Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-06-22

trary TO the general view, this SCHOOL,
with all it's space and ample buildings
and barracks. is not intended to be a
training place for all the Army In
the use Of small arms. 1t has. to be
sure, for it's object the training OF
commissioned and non commissioned
officers and certain of the enlisted
men in the use of the small arms: but
Its prime object is to train them in
the art of instructing the line OF the
Army in the use of the small arms Of
the Army.
1t has been urged that no such space
as $4,000 acres is needed to instruct
men in the use of the small arms;
but the grounds at Bennings are none
| too large. The end has come of calling
soldier a good marksman because
he can. with due elaboration and
| careful adjustment of sights and wind
| gauges. make bulrs-eye on a target
thousand yards away. He must
learn to shoot at sight and to shoot
straight at a target that may bob up
anywhere. Now a battalion-1.0 600
mems drilled in firing; and it must
| be advanced several miles in the
| course Of the exercise. and that plan,
when military rifles carry four miles.
obviously takes space. The station
airy ranges for a thousand men take
up lot Of space. Pistol ranges take
up more space. Machine gunners re-
foiiS SpoSS, IL really Is not IdlT
to take chances of accidentally shoot
| ing either a soldier or a citizen. More
space Is needed for hand grenade ex-
ercises and the instruction of the fu-
| ture instructors in the use of that
weapon. Open space must be had to
| teach the use of the bayonet and the
saber: and still more space must be
had to teach the art Of trench max
ing with machine gun and trench
l n q rel anti
| mortar batteries will be trained at
this camp. and that will take more
! space. When the next real war comes
| there Will again be frantic rush
to train men and officers and the
greater the number of competent in
structors In the Army the less diff
cult will be the task Of whipping the
Army into shape.
| The school. il 1t is worth anything
at all. has it's real value in giving
been called the normal school for
| Army small-arms teachers.
| ihat Congress may have ground for
quarrel with the War Department on
| the means taken to create the school
is one thing; but that the Army ia in
| need OF such a school to keep it
abreast of the military times is now
| beyond question.
The avowed object of maintaining
q
the Office of the judge advocate gen
eral of the
Army Contracts and Army is to
the Judge Advocate. pro sav re-.
and consequent protection to the
officials of the War Department and
to Army officers acting in an admin
istrative capacity for the government.
The corollary of this proposition is
that the officer or officials who dis
regard this source of protection
makes himself liable for any loss
arising to the government through
his failure to seek this advice in the
properly constituted office. 1t appears
that during the war various bureaus
and divisions of the War Depart
ment and sections of the Council of
National Defense took upon them
| selves to set up in their own Offices
organizations composed of LAWYERS Of
great ability and experience to advise
them upon the various legal questions
| that were constantly arising.
Under the loose-end management
resulting from emergency expansion
of the War Department, it apparently
did not occur to anyone, but the act
ing judge advocate general of the
| Army that under the legally author
'zen Army organization such advisory
bodies could have no legal standing
Spon has protest it appears that the
secretary OF War did issue an order
instructing the purchasing bureaus to
seek the advice Of the duly consti-
tuted law officers. But the bureaus,
claiming that the advice that they
were taking was not Anal in its char
acter, centended that they were not
interfering with the functions of the
Judge advocate generals office.
Whether this was sound or unsound
was never determined; but in any
event the Independent legal depart
ments in the various bureaus con-
| tinued without pretense of eo-ordina-
ton with the legally established
Office.
| There can be no serious doubt of the
professional competence of many of the
| lawyers who served the government
we'll and faithfully in these advisory
positions; but they were unfamiliar
with departmental requirements and
with the long line of departmental
decisions which have acquired the
| the department. In the hurry of dis
posing of the multitude of legal ques-
tons involved in contracts measured
not by millions. but by billions, Of
dollars. some mistakes were inevi-
| table.
Now comes the point OF danger i'm
pending over those officers and
officials who disregarded the simple
precaution of invoking the advice of
the legal department OF the Army.
Enormous losses will inevitably fall
upon the government through some
| of the many contracts which those
officers made: and the natural con-
ciusion issuing from the premises Is
that. il these losses spring from
neglect of reasonable duly authorized
i ~ Iii. HSrin h. a@