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

they ought to be corrected and cor.
rected quickly"
Great Britain found the same con-
0ltions and she corrected them pref
ty quickly. France found the same
conditions. and corrected them.
America cannot get her army to man
ufacturc these things. l do not care
what they say, the graduates of m Ii
tary institutions stand at the top of
their classes, 1t may be, but when IL
comes to a young man trained along
a particular Inc Of duty undertaking
to handle great commercial and man
ufacturing enterprises it Is not in
him to do it. You must 80 to the men
who have done these things in order
to secure results. Great Britain did
that and France did it and why
should we not take this matter up,
and If Congress feels that there are
irregularities in it, Congress ought to
do its duty. though the heavens fall.
Congress ought to do it without fear OF
anybody giving due weight and consid
Grafton always to the distinguished
Commander in Chief of the Army
and Navy.
ONE CAMPS SHORTAGE.
Now, what has been the result |
want to read the Sccretary's state :
ment about having all these things
III the way Of equipment &c. While he
was oh the stand few days ago, reit !
Grating again the statement mat
these boys were equipped, | said to =
him as | took my seat at the head of ,
that table with my distinguished col ;
leagues: why, Mr.. Secretary, l have
just talked within the last five min !
utcs with commanding officer at ,
one Of these environments, and lie ,
tells me that he has 1000 coats short |
In his usual placid way, he said: |
That is not true | said: He just |
came from there, and is it not true? |
He turned arocnd to the Assistant |
Secretary Of War and said to him:
Photograph to the (A,artermaster |
General and get his report On the |
next day, the 14th Of January, | got |
this letter from the Secretary:
War Department.
Washington. ID. c., Jan. ID, 1918. |
Mr.. Dear Senator Chamberlain
On Saturday morning one of the mem
bcrS OF the committee 81 d that he had
just talked with the commanding Off |
GERS OF Camp Sherman, and that there |
w,re as l recall it, 5000 men there
without uniforms. You Will recall
that l asked the Assistant Secretary
to direct at once that telegram be
sent to the camp to find out he facts.
l inclose telegram which came
on Saturday, the same day, upon
which the stat>mcnt was made, and
which states that the 81 ,024 men now
at Camp Sherman were at that time
all in uniform and that Il previous
shortage Of approximately 1000
coats was at that time provided for.
you will recall, l venturcd at the time
the statement was made quite dcfin |
itcly to express II disbelief in its ac-
curacy.
(Senator Chamberlain will say
this for the Secretary when he did
not know he was very positive.
This telegram | think should be
called to the attent.o of the mem
bers OF the committee as it is OF he |
highest Importance to have them
know both that this provision has
been made and that the information
upon which have been relying in my
testimony to the committee is not in
accurate.
Cordially yours,
(S.gneD NEWTON ID. BAKER,
secretary OF war.
Hon. George Il Chamberlain, Unit
States Senate.
The telegram is as follows. 1t came
from the quatermaster addressed to
General Cocktails
Cocktails. Quartcrmastcr General of
the army, Washington, ID. C.
Re tel; date; 31,024 men now at
this camp all in uniform. Previous
shortage of approximately 1000 coats
provided for
CASE.
Camp Quartermastcr.
"That convinced me-" said Sena-
tor Chamberlain, that the Secretary
OF war knew what he was talking
about and l was glad to have it con-
ilrmed because there were some
things I thought he was mis:nformcd
about. On the very next day January
Is, he sent me this letter:
War Department,
Washington, ID. c., Jan. Is, 1918.
My Dear Senator Chamberlain:
| send you a telegram which has
just been received from Camp Sher-
man. The information in it differs
from that contained in the caller tele
gram, which | sent you yesterday and
which arrived on Saturday. Apparent
ly the informal. on given tn you by
'~iSi"l HiShl as 70 INC DlOuScS was
accurate. This telegram however
shows that an adequate supply is in
shipment. though not received by
the time the telegram was sent
Cordially yours,
NEWTON ID. BAKER,
Secretary of War.
That is the way it has been ever
since he commenced. It is inchoate
but does not get there. Now what
does the telegram say?
He read the following:
Camp Sherman, Ohio,
January IS, 1918.
Cocktails, per Hardcman,
Office Quartermastcr General.
Washington, d. c..
Thirty-onc thousand one hundred
and four men now in camp. All have