The Washington herald., 1918-01-25
Congress Gasps as Senator
Reads Letter of a Father
Who Found Boy Dead.
MISTAKES REMEDIED,
DECLARES MIR. BAKER
Gorgas to Testify Before
Senate Committee
islation Up In the Air.

All the fury of accumulated
criticism was let loose here yes
terday against the administrations
conduct of the war.
Senator George E. Chamberlain.
l1of Oregon, before an audience that
packed the floor and the galleries
of the Senate chamber. spoke for
three hours in answer to the charge
of President Wilson that his, criti-
cisms of the military establish
ment had constituted an absolute
distortion of the truth"
In the assembly room of the Ma
tional Press Club. Col. Theodore
Roosevelt. former President of the
United States. assailed the war
policy of the government in terms
of bitterest reproach.
Baker Admits Faults.
Secretary OF War Baker. upon
whose head was heaped the sevcrcst
blows OF the critics. admitted the
/ truth OF some OF the charges. but
declared unhesitatingIy that the
mistakes have been remedied.
He has ordered an immediate in
vestigation into some of the in
stances of misInaaa cement cited in
the speech OF Senator Chamberlain.
The Senate Military Affairs Com
mittee today will resume its invest
igation into the affairs Of the War
Department. with Mai. Gen. william
c. Gorgas, surgeon general OF the
army. summoned TO explain the
sickness and deaths at cantonments
and training camps.
Meanwhile the fate OF the war
cabinet legislation remains in doubt.
though the chances Of its passage
are slim. Prospect OF a ministry Of
munitions is somewhat brighter.
with the Republicans under party
caucus agreement to support It.
Men Weep. Women Sob.
Senator Chamberlain spoke simply.
He is no orator. His voice lacks eIo-
quence and his gestures are aWk-
ward.
Men wept and women sobbed when
Senator Chamberlain read a letter
telling Of the death of a soldier at an
army cantonment. It was from the
boys father.
1t was a case Of cerebro-spinsl men
ingitis, the letter told. The family
was not notified. The father. going 10
the camp. found that his son has been
isloated in a contagious ward. 60
which he was directed. He went TO
the room and was horrifed when the
door. as it swung inward. struck the
head Of his son. lying naked on the
floor.
A salf-suppressed moan swept
through the packed galleries as the
reading of the letter was completed.
Women who had knitted soldiers
sweaters during the earlier parts OF
the speech, dropped their needles in
their laps and sobbed convulsively.
Gray-haired Senators bowed their
heads.
Every effort Of Senator Chamber
lain was directed 10 proving that the
fault OF the inefficiency he alleged
against the war machinery Of the
government did not lie with the Pres
ident, but was due in part to the ina
bility OF the President TO get the real
truth from the men upon whom he
relies
Nation In Peril.
He justified his speech not alone on
the ground that his reputation had
been assailed, but. he declared, on the
broader ground that the safety OF the
nation was imperilled.
IF these delays are permitted to
continue" he declared ''if we delay
too long getting our boys over there.
It may be too late
Secretary Baker ordered an in
vestigation OF the pitiful death cited
by Senator Chamberlain as soon as
the matter came TO his attention. He
made this statement this afternoon
This is not a singular case, I NAV
say" he told the reporters. There
have been other similar cases report
ed to me. In each case there has
been a prompt investigation. or
course 1t has been impossible 10
gather over a million men without in
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