Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1918-02-02
SEW. (5HAMbERLA|N'
ANSWER To PRESIDENT
Cont inunl frn1n SnNnntl, pa
Continued from Seventh Page.


the things In connection with these
shortages, Mr.. Presid Mt unpleasant
though it may be, and l am going to
undertake to show to the Senate and
the country as TO the hundreds and
thousands young men who arc dy-
ing in all of these cncampmcnts that
it Is due TO the incfficiency Of the
War Department itself, that Is, that
is my conclusion from the test .mony.
l am not an expert; ! do not know;
but l charge that ] conclude from
the test 'mony that that inefficiency
Ia responsible for It, I am not going
to make that statement on my own
authority; i AIN not gong to read
into the record t!c ports CT the Sur
geon General. I am not making these
statements, Mr.. President, without
having sat with the committee and
never m ssing a single minute etNccpt
half an hour one afternoon when l
was ca led to a department. | know
what every witness stated. If | had
time to go into details | could open
the eyes even OF the Senate.
"Take Camp Doniphan, in OlIlaho.
ma, where there was IS per cent.
shortage Of WOODEN coats. Now we will
takc-wcll, there will be any differ
ence on this; they will either flay me
out of existence or else we shall WIN
this war; but l shall have done my
duty, whether we win or not. l call
attention to this condition. Take
Camp Wheeler, which had a shortage
of Woolcn coats Of 80 per cent. Camp
lcArthur, which had n shortage OF u
per cent; Camp Logan, TeAa,, which
mad n shortage OF 80 per cent, Camp
Cody, N. NJ so per cent; Camp bon
iphan, Okla, 53 per cent; Camp
Bowie, Texas, 40 per cent; Camp
Sheridan, Ala, SO per cent, and so
OH down the list. ! think the Il gh-
est shortage in WOODEN coats was rs
per cent. The shortage at Camp
Custer was rs per cent.
"Mr. President, / will not read the
whole list OF these shortages, but
Senators may take each item, and 1t
VIII be found that these camps are
short all the way, as l say, from /
per cent. to 100 per cent. Tuis IN
formation comes right from the men
On the ground. They know what
they are talking about; they do not
nave to make their estimates on a
per capita basis, as to which I tried
TO illustrate my post. ON here q little
Whlle ago. lney make Their csti-
mates on the ground, just as General
Glenn id when l asked him what
the conditions were.
DEATHS COULD HAVE BEEN
AVOIDED.
Mr. President, right in this con-
necllon-'hls is AS good Il place to do
1t as any, though I did not intend to
do this-but it Will not do any harm.
l thought 1t might probaD not be
nccessary-but in view of the situa-
ton that confronts me, with my in
tegrty called in question, l feel 1t
my duty to the country to let them
know, and | am not going to call at
tenlion to the reports OF General COR
gas himself, to show that nearly all
Of these deaths and these ep.demics
could nave been avoided If the War
Department had been etiicient and cf-
fcctivc.
"In addition to the testimony Of
General Gorgas, we have the testi-
mony OF men on the ground. We mad
General Greble come up here. He is
a splendid old fellow. l ought not
to say old fellow for he is younger
than l am, and he is st Il in service.
He is splendid man, q fihe and fer
less solder. Whenever you get a SOL
der who has not any other ambition
than the ambition to service his coun-
try you will invariably get the truth.
1t IS not as with one OF these swivel
chair artists fellows who wants to so
higher, and from whom you can not
ascertain what the truth is
IL
began to see what was coming to his
body of fine young fellows, and he
began to reach out to try to get the
things that were necessary to pro-
tect them from d sease and to try to
have those things done that would
save them If disease came. He did
not appeal only to one man; he did
not appeal ony through the regular
channels; but he appealed through all
channels. They had this b-dy of
splendid young men in pyramidal
tents, twelve in tent, packed to-
gether like sard!nes, when they ought
not to have had at any tine more
not over eight. General Grcble tele-
graphed to the Quartcrmaster General
and stated: If you do not give us
shall have measlcs and pneumonia
and all the diseases which soldiers
take He also appealed to General
Gorgas, and kept on appealing. Then
he was sent to Europe on q mission
When no came back he found the
same condit ons practically existing.
Not until some time in December did
no get that for which he asked. Then
the epidemic had broken out. AS
many as 5000 young men went
through the base hospitals and hos
pitfalls down there at Camp Bowie.
Think Of that!
FIFTY FEET FOR EACH MAN.
$50 here was an old officer who
was accustomed to handle soldiers and
who knew what was going to happen
as any sensible man knew what would
happen. The Surgeon General has