The daily banner. (Cambridge, Md.) 1897-2008, 1920-06-01
CONGRESS FEARS TO
CRITICISE WAR CONDUCT
Seeks To Create Impression VI
Scandals But Does Not Name A
Single Individual. Afraid Of The
Issue.

Washington, d. C.-There is
growing doubt that the Republican
leaders will attempt to make critic
ism of conduct of the war one OF the
campaign issues their hesitation be-
ing due to the discovery that the
country has not approved of the
activities of the smelling commit
tees" authorized by the COP. Con-
gresS.
There has been very little response
to the reports of these investigating
committees, and even a portion OF
the Republican press has condemned
dragnet Investigations designed mere
ly to make political capital and try
to find some fraud. So far none OF
the smelling committees mas
named a single person guilty OF fraud
in connection with the letting OF
thousands of war contracts, lnVolV-
ing millions of dollars.
While the committees have found
that war is expensive and that hlgh
prices had to be paid for many
things because of the emergency OF
the orders, no misrepresentation OF
funds nor wilful and deliberate ex-
travagance was found.
The fact that America won the
war is sufficient for the pubic ana
that is believed TO be the reason that
the public has taken so little inter-
est in the post-mortems of the Re-
publican investigating committees.
The situation was clearly explain
ed recently by Representative Cor
dell Hull. of Tennessee, one or the
conservative Democrats OF the house
who is an expert on taxation ana
finance. Regarding the cost OF the
war and the victory achieved py
American brains, Drawn and money,
Representative Hull said:
while the entire world applauus
the Nations unparalleled war record
of 10 months, only certain ignorant
or hypocritical critics at home seek
to dim the glory of our achievements.
Some Republican leaders vocIterous-
lv demand more than their party
share of credit for the prosecution
of the war, and at the same time
claim exemption from any share OF
responsibility Or criticism.
at is easy, now that the war is
won, to offer ignorant captious and
political criticism of the amount OF
the war expenditures. The complete
answer to such unpatrfotic efforts to
minimize our war achievements is to
saw that within q period Of l9
months the combined financial and
industrial efforts of the United
States were feverishly exerted 10
throw its maximum resources, In
Guiding man power and supplies, III
to the war The inevitable result
was that huge plans were perfected
thousands of contracts entered into
colossal programs framed, enormous
military and industrial structures
built up upon what the allied gen
erals agreed was the true assump-
ton that the war would continue Tar
into the year 1919, and in contempla
ton of sending nearly 5,OOO,OOO
soldiers, with ample equipment ana
supplies, to France. On this unpre-
cedentedly broad basis the united
States was going full tilt when sud
denly, and to the surprise OF the al
lied military authorities, the arms
tice came about and the fighting
part of the war ended. Carping po-
litical critics of expenditures now
say in effect that the Government
should have ignored this best human
foresight and restricted its war
activities to the narrow scope that
would contemplate the sudden end
ing of the war in November, 1918.
\ "Let US try to imagine how the
political hyenas now offering this
criticism would have yelped and
Numbered against the Government
had it failed to prosecute the war on
the great scale it did, and the war
rs a result had continued into the
spring and summer of 1919, as 1t
doubtless would have done; involv-
ing fabulous expenditures of men and
money in excess of what were actual
" incurred. Speed, necessarily re-
sulting in what would ordinarily be
considered extravagant expenditures
is the one prime, paramount factor
in the successful prosecution OF any
war. The expenditures, though ever
so high, arising where a vigorously
prosecuted war is brought to
quick conclusion are far less in the
aggregate than a lower level OF eX-
penditures involved in a slowly con-
Quoted and consequent long-draWn-
out war, to say nothing of the in
creased loss of life. Compared with
the English war debt, ours would be
over S7O,O00,000,0O0. and still great
er when compared with those of most
other nations participating in the
war"