Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1919-02-28

ent, Walter s. Smith, Jersey City, who
enclosed the envelope Of letter sent a
son, Corporal Edwin Il. Smith, in
France, which came back marked
''sick." The writer says:
1t is not my purpose to annoy you
with needless complaints, but ! would
be obliged if you would take look at
enclosed envelope, which tells story
Of letter Of cheer denied soldier boy
because he unfortunately was i'll, and
said letter dragged 5000 miles back to
the sender.
Words are literally inadequate to
describe ones emotions in reading such
letters from the parents Of the boys
overseas. 1t is incredible that the sick
and wounded soldiers Of a great Nation
should be the victims Of such brutality !!
1t must not for a moment be thought
that l am presenting only rare cases.
My files exhibit hundreds Of letters Of
the same tenor, and / have no doubt
every Senator on this floor can say the
same. In other words, the postal SER
vice of the army in France was lament
ably inefficient, and not the slightest
effort seems to have been made to i'm
prove it.
Mr.. Chamberlain. Mr.. President,
may l interrupt the Senator?
The Presiding Officer. Does the Sen
ator from New Jersey yield to the Sen
ator from Oregon?
Nv EraI;nnb,,uCon v;oIA
Mr.. Chamberlain. Mr.. President,
without undertaking to fix the respon-
sibility-although hope with the Sen
ator that the responsibility will be
fixed at some time-let me say that
hold in my hand a postal order which
was bought by me here in Washing
ton ON the 22nd day of June, 1913, and
forwarded to little nephew, who was
not quite 10, and who was sick in a
hospital in France. 1t was sent to
him because he had received no pay
during his service in France. This
postal order was sent to him at his ad-
dress at the hospital which was known.
His unit was given, his name was
given, and there was no question but
that he could be easily identified II
only an effort was made to do so. He
was killed in action on the 18th day Of
July. This postal order was received
by me about 10 days ago, returned in
the same envelope in which sent it,
marked mot known"
There was absolutely no excuse for
an Of hot -
received a letter from him some time
the latter part of October saying that
he had recovered from his illness In
the hospital and rejoicing that he had
joined his unit and was going to the
battle front. A few days after that
she received a telegram from the Office
of the Adjutant General that he had
been killed in action on the 18th or
possibly the Goth Of July: and two or
three weeks after that, after / had
taken the matter up here to try to trace
up the matter, the mother received an
other telegram from the Office Of the
Adjutant General wanting to know
where she had gotten the information
that her son had been killed in action.
Mr.. Weeks. Mr.. President
The Presiding Officer. Does the
Senator from New Jersey yield to the
Senator from Massachusetts?
Mr.. Frelinghuysen. l yield.
Mr.. Weeks. / think it will not be
without interest for me to say that
when the Post Office appropriation bill
u,oc ,,pdor oopC;doro t;op IN ooyonittoo
asked some questions of the Second
Assistant Postmaster General, under
whose direction the Foreign Mail Ser
vice Is conducted. In making some
explanation about the responsibility
for the poor service, he suggested that,
as of course is known, the War Depart
ment was responsible for the service
after the mail left the docks in this
country. The next day some en-
ployees Of the Post Office Department
came to my Office with very consider
able number of letters which had been
mailed in this country more than six
months before, and had gone to France.
The envelopes were stamped "un-
KNOWN" and the letters returned to
this country about three months before
they were brought to my Office. / was
informed by these postal employees
that there were large number Of let
tiers of that character in the office of
the Adjutant General in Washington,
which had been lying there for three
months, with apparently no attempt
to deliver them or return them to the
writer's.
Mr.. Frelinghuysen. Mr.. President,
we all know that the postal service OF
the army in France was lamentably in.
efficient, and not the slightest effort
seems to have been made to improve it
Can anything more grossly stupid
or heartless be imagined? Though &C
curately addressed to the soldier, with
| the name and number of his unit
plainly indicated, the envelopes are
marked 'sick," and the letters, instead
of following the poor soldier to the hos
pital, are shipped back to America un
read, unopened, undelivered.
|
Mr.. Sterling. Mr.. President, in con
nection with very able address de
| I;varod hy tho Copo FOR from Now Tor