of the avn
who, without disparaging any other,
think has done as distinguished serc. =.
any officer in the army to-day, if indeed !.
has not done the most distinguished serv;,.
of ALL
In May, 1917, Congress passed the s.ls..
tive draft act. The execution Of the arr w..
put in the hands of General Crowder VIII
was made Provost Marshal General NJ
man in the country could have performsS
the service any better than General Cro,
der has performed il. It makes no dissr
ence whether it was considered the hos.
kind of an act at the time or not. thint
the friends Of the system have been sgrs..
ably surprised in his splendid success with
the draft act, and those who had doubt,
about the system have had those doubts 70.
moved. The fact is that this splendid suc.
cess of the draft system was brought abon.
by General Crowder He was the father ~
the act. He is a part of the act. He has
executed it with the greatest skill and
ability.
No man, as said before, in the army o,
out of it, in my judgment, has performed
MS duties any better or more successfulv
He has produced men as fast as they could
be trained in this country.
In simple justice, Mr.. President homo
that the Senate will pass this resolution
unanimously.
Mr.. CHAMBERLAIN-M President. whils
as general proposition 1 oppose this sort
OF legislation, | cannot help but feel that
there ought to be some recognition of the
magnificent services rendered by General
Crowder. know of my own knowledge that
from early morn till dewy eve-and. in
fact, throughout the night-General Grow
der, ever since the draft act was drawn
and until it was finally enacted, was giving
aIl his time and attention to it, 1t was his
sole consideration. And after it was passed
and 1t became necessary to properly admin.
lister 1t, General Crowder has been most
diligent in doing it.
Mr.. KING-I join with the Senato,
expressions of high approval of the wcs
performed by General Crowder. While |
do not care to institute comparisons. I want
to say that in my opinion no more able and
efflclent officer can be found in the army
tie has discharged with signal ability the
heavy responsibilities which were placed
upon him.
I know the desire of General Crowder
to engage in distinctly military work
personally, | should be glad to see him
IN France, where his splendid abilities
would bring to him increased honor and
fame. 1t would be difficult and, indeed.
impossible to find another who could so
eH1clently discharge the work which is
now being performed by General Crow
der. However, in my opinion it is not
wise or proper at this time to grant this
promotion. 1t will lead to requests al
most in the nature Of demands for legis-
latlve promotions and distinctions in be.
halt of other faithful officers, both in
the army and IN the navy. There should
De some system in dealing with the ques-
tlon OF promotions and rewards for dis
tinguished service.
Mr.. WARREN-Mr. President. 7 wish 10
say that in my Judgment. to denv General
Crowder some reward of this kind would
be to penalize him because of his grea.
ability that keeps him on duty in this coun-
try. tie is major general and has been
ANXIOUS to go abroad. He is a fighting man
and wants to be at the battle line cover
there. know that at the bottom of his
heart from the very commencement of this
war ne mas been anxious to go abroad, and
nothing has kept him here but patriotic
duty on his part and great appreciation Of
his ability by his superior officers in his
executing the draft law and forming ar
army therefrom.
therefore, while | agree with the chair
man, and | do not like this kind of leg1s-
latlon, generally speaking this case Ger
talnly deserves attention and the bestowal
OF thls distinction upon him. 1t is to exist
only during the present war emergency, at
the pleasure of the President. / earnestly
hope and fully believe this amendment will
be adopted
Mr.. WILLIAMS-I quite agree, Mr.. Presi-
aent, that II we are to promote men by
legislation the services which General
Crowder has performed and given to his
country IN the work of army organization
entltle him to first consideration. But
question, Mr. President, whether it is a
poicy upon which we should enter, because
it will be extremely difficult to draw
limitation anywhere once the practice has
been established
Mr.. LEWIS-Mr. President | should ike
70 see this amendment adopted. My rea-
sons are that the peculiar duties put upon
tne present incumbent of this Office General
orowder ought to impower him to as great
an extent as possible, that the public at
large may have confidence in him and have
respect for his authority.
Mr.. kNOX-Mr. President, if this matter
were to be determined solely upon tbs
merits of General Crowder as an individual
would very gladly support it as due
recognition Of the great services he has
rendered, not only in the forming of the
present army that is engaged in the confics
abroad but because of a personal knowledge
or the invaluable services he has renders
IN the past. 1 think, however, thar
TINS amendment stands on broader ground.
think it rests upon the proposition thai
the branch of the service headed by General
Crowder is entitled to this recognition.
think based npon the wisdom of rec
ognizing the branch of the government
with which General Crowder is con-
nected and his relations to it, that TINS
amendment should be adopted.
The PRESIDING OFFICER-The question
is upon the amendment of the Senator from
tennessee Mr.. McKellarl to the amendnehs
of the committee.
The amendment to the amendment
tUds agreed to.