The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-05-16
WARN SOLDIERS
 AGAINST CLIQUE

WaSnlngton, May, lp---teneral lSstd' R. Sherwood, member of Congress from ohio and long prominent in the affairs of the Grand Army of the Re- public. has issued q friendly warning to the returning soldiers not to per init themselves to be enrolled in or ganizations which they themselves cannot control.
 This warning, which appears in a signed interview published in a mil itary journal (the American Army Ga zette) has attracted wide attention here where the developments at the St. Louis caucus of the American Le- zion have been closely followed by men in public life.
 Says the Civil War veteran of this latest war:
 ''Of course, the soldiers of this world war will organize. All sol- diers of all wars since the Declara- ton of Independence have organized. George Washington organized what was known as the Order of Cincin- natl, made up exclusively of the of ficers who commanded companies, brigades. divisions and armies during the seven years war for independ- ence. The soldiers of the Civil War, both North and South have main- tained organizations for over fifty years. and these orders are still in existence.
 "Immediately following the sur render of the armies of the Confed- eracy, in April. 1865. our heroic sol diers. over two million men, organ ized first the Grand Army of the Re public, followed by the Unions Vet eran Legion, and several other or eanizations. based upon long service 1 at the battle front. Then the officers , of that army. in imitation-of the Or der of Cincinnati. organized the Loy- al Legion, made up exclusively of officers who saw battle service. The most numerous body today is the Grand Army of the Republic, con- taining about 70 per cent. of all the surviving soldiers of that four years conflict.
 'It is inevitable and desirable that the soldiers of this world war should form a permanent body of brother hood. not only to perpetuate in the memory of this generation and the coming generations the achieve ments on the battle fields of France of our own heroic soldiers, but as a permanent appeal to the citizenship of the Republic of the patriotic prin- ciples and ideals involved in that great conflict.
 Whether the new organization. embracing the soldiers of this war for democracy. should organize in separate groups. is a serious ques- ton. My own idea is that all the sol diers. whether serving as officers or as privates, should form one common brotherhood. recognizing no distinc- ton as to rank.
 "One of the mistakes made in the organization of the Grand Army of the Republic was to give those sol- diers holding positions as Post Com mander, and as State Commander and National Commander, preference over the rank and file in all its de- Alterations in State and national en- campments by making said officers life delegates. These for-life dele gates shave now become so numerous and powerful that they control and dominate the deliberations of the na- tional encampments of the Grand Army. While they may not be so numerous as the duly elected dele gates from Grand Army Posts. they are better organized and more fa- mi1iar with parliamentary proceed ings.
 This system has always appealed to me as being undemocratic an un- American, if not absolutely unfair to the great body of men who stood behind the guns, and who have not received official honors. It has also created what is called q House of Lords. which has been able to con- trol largely the deliberations and pol icies of the Grand Army for the past quarter of a century.
 Tn other words, I believe that the coming soldier organiza ton which is bound to be the greatest in the hfs- tory of this Republic, should be con- trolled in all it's deliberations and policies and aims by a ma iority of the men who stood behind the guns, which constitute the numerous bodies of all soldier organizations. It should be, in fact, an organization to pro- mote in the present and in the future that vital spirit of democracy which was the animating and inspiring Force that sent our armies to the bat tie fields of France. It should be an organization that will appeal to the patriotic spirit of all loyal and true Americana"