Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1919-09-24
GREAT LESSON OF
WAR OVERLOOKED
CHIEF FAULT I'M THE GENERAL
STAFF ARMY BILL POINTED
OUT BY THE EXPERTS.
BUREAU HEADS ARE SHIFTING
Army Officers Are Admittedly Not
Good at Business, Yet Would Be
Called On to Handle Big Industrial
and Financial Affairs.
By EDWARD 3. CLARK.


Washington.-The general staff has
sent to congress a bill for the reOr-
ganization of the regular army. AS a
matter of fact this bill outlines for the
United States such a future military
policy as the authorities of the war
department would like to see enacted
into law.
There are many reasons today why
bill for the reorganization of the reg
ular army should be of vitality greater
interest to the people of the United
States than ever before. The country
is divided into various camps of opin-
ion on the subject Of the army of the
future. The army has its viewpoint;
labor has it's viewpoint; the man who
believes in sane preparedness has his
viewpoint; the pacitist has his view
point, and the so-called antimilitarists
have their viewpoint The army bill
as finally adopted will have a marked
influence in the next presidential
campaign for the good or evil of this
candidate or that candidate.
1t is not proper for one who has had
comparatively little military service
and is far from being an expert along
any military lines to attempt TO pass
Judgment on technical matters as they
appear in this proposed legislation,
but there has been one lesson drawn
from this great war, and which it has
been supposed everybody had learned,
hot hn Of
is said, to have been ignored by the
army authorities who drew this legis-
lation and sent it to congress.
One Great Lesson Ignored.
If there was one thing which this
war taught more sharply and specif
ically than it taught anything else it
was that army officers with their
training are not necessarily good bust
ness men. An American army officer,
as the records of the regulars will
show from the time that the records
began. are good fighters, but that they
have business heads of the leaders of
great corporations no one need de-
ceive themselves in believing for
moment. The officers themselves say
they are not good at business" 1t is
gress that the chiefs or heads of all
bureaus, and this means technical bu-
reauS as well as others, shall be line
officers artillerymen, in
fantrymen, ETC., without any fixed time
to remain in office and consequently
subject to removal at any time.
Now, what does this mean? 1t means
that the duties of the judge advocate
generals department, the finance de-
partment, the motor transport corps,
the ordnance department, the chem
ical warfare service, the duties of the
signal corps. the tank corps and the
quartermaster corps are to be per-
formed by detail from the active fight
ing service, and that the men so de-
tailed are to hold their positions per-
haps just long enough to become eff
cient, and then possibly are to go back
to the work from which they were
called.
Heretofore in the service the only
fixed departments, so far as their per-
sonnet was concerned, were those of
surgery and medicine and the engi-
neer corps. 1t is held by army Off
GERS and civilians who have studied
the lessons of the war that there are
other departments of the army which
require a personnel which shall be
fixed in it's tenure of office.
Domestic Problem Most Pressing.
A shadow came over the League of
Nations and the peace pact stu
alton in the United States senate
on the day that President Wilson
wrote his answer and appeal to
the railroad shopmen. Interest in the
League of Nations had been at the high
water mark for weeks. Suddenly the
shadow passed over it and, temporarily
at least, eclipsed it, for every official in
Washington realized a serious dOmes-
tic situation had arisen which demand
ed immediate attention and, if posi-
BILE, remedy.
The views concerning the matter of
increased wages for the multitude of
Americans who today are serving the
government, indirectly at least, be-
cause Uncle Sam has taken hold of
certain hitherto privately-run corpora
tons, are various, but no one is to be
found who does not admit that the
wage must be equal to the demands
of living comfortably and well, as an
American citizen should live 1t is
recognized, however, in Washington
that it does not make any difference
to a man. so far as his power 70 save
IS concerned, if he is getting SO per
day and is spending 50. or is getting
s. per day and is spending 81. pro-
vided of course, that the two ex-
penditures bring exactly the same re-
turn.
Advancing wages and advancing high
costs of living have been called a
vicious circle. The desire of the Iegis-
IL +ore, &c Of 1a11rcn RI ba viz, rs,