Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1919-09-25

There must still be. as before, corps
of officers, in which the individual
officer must keep himself distinct
from the soldier while continuing to
be his true friend.
Then came complaints that the Off
GERS were living at the expense of the
men--a shameful calumny spread by
enemy and home propaganda. Many
men of undoubted honesty and intelli-
gence came to ME bleating out such
general accusations. instead of vigor-
ously assailing them. They had az
ready lost all regard for the morality
of the corps of officers. so ineXtricably
had they fallen into the snare spread
by the circulators of these reports
1t was said that officers OF the reg
ular army hid in their quarters. This
was the reward of a grateful people
to the regular officer for his sacri-
flee and devotion! There were only a
few OF them left. The remainder had
fallen or had been hopelessly disabled.
The corps of officers had lost from
eighty to ninety per cent of its full
strength.
Could they not understand that to
fill certain posts of the staffs, on
which the fate of the troops depended,
officers OF exceptional experience and
initiative were required? Ii is obvious
that for such duties the regular officer
was more fitted than an officer of the
reserve. and that eventually 1t would
be impossible to replace the former.
l begged the military cabinet to In
vestigate these charges. This exposed
their injustice all along the line.
Notwithstanding this, l persistently
issued reminders that officers fit for
service should be sent from home and
from the various staffs to the front,
to be replaced by officers TT only for
garrison duty. The staffs during the
summer of 1918 were so composed
that several divisional commanders
complained to me that they had toe
few fit officers on their staffs to cope
with all demands.
l was always opposed to the pres
ence of father and son on the same
staff. Whehn | had direct command
as wen as when | was chief of staff
! in the east, | set my face against TINS
Now all | could do was to draw the
attention of the military cabinet to it
/ heard unfavorable reports con
corning the working of canteens. Here
also, the officers were said to be act
| ing to the (.etriment of the men.
| went into the matter. Everything was
in order. The canteen commissions
I on which the soldiers were represent
| ed, controlled the working and th'
distribution Of profits. The sale O.
goods in the canteens was strictly
rationed for officers and men alike a
so much per head. Each man migh
buy only as much as was allowed OF
the carefully calculated distributor
schedule.
The higher staffs. having no can
teens of their own, drew on the cen
| trail stores at the same prices as th'
canteens did. AS these supplied offi
GERS and men at fixed and a certain
profit, the higher staffs--both Officers
and men, of course-bought theii
goods somewhat cheaper than the reg
! iments. This | also stopped.
Scandal i'm the Cantecens.
| Then it was asserted that the can
teen moneys were unfairly admins
tered. This accusation was as fals'
as the others. II was only the soldier
| who derived any benefit from thu
profits. mainly, of course, in kind
But it was inithe lines of communi
cation that the Officers We're supposed
TO live in special luxury. There hav'
seen an enormous amount Of ioya