The evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1914-1922, 1920-09-07
Wasteful Regime

After the war between RUSSIA and
Japan, n great deal OF publicity was
given to the extravaganza, loot graft
and incompetency of the Russian
management OF the war. but the eN-
travagance OF the Russians pales into
insignificance as compared with the
greed. graft. waste and plunder under
the mismanagemen of the Woodrow
Wilson administration. The ordnance
department alone spent S3.99l .449,b7O
from the beginning OF the war until
June l, 1919; more than 1t cost To
finance the whole civil war. Yet less
than one hundred American cannon
gOt into action on the other side. This
administration bought 4I.1O0.i52 pairs
of shoes FOR 3.5 3,S37 men. They
bought 50O,326 double sets OF harness
ana HOSES single sets Only G7,g4S
head of horses and mules were ship
ped overseas. We bought 9l5 900 sad
dies. and had In all S6.4ls cavalry
horses. We bought 2,S50,S53 hnlters.
or more than seven for each animal.
We bought i,G37,i9g horse brushes,
or over four for ench animal We
bought 2.033,204 nose bags, or five for
each animal. We bought Las, 364
horse covers, We bought for our
ordnance officers 712,5iO complete
sets OF spur straps, about thirty-siN
sets for each officer. We bought 1876,
600 branding irons. or one for every
two animals, and II was specified that
the material must be OF copper. Wood
row was evidently planning cam
paign for considerable number OF
mavericks. We ordered 40,456,d
hard bread cans and use 3i,5O0.O0O|
during the war. We ordered SCI ,OOO,-
900 worth OF ambulance harness, and
then found our ambulances were
motorized. There was all sorts OF
graft. Testimony concerning the con-
struction OF Camp Sherman at Chilli
cothe, Ohio, demonstrated that roof
ing material was piled Ike cordwood
out in the sun, and two-thirds became
useless because II could not be un-
rolled. Unbrokcn roofs Of roofing
material were hauled to the camp and
burned. Tons Of nails were hauled
to the dumps. Automobiles listed as
worth $500 were paid $500 for hire.
One and one-half-ton Bucks were
listed as three-t0u. and fIve-ton
Bucks were listed as seven-ton. and
80 cost vast sums more for hire. Two
hundred and fifty teams were on the
pay roll with no use for $50. Teams
were hidden In n gravel pit or or
dered to he turned around to appear
as II at work. Az many persons were
put on the payroll as possible. Boys
were listed as journeyman carpenters.
A common order was for gangs Of
men to get into the clear. to- hide In
corn fields or behind houses or in
empty buildings so they could be kept
on the payroll So many idle men
were put on one roof that II collapsed.
Hospital plumbers putting In steam
fittings for heat gambled, shot craps.
etc, through the cold weather and
into November, The result was that
there was no heat, and sick soldiers
suffered horribly. These conditions All
Camp sherman produced tragic re-
suits. The soldiers who were stationed
there shivered, caught cold. developed
pneumonia and died, At one time
1000 dead bodies OF soldiers for which
there Were 40 coffins were wrapped
In sheets and piled away
To go into all OF the details of the
reckless, eNtravagnnt, ruthless waste
and incompetency OF the democratic
management OF the war would take
up much more time than is available
for that subject at this time. There is
nothing like II In any government
since government began. OF the S2O,-
900 100000 dollars collected In nine
teen months, at least one-tlird was
wasted, probably more. II In estimated
by competent authority that between
seven and eight billion dollars was
taken from one part OF the nation
and given to another part OF the ma
tion without any Intelligent purpose
to use II In the prosecution OF the
war Never before was there such
conscrlption OF the nations wealth;
never before such transfer of private
property. II can only he explained
by the utter incompetency of the DEM
ocratic party to handle the greet busl-
ness OF government
The democratic administration Of
railways cost the American people
S3,3T5, 100000 In twenty-six months.
and the end Is not yet The DEM
ocrats seem to have gone money mad
and run amuck among the billions
The Wilson administration spent
~ ,O51 100000 to build aircraft, When
the war closed, Il had at the front
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