The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-09-14
ARMY TERRORISM
FEARED IN NEW BILL
chamberlain Says 1t Means
DISCRIMINATION Under
One-Man Control.
MILITARISM RUN MAD"
" j
Senator Demands Rejection Of
Measure and Return to
Bureau System.
aM1L1TARIsM RUN MAD"

WASHINGTON. Sept 13.--Character-
,,,ns the Administration army reorgani-
-ot,on bill proposing a regular force Of
100000 men as ''mllitarism run mad"
SENATOR Chamberlain, Democrat, Ore
con. has submitted to the Senate Mill
tary Committee, of which he was for
merly chairman. an analytical and ex-
/ nlanatory statement proposing that tire
measure be rejected entirely and Con-
Rress prepare new bill.
The procedure Is somewhat unusual
and the arraignment of the General
stag officers who drew up the Adminis-
tration plan Is marked.
NEARLY all of the control heretofore
exercised by Congress over the army"
the Senator declares at one point, els to
be transferred theoretically to the Pred-
dent. but practically to The Chief Of
STAFF. However. Congress il still per-
. mtted to foot the bills"
In seeking to make permanent the
army and departmental organization
built up during the war, Senator Cham
berlain's statement says. the bill would
perpetuate a situation that brought de
struction to initiative, DISAGREEMENT
and DISCRIMINATION to the bureaus
which have been raided, has caused
enormous uupbCdllOh VI "OIhs BTtht
waste Of funds, endless delays and
general inefflciency, not to say chaos, in
the work Of the War Department. as q
whole and Of the General Stan as we'll"
MiIitarism Run Mad.
The spirit shown by the trainers OF
the act, he charges. throughout Is one
of consuming desire for despotic, I'M
resticted power-militarism run mad"
The specific charge is that the clauses
of the act which carry out that spirit
are "ingeniously'' separated and scat
tered and very cleverly concealed
camoufiaged." The bill is denounced as
a 'preposterous scheme" which spells
one man dominance, staff despotism and
militarism to a degree never surpassed
in the palmiest days of the great GEN.
eral Stan of the German army"
Chief attention Is paid by Senator
Chamberlain to those sections of the bill
which he declares are framed to absorb
into the General STAFF and bring under
the personal control OF the Chief of Stan
all the duties and powers of the old
statutory bureaus. His pamphlet adds
a new chapter to the long standing con-
troversy between the line and staff corps
and bureaus of the army.
The Senator draws a sharp contrast
between what he says happened in the
War Department, under complete Gen.
eral Staff control. during the war, and
in the navy. where the bureau system
was maintained unchanged. He makes
no direct reference to Secretary Baker,
but simplifying his objections to be-
slowing such power on the Chief OF Stan
as the bill asks. says:
Saxu VuftvuSH. xs~- r-s-s~
1T is well known and admitted in
military circles that some chiefs of STAFF
have been so successful in imposing
themselves upon the, Secretary of War.
and separating him from his bureau
chiefs, that they now find it difficult,
as well as useless. to consult him or ap-
peal to him. Add to this" he con-
tlnues. the discoura cement Of the
bureau heads and the considerable in
timidation. IL not terrorism, that is I'M
dersto"1 to have been applied in certain
cases and there will be then found
ample ground for the widely spread con-
viction that there really Ia autocratic,
one-man control Of the whole military
establishment
1T Il Illuminating to contrast the
hurly burly, III feeling. confusion. scan
oals and lnefficiency that have been rife
under the War Department since the
commencement OF the war with the calm
ness, good order, harmony and quiet
efficiency that at the same time have
prevailed in and UNDER the Navy De-
partment There the bureaus were left
urdisturbed. The Overman act was ig-
nored and the navy has had no general
staff corps. II there was ever any dis
cussion or lack of team work the world
at large never heard Of It."