New-York tribune., 1919-05-11

of the country, desperately in need of
candidate for President who had a
war record, decided to capitalize the
martyrdom' of General George B. Nc
Clellan.
ut was the theory of General Nc
Clellan's Democratic managers that the
soldiers would support him and that
the country could be induced to be-
lieve that the ablest soldier in the
service had been ruthlessly cast aside
by Lincoln and Stanton because he was
Democrat and not in sympathy with
the political policies of the Administra-
tion. When the ballots were counted it
was found that General Mcclellan had
carried three states, Delaware, New
Jersey and Kentucky, and had twenty
one votes in the electoral college out
Of total Of 233.
"The Republican politicians who are
trying to use Leonard Wood bear q
curious resemblance to the Democratic
politicians who used that incomparably
abler officer, George B. Mcclellan"
4 Good ''Crouch"
"The Springfield Republican" has
looked at what it calls the "grouch"
issue from another angle, and thinks
there is chance of its beng an ex-
cellent plank in the Republican plat
form. This paper observes:
"Is there sufficient accumulation
Of soldiers grievances, as a result Of
the war, to affect the next Presidential
election? The politicians cannot know
the answer to that question too quick
ly. If General Pershing is really un-
popular in the army, it may mean that
General Wood would be an ideal
"grouch" candidate for President be-
cause he symbolizes, like no other man,
the average soldiers grievance, hav-
ing nursed very big one of his own.
knowing, as we do, that there are
just now hundreds of thousands of
soldier grouches, many of them based
on bad luck or real injustice in the
military service, the political posi-
bilities of crouch campaign next year
should not be minimized in estimating
the chances Of soldier candidates"
The writer thinks General Wood
is cleverly conscious of his own pos
sibilities along this line, and refers
to the report of his Victory Loan
speech at Pittsburgh. The general
began his speech
"'For the short time I was permit
ted to be with the boys over there
Then there came yell:
"'You ought to have been sent there
in the beginning' one voice doomed.
eyes, you were sidetracked, but
you'll be our next President came an
other voice.
"'You bet!' put in another
"Then General Wood had to bow to
another burst of applause.
"If," thinks "The Springfield Re-
publican"-
ehSAO oAC o,oVV,VVO yOuHS anu IHIUQle-
aged veterans who feel that way about
General Wood and inferentially feel
just the other way about General Per-
shing, the appointee of President Will
son, and if they keep on feeling that
way year or two longer, then it is
easy to name the next Republican Pres
idential candidate"
The New York Tribune meets the
"grouch" issue in another way. 1t
finds that one of General Woods
most attractive qualities is that he
refuses to be sore. The Tribune
says:
"Some of those who do not look with
favor on the Wood candidacy, men who
fear it and would head it off, have in
dustriously insinuated the idea that
soreness" is not wide enough plat
form. The proposition is doubtless
sound, but it does not apply. An at
tractive quality of General Wood is his
steadfast refusal to be sore. Other
men might have been when he was
shunted to sidetrack when the war
began, or when board of doctors
was called in seemingly with the pur-
pose to retire him as an invalid, or
when he was denied an opportunity
for foreign service. But he was so