Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1918-02-02

feet of floor space to every man, and
in those little fonts they had placs d
twelve men. He ID not get his re-
scSt complied Win Lnul TIC worst
had happened, until 5000 men had
passed through the hospitals, and
."stny OF tmchu haa uicd. ,uIu tDsolu, L
my friends. had died without
proper nursing because Of the incfli-
cicnc.es of the same system.
81 challenge my fir ends to read
tdis testimony; do not take my word
for il. You may ngle cut Il lew
witnesses who test fy in opposition to
what | am now stat ne. but when you
get down 20 the men who know from
..',ual contact ana cNtcr .cn,c you set
the truth as it appears on the ground.
''lf there Is one man in America
who knows what he Is talking about
wncn he talks about disease and cpl.
denies, and knows how to handle
chem, i is General Gorgas. He has
not only ach eyed a national rcputa-
on, but he has achieved II world
wide reputation for his splcnd d work
at Panama, and he has made that
.ormcrly pest lcnt.al region tnc gar
den spot Of tho continent in which
20 live because Of the efforts Of him
se,f and Of his subordinates.
II am going to ask that all this be
printed in the record. All of these
antonmcntS arc radiating spots from
which there goes out to the Amer
can people everything that Is taking
place and God grant that every young
man will write to his mother and
father and tell OF the conditions, not
in order to stay tho patriotism Of
Amer Ca but to stimulate those in
authority to do Their duty to protect
their lives, if they are to fight the
battles Of the country.
CONFLICT OVER DEATH RATE.
Mr.. Secretary Baker says in his
printed statement that the deaths in
our forces in the United States from
September 20 the end If December
average rs per thousand year,
slightly Jess than would have been
the death rate Of the men Of the same
age at home.
WELL maybe that is true, but Gen
eral Gorgas says that amongst all
the troops there has been n il ath rate
OF 50 per cent. covering little longer
time. 1t is probable that Secretary
Bakers statement is correct for the
time he gives, ana that General Cor
gas data are correct for the time he
covers; but what does a little thing
like Der cent. of mil OH and a
half men mean? It does not mean
anything; let them die; it is only
per cent; they Eavc saved The balance
Of them.
However, my friends, If proper pre-
cautions upon the part Of the Govern
mentI If an efficient system had saved
one young man who was risll ng his
life for America, the Amer can people
would have been glad to have seen
the money expended to save that one
lfc. Particularly is that true, my
friends, in the light Of the reports Of
the Surgeon General of the army,
which show that this cond. ton was
duo to the fact that in most cases the
troops were overcrowded.
"But that is not all. With that dis
tingu:shcd man at the head OF the
medical service Of the army and an
able corps OF assistants here he was
not even advised with us TO the sclcc-
ton OF the environment sites. Now
think of that the man at the head
Of the medical department here in
Washington, with n reputation in his
line second to none among the pro-
fcssional men in the world, not even
consulted with reference to the selec.
ton of these sites.
at may be said that with the Off
Ger Of the line who selected these
camp sites there was a young doctor
who went around with him. Whether
he was from the medical corps or
whether he was some post or contract
%nrG on does not make any difference
to me. What / am getting at is that
Surgeon General Gorgas was not con-
suited, and al this time he has in
sisted morning, noon, ana II ght, in
season and out OF season, that in OF
der to safeguard the health Of these
young men there must be at least SO
square feet Of floor space to the man.
And yet | venture to say, Mr.. presi-
dent, that there is not single can
tcnment in the United States that
has been built with that idea in view
o! protecting the young men.
MEN CALLED TOO SOON.
"But it may be said that these
young men had to be called out quick
ly. What was the use Of calling them
out until the cantonments we're
ready? They might have been draft
cd into the service, and might have
been assigned for duty at home or
allowed to remain somewhere where
they would not have to have given
up their lives because Of lack of
care.
81 will take these camps at random,
and. inasmuch as I have referred to
Camp Bowie I will call attention to
that. I will say to my Southern
friends and colleagues that the same
conditions prevail down there, rs you
will know If you have taken the
trouble to go on the ground"
He then road thic raDort from Cen