Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1918-02-04
WILLIAMS DEFENDS
WAR DEPARTMENTS
FRONSEHATE ATTACKS
Calls Chamberlain and Hitch.
cock Friends Of Kaiser In
United States Senate

Washington, Feb. 4.-Senator Will
liams, Mississippi, attacking Senator
Hitchcock after the latter had finish
ed speaking today, declared that
+" MuckTtlfng lof the administration
was a part of the German game.''
He charged that Hitchcock had re-
vealed information useful to the enc
my and that if all he had said was
true 1--WE re whipped already"
He bitterly attacked the war cabi-
net bill as being unnecessary.
The government has been conduct
ing this war with magnificent efficien-
cy declared Williams, ''and l am
tired of this undertaking.
"We all recognize there are defects
but they are small.
elf the president hasn It brains
enough to run this war, we certainly
can't give him brains by act of CON
gress. 4 n sstlSsEH
1.-The trouble with the senators from
Nebraska and Oregon is that they
have been finding specks during their
committee investigation and now have
assembled these specks in q big circle
and labelled it the sun.
"I deny any man the right so strong
ly to indict the executive branch of
the government as has been done
"The only way we can win the war
is to support the men in charge. Most
of us have recognized that, except
few fool pacifists who have now al
most passed out of political existence
Williams deplored the fact that SEN
ators were trying to- tell the war lead
ers how to win the war.
"T don't believe there is man in
this room who can tell General Per
shing how to fight the battles -
Pointing to Senator Hitchcock, he
said:
cYou know less than I do about
fighting and I know nothing.
"The war is in Belgium and France,
not the United States senate" Will
liams shouted "and let Is let the men
do the fighting. If Pershing and Bliss
cannot fight the battles, we have 9TH
er men who can. but it is not sena-
tors place to tell the war leaders how
to fight.
'fThe information given the senate
TODAY is not useful to anyone except
the enemy Senator Williams said.
"General ICnozier has been taken
from his post-thats IS what you were
after. WASH It it9' he said, turning to
Senator Chamberlain.
Williams declared he had prepared
legislation to create merchant ma
rine soon after the European war open
ed.
t'I didn't get any votes then, but
here we senators are crying out against
lack of ships" he said.
"What do you expect to gain by this
talk9" he shouted at Hitchcock.
'fYou know the bill won t pass. You
know the president will veto if it does
pass The president already has told
YOU he does not expect to have con-
gress usurp the executive power"
+ Senator Reed, Missouri, who has OPP
oosed the president in his food and
fuel control plans, defended the ad
s war work by attacking
jhe war cabinet bill and the charges
IF Senators Chamberlain and Hitch
cock
Rising after John Sharp Williams
finished. Reed deplored the questioning
If the motives of some senators by
other senators. !,
o'It is timc to quit calling each 9th |
r. friends of the kaiser, " he said
IF it has been said that the war de-
,artment has failed in some respects
,ut in the main had been successful,
hat would have been correct, - 50 I'd
Reed.
''You can t say that machine that
las put l 100000 in the field has been
failure.
"But / do say that faults which
ave been discovered should be
brought into the light and efforts
made to correct them,
GA man who does this is more pa
riotic than he who would cover them
behind camouflage of adiectives. "
Reed charged the war cabinet bill
upon the authority of the
,residont as commander in chief of the
.rmy and navy,