Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1919-02-18
NEXT SESSION
WILL DISCUSS
) ALLEN'SCHARCE
General Inquiry Into Con
duct Of War May be
Made Then.

Washington. Feb. 1S.-Congres-
sionals investigation Of losses among
Kansas and Missouri troops Of the
35th division in the Argonne fighting
which Governor Allen Of Kansas
charged were unnecessarily heavy be-,
cause of inef1ciency and lack Of ar
tillery. will 90 v until the next
session of congress. ~.
Governor Allen completed the
presentation Of his request for an in
quiry to the house rules committee
today and the committee in execu-
Tive session decided that the time was
too. short to permit q comprehensive
inquiry at this session.
Chairman Pou said a general in
curry into the whole conduct Of the
war probably would be ordered by the
next congress.
More letters and reports of officers
and men overseas were submitted to-
day BY Governor Allen.
OF course, it is a we'll known fact
thai the fighting continued up to II
o'clock of November H.. said the
governor. ut seemed that they were.
eager to get as close to Germany as
possible. But everyone knew when
the ~ hours was given Germany or
signing the armistice that the terms
would be accepted. That then, was a
needless sacrifice Of life. =
The Germans were %retreating un-
der fire, but their fire was very ef-
fective and in a deadly fashion,"
Governor Allen said the British and
French armies also were advancing
at the same time.
The governor also appeared before
the senate military committee and re-
peated statements regarding the 35th
division.
What is the purpose Of these dis
closure we won the fight, didn't we,'
asked Senator Kirby of Arkansas.
Democrat.
The purpose is to find out why all
this ordnance that we paid for did
won the battle, but we won it with a
terrible loss" +
II would like o to give IS a re-
port ON the efficient work of your or
| ganization. the Y. NJ. G. A. + have
heard more complaints about the in
efficiency of the Y. NJ. c. A. than any
other organization in France" said
Senator Kirby.
1--WE had to meet a certain amount
OF criticism" the governor replied.
THE Y. NJ. c. A. was the only. or
'AoS oOAu dly IAAAIl6 Al
France. We took over the army
%canteens and there were many
charges of profiteering."
Among the letters presented to the
house committee was n from Col.
Carl Ristine Of the f39th infantry of
the 35th division, who wrote:
Some n ought to tell how we
were stripped Of blankets and had
summer underwear, and no overcoats
! f0~ tH4 -Ik -.Hf-I
wounded men almost froze to death.
No ambulances for SO hours, and then
only six to i small ones to haul
sixty-three hundred wounded mon in
six days. These ambulances frequent
ly took as long as SO hours to get Ito
the field hospital n many men died
on the way. We finally evacuated
stretcher cases by the hundred on
trucks" ~. ,e..G ~ q -.e.ss s,.. :
Es<,A letter from Harold L. Perkins,
who was in charge 1of the remount
without a sufficient number Of horses
to move h artillery and that many
OF it's animals were unfit for serv-
ice"
Governor Allen also referred to the
"inexplicable condition of mail' in
France. He presented a number of
envelopes returned from the central
p%ostofice at Tours, operated by
Americans, which bore notations that
the soldier to whom they were adj
| dressed was sick or wounded and was
at a certain hospital.
Representative Siegel Of New York
told the rules committee that "condi-
tions in at least one New York division
were similar to those Of the 35th' and
that the var risk insurance bureau
was our months behind in it's work
He declared he had seen crippled
soldiers in uniform begging in the
ure to get government allotments.
Chairman Pou questioned his state
ment, but Mr.. Siegel insisted it was
true.
Chairman Chamberlain asked Gov
ernor Allen where he placed RESPONSE
bility for the Argonne situation.
II put down as a part of the highly
organized inefficiency of the whole
SYSTEM" he replied. 1--WE bought brok-
zen down horses from the French. We
paid $500 a piece for them, many of
them having been gassed. At. that time
we were sending only raw mar power
over, but we were not sending enough
equipment to supply them"
While in France the governor said
he organized through the Red Cross
the system Of getting information to
relatives regarding the conditions of
soldiers in hospitals. but when a re-
port of the death of an Alabama SOL
der reached his home six weeks be-
fore the. casualty list an order was
n,ade that no information be sent by
the Red Cross ahead of the casualty
lists. ..h74r.
II told the officer that. that system
was in vogue in the British army and
that it worked WELL" he said, but the
officer replied that just because the
soldiers in army wore red pants
it was no sign that our army should
wear them"
Who, was that ~officer?" asked SEN
ator Thomas.
"1t was Col. Davis. the. adjutant at
general headquarters" the governor
replied. 1.-THE disregard of the next Of
kin of soldiers was the. most heart
less thing 1 encountered"
CANADIAN MINERS STRIKE.