Evening star., 1919-08-17
Army and Navy News
THE July selection board for
promotions in the Naval Medi-
4 cal Corps has reported favor

promotions in the Naval Medi-
cal Corps has reported favor
ably on the names of five COM
mAnders to be permanent captains,
three to be temporary captains, elgnt
Heutenant commanders to be perma-
nent commanders and three to be tenn
porary commanders. with a fourth va
cancy not filed
Objections are heard from many
s,des-and not from officers who were
passed or who supposed that they had
q clance for se.ection for advance
ment. but from officers at large-that
the system is dcmoralizing to the
corps They are saying that the mem
bers of the board are too far from
personal acquaintance with the ofn-
GERS eligible for promotion and that
the selection depends upon records that
cannot correctly reflect the quahnca-
tions of the candidates. A blot on the
record of a man remains against him
forever, no matter how faithful ne
NAV have been or how far in the
course of time he may have atoned Ior
the mistake, or how brilliant may oe
. his talents The members of the board
only know that once upon a time
court found that he had erred.
This particular board passed over
every officer that former boards nao
passed and while TINS is pleasahelS
conflrrnatory of the work of the ear
lfar board the result cannot be other
tnan utterly crushing to the ofncers
VINO have been passed the second time.
For them hope of advancement IN
their profession is apparently enqed
Hcnceforth it is feared that their
usefulness in the Navy is seriously
damaged, and a grave question arises
as to whether the interest OF the
Navy would not be better served ny
their elimination.
Officers who have the good or the
naval service at heart are deeply con
cerned over the present situation ana
are questioning the wisdom OF aoan-
.nIuckins board" Most will agree
that the present system of relying
upon records is unsatisfactory. ana
that some other method OF selectlon
should be substituted. the genera
preference is toward the view OF Ad-
miral Sims that in some manner the
views should be obtained of the OF
f1cers of the grade Immediately above
that of the officers to be promoted.
The tribute of Gen. March to the
wonderful accomplishment by Mai.
Gen. Goe-
heorganlzatlOH OI -
the War Department. SANITATION
of the supply side of the War De-
partment brings to mind the earlier
days of the war, when the organlza-
tion of the country for the conduct
of the war was drifting upon the
rocks. Wonderful tales had been
given to the public based upon facts
that did not exist in regard to the
equipment, training and development
of men in the training camps: of
flights of airplanes reaching from
New York to France, illustrated by
photographs issued under the author-
ity of semi official organ Of the
= government. Investigations by Con-
gress brought to light shortages In
camps of almost everything that an
army needs-from shoes and blan-
kets to rifles. artillery and machine
guns for training. The public utter
ances of such men as Senator'S Gnam-
berlain. Hitchcock. Weeks, Wads-
worth, Thomas, Frelinghuysen. Mac
KeIlar with their insistent demands
for a reorganization, not only OF the
system for the supply of the military
forces. finally forced their way to
the unwilling ears of the admlnlstra-
tion. Although the President did not
accept
senators for the creation of a muni-
tion minister and a war cabinet, ne
finally yielded to their insistence,
made privately and publicly, for a
revision of existing systems.
The result was. as the whole world
knows now, the reorganization OF the
War Department, the creation OF
practically a munitions minister by
placing almost unlimited powers OF
munition control in the hands OF Mr..
Oyerman law, enabled the President
to carry out the plans which these
senators had recommended, and there
by the end which they sought was
attained. The first overt step in the
reorganization was the appointment
in December, 1917, of Maj. Gen. Goe-
thals to be acting quartermaster gen<
'eral thereby putting him practically
in supreme charge OF supplying tne
Army AS Gen. March testified: Il
told Goethals that the supply OF the
Army was his job
From that point on the course OF
the War Department was progressive
60. IA, February 8, 1918, was the
first of the series of orders that Gre
ated the new War Department.. and
itt.was followed by others which cul-
minated August IS. 1918. in G. o. 80.
tThat order signed by Gen. March. de-
fines the powers and activities OF the
general staff. The general staff con-
diyisions-military intelligence, war
plans division, operations and pur-
chase storage and traffic, each under
a director. Gen. Goethals was director
of purchase, storage and traff1c, and
.as such was charged with co-ordinat-
ing the activities of the divisions which
furnished the Army with supplies OF
equipment and subsistence and with
Transportation, animals, vehicles OF
all kinds except motor transport.
which for some peculiar reason was
transferred from its logical place In
purcha.A, storage and traffic to an
other division. 1t was this change
in Army organization that made 1T
possible to send the men and supplies
60 Gen. Pershing. giving the allies the
potential power to bend the German
will
1T had been possible by an arrange
.ement wisely made by the ordnance
department with the French govern
ment to secure supplies of field ar
,tillery but the United States had been
unable to provide the guns for this
service American airplanes were IN
effective and, although a supply OF
particular type was in sight, the
rumber on the field when the armistice
was signed was Inadequate.
War was declared in April. 1917.
and it was not until year from the
following June-fourteen months
that it was possible to put more
than a few marines and regulars on
the other side. No more eloquent
plea than this fact can be made for
a reasonable degree of preparation
for another war; for no man can tell
whence it may come.
.rLa c.,,ta ,op,nitfee IN militia ~