River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1920-03-11
Our Weekly Letter
From Washington
From james A. Frear, NJ. c.

Will q ltnltSbiOti " LOhS ~ tNOSNN~ -
the war time clerical force stationed
at Washington. At the conslusion OF
the legislative bill which has been
before the House for the past two
weeks, a rule was offered giving Sat
urday to the Aviation committees
report and four hours time was al
lotted to discussion OF our report. DC
casionally the writer has altered in
these letters brief summary of inn
portant matters brought out in the
aircraft hearings but no attempt has
been made to cover what is contained
in over 1000 printed pages of testl-
nlony, while the committee report
covers 129 printed pages. A brief
statement in relation to the report
was made to the House few days
ago in half hours talk. This will be
printe and sent out to the District
generally together with the remarys
on the railroad bill.
It may be remembered our commit
tee on aviation found $1,692, 100000
had ben appropriated by Congress
for aircraft during the war. Of this
amount $1,O51 100000 was pledged or
spent by contracts for aircraft. Two
hundred thirteen observation planes
called D H4s or FLAMING Collins"
reached the front and were the only
American made machines ever used
at the end of the war. They were
death traps for ayiators and our COM
mittee so found. No bombing, pur-
suit of fighting plane was ever built
here and the few planes we received
from France wr largely obsolete and
dangerous. Seventy-five million was
was wasted in trying to manufacture
three defective types of planes that
were of no use, whereas we ought to
to have built the Spad, Caproni and
other fighting planes which were be-
ing built in Europe. Incompetence
and worse was found on every hand
and riot of expenditures occurred
4 III gEtLillg Il vi LffC pilC DiiAiOh 1OA
lars that never produced planes. In
the Spruce airplane work, Colonel
Disoue, surrounded himself with 3d.
600 clerks, lawyers, doctors and 9TH
ers in soldiers uniforms, and these
he put in an 8-hour day while build
ing logging railways at from $3.50
70 So per day. Other interesting
phases of the investigation were dis
cussed by the writer before the
House. Copies Of the report and
speeches printed at the writer's per-
sonal expense will be sent as soon as
received from the printer to those
desiring same.
A startling exposure by another
War Expenditures subcommittee oc-
Cured last week when witnesses tes-
tilted that the War Department bot
and paid for thirty-two million pairs
Of shoes at cost of $7.15 pair. This
was about eight times the number re-
CURED to fit out the army at the con-
CIuSiCii vi tilc Wdi. uS diHiyJ az
cording to Chairman Graham, sold
large lot of these shoes to the Sow
lets in Europe at SIPS per pair. The
shoes were of chocolate color which
was the color provided by official or
der during the war, but after the war
the army authorities changed Che
color of the shoes to asset color, SO
millions of new shoes could be bot
under the new order, and the factor
les could keep busy. Those who have
paid from SIS to SO for a pair of SUBJ
stantial shoes should live in Soviet
Europe where American shoes were
sold by the War Department for $1.25
a pair. Two million, Ave hundred
thousand brides We're bought for the
100000 horses we had in service and
100000 spur straps were purchased
for 10000 cavalry officers spurs. I'm
Gle Joe Cannon once said in Congress
that the spurs ssen on thousands of
officers boots in Washington were to
keep their feet from falling off their
office tables.
Last week, at : dinner given by the
Hawaiin Commission, it was the gen.
eral opinion that the toasts responded